National FFA leader to deliver Heuermann Lecture

Mark Poeschl, chief executive officer of the National FFA Organization and the National FFA Foundation, will deliver the next Heuermann Lecture at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.

The free talk, “Sustainability and Survivability: The Balancing Act to Feed the World,” is 7 p.m. Jan. 10 at the Nebraska Innovation Campus Conference Center, 2021 Transformation Drive. The Heuermann Lecture series is organized by Nebraska’s Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

Poeschl is responsible for the operations and long-term success of the National FFA organization and foundation. Together with National FFA’s board of directors and the board of trustees, he assures FFA’s relevance and service to agriculture and agricultural education. He assumed this role in August 2016.

Prior to his role with FFA, Poeschl served as vice president, group director, stakeholder engagement at Cargill Animal Nutrition, where he was actively involved in developing and executing their global 2020 strategy. Poeschl played a key role in talent selection and career development in the company and was instrumental in collaborating and implementing long-range business strategies. In 2016, he began working on sustainable and responsible animal protein production issues with key stakeholders.

Poeschl earned a Bachelor of Science degree in agriculture from Nebraska in 1983. A former FFA member, he served as Nebraska State FFA president from 1978-79. He and his wife, Nancy, served as volunteer judges in recent years at the National FFA Convention and Expo, and established a scholarship endowment for FFA members through the National FFA Foundation. Poeschl also assists in the oversight of a family farming operation in Nebraska.

The Heuermann Lecture series focuses on providing and sustaining enough food, natural resources and renewable energy for the world’s people, along with securing the sustainability of rural communities where the vital work of producing food and renewable energy occurs. The lectures are funded by a gift from B. Keith and Norma Heuermann of Phillips, Nebraska. The Heuermanns are longtime university supporters with a strong commitment to Nebraska’s production agriculture, natural resources, rural areas and people.

The lectures are streamed live online and air on campus channel 4. The talks are recorded and air on NET World.