A Kansas State University agricultural economics professor whose nearly four-decade career includes helping to generate more than $2.7 billion through a grid premium program for producers has been named the 2024 winner of the Mark and Eva Gardiner Innovation and Excellence faculty award.
University Distinguished Professor Ted Schroeder, who joined the K-State faculty in 1986, conducts research on livestock marketing and price analysis to provide direction for the livestock and grain industries.
Mark and Eva Gardiner, who with their family own and operate Gardiner Angus Ranch near Ashland, Kansas, established the award in 2019 to recognize faculty in the K-State College of Agriculture who are excelling through innovative teaching, research or extension that positively impact the global food system.
In announcing this year’s winner, Mark Gardiner called Schroeder “a life-long educator who has truly made a difference in our family and on Gardiner Angus Ranch’s growth and sustainability.”
“In 1995, the beef industry was failing,” Gardiner said. “A few fellow K-State alums and I – and a few others concerned about the decline in the beef industry – developed a bold plan that eventually became U.S. Premium Beef. Dr. Schroeder was instrumental in advising us as we developed our plan. We staked our future on the success of USPB and forged ahead with a true investment by putting our own ‘skin in the game.’”
Gardiner says the group was “determined to succeed,” even though many within the beef industry at the time thought the project would fail.
“Dr. Schroeder recognized the potential and the necessity for industry change,” Gardiner said. “He became a trusted advisor, helping us navigate a new path that would enable producers to be paid based on the quality of beef. Since 1997, U.S. Premium Beef has generated $2.7 billion in revenue back to the stockholders with grid premiums and earnings from processing.”
Gardiner notes that USPB changed the demand equation for the U.S. beef industry by developing incentives that led to the production of higher quality beef.
“Eva and I are truly grateful for Dr. Schroeder’s commitment to excellence at K-State, and to our family and American agriculture,” Gardiner said.
Schroeder’s research focuses on improving commodity market efficiency by investigating price discovery methods, improving market coordinating mechanisms and applied risk management. Schroeder also teaches courses in marketing and risk management.
He has authored or co-authored 140 peer-reviewed articles, nine book chapters and more than 60 research reports. Schroeder is a sought-after national and international speaker on a wide range of issues related to livestock marketing, trade, price discovery, and paradigm changes throughout the agricultural industry.
Schroeder also continues to advise state and federal legislators on agricultural policy and the Farm Bill.
Ernie Minton, the Eldon Gideon Dean of the College of Agriculture, said Schroeder’s professional and personal impact on generations of K-State students is “incalculable.”
“We are grateful to Mark and Eva Gardiner for recognizing Ted Schroeder with this award,” Minton said. “He is one of the most productive faculty members in the department with a tremendous capacity to positively impact our teaching and research missions in agricultural economics.”
Gardiner Angus Ranch is a family owned and operated beef operation that produces registered and commercial Angus cattle. The original ranch was homesteaded near Ashland, Kansas, in 1885 by Henry Gardiner’s grandfather. Today, Gardiner Angus Ranch is one of the largest registered Angus seedstock and commercial operations in America and continues to make genetic advancements using only artificial insemination and embryo transfer.
