MANHATTAN, Kan. — The Beef Improvement Federation presented a Baker/Cundiff Award to Lane Giess, Fort Collins, Colo., June 3 during the group’s annual symposium in Las Cruces, N.M.

The annual Frank Baker/Larry Cundiff Beef Improvement Essay Contest for graduate students provides an opportunity to recognize outstanding student research and competitive writing in honor of Frank Baker and Larry Cundiff.

Giess is working on his doctorate at Colorado State University. His essay was titled “High-impact data programs: A framework for expanded opportunities in genetic evaluation.”

Historically, winning essays are selected and published in the annual BIF Research Symposium and Annual Meeting Proceedings. This year the winning essay is posted to the BIF website BIFSymposium.com. Giess will receive a $1,000 scholarship.

Baker is widely recognized as the “founding father” of BIF. He played a key leadership role in helping establish BIF in 1968 while he was chairman of the Department of Animal Science at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Cundiff retired after 40 years as a research geneticist with the USDA Agricultural Research Service. He was the research leader of the genetics and breeding research unit at the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center from 1976 until 2005. Cundiff not only designed, conducted and published some of the most important beef breeding research of the 20th century, but also led in the transfer of new technology to the beef industry through his continued work in BIF and presentations made across the nation and around the world.

More than 300 beef producers, academia and industry representatives attended the organization’s 54th Annual Research Symposium and Convention in Las Cruces, N.M. BIF’s mission is to help improve the industry by promoting greater acceptance of beef cattle performance evaluation.

For more information about this year’s symposium, including additional award winners and coverage of the symposium, visit BIFSymposium.com.