Rebecca Tokach, a Texas Tech University graduate student completing a master’s degree with a specialization in muscle biology and meat science, has been recognized with a scholarship awarded in honor of one the cattle industry’s greatest pioneers, the late W.D. Farr of Greeley, Colo.

Jennifer Schutz, a Ph.D. candidate specializing in ruminant nutrition at Colorado State University, Fort Collins, also received one of two annual $12,000 scholarships established to honor Farr by the National Cattlemen’s Foundation. The presentation was made in conjunction with the 2010 Cattle Industry Summer Conference.

Tokach will begin pursuing a doctoral degree in 2011.

Tokach is a native of St. Anthony, N.D., where she grew up on a purebred Angus operation. She received a bachelor’s degree in agriculture, majoring in animal science, from Kansas State University in 2009. During her junior year, she was awarded the KSU College of Agriculture’s Student of the Year award, an honor usually reserved for a graduating senior. She received numerous other undergraduate academic honors and was active in ag college student government, as well as other agriculture and breed organizations.

After receiving her doctorate, Tokach plans to continue research work in the private sector and eventually, to teach in a university setting.

Schutz, a native of Akron, Colo., holds an associate degree from Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colo., a bachelor’s in animal science and a master’s degree in agriculture, specializing in extension education, from CSU. She has been involved in university-level research aimed at improving feedlot performance to increase profitability and studying the nutrient composition of beef. She worked on one of several university teams updating beef’s nutrient profile in the USDA’s National Nutrient Database.

Schutz plans to continue research into beef dietary nutrition when she graduates.

“I know Mr. Farr would be as pleased as we are to assist these impressive young students, who have both the drive and an absolute appreciation for and commitment to the cattle industry that he had,” said Linda Davis, a cattlewoman from Cimarron, N. M, and chair of the Farr scholarship selection committee.

Farr was the first president of the National Cattlemen’s Foundation. His career spanned 75 years and included innovations in cattle feeding, uniform beef grading, water conservation and banking. In 1970, he served as president of the National Cattlemen’s Association, which later became the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. Farr died at age 97 in August 2007.