Larry Howard, UNL Extension Educator Emeritus from West Point, has been awarded the National Association of County Agricultural Agents (NACAA) Hall of Fame Award. Howard is the son of Darlene and the late Fred Howard of Sargent.
The award bestowed upon Howard recognizes Extension Educators or Agents for a lifetime of exemplary work where they have demonstrated commitment, dedication, and effective leadership in job performance as an outstanding educator. There is also consideration for involvement with NACAA at both the state and national level, and outstanding humanitarian service outside of the applicant’s normal Extension programming. An award is conferred once annually in each of four regions of the nation.
A press release from the NACAA states that Howard has been a valuable asset for Nebraska Agriculture during his 35-year Extension career, providing education programs and community leadership as a single Agricultural Agent/Educator in Cuming County, Nebraska’s top agriculture and top livestock county. He continues to provide leadership in his community and to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) in his role as an Emeritus Professor.
Howard’s Extension education program focused on beef, swine, and dairy production for adults and youth. His efforts helped the people of Cuming County become the first and only Nebraska county to garner over $1 billion in market value of agricultural products. In the last five years of his career, his livestock program was expanded to cover ten northeast Nebraska counites. Larry’s programs were innovative, cutting edge and were often the first to address local needs. In addition to educating local clients, Larry helped US military members with livestock management issues and hosted out of state and international visitors on numerous occasions.
Larry has received 13-National, 14-Regional, and 35-State NACAA awards including the
Search for Excellence award as a national winner two times and as a national finalist five times. He has been recognized by UNL for outstanding team programming six times and received service awards from the Nebraska Pork Producers and the Nebraska Beef Council.
