Hunter Nickell always planned to come home.
He just didn’t expect it to happen so quickly.
Nickell graduated from Humboldt High School in 2018 and from Kansas State University in 2021.
About three weeks ago, he joined the Southwind Extension District as a livestock production agent. He’ll assist local ranchers with questions about their animals, pasture management and more.
In the short four years he’s been away from home, Nickell has developed a wide variety of skills and experiences related to animal sciences.
He worked with horses and pasture management at a horse ranch and took care of animals for the Biosecurity Research Institute, both in Manhattan.
“Having a diversified experience gives me an advantage because I know about a lot of topics, and it also gives me the freedom to bring different types of programs to producers in this area,” he said.
“And if I don’t know something, I will find out. I have a lot of connections and resources. I love what I do and I want to help people in any way I can.”
GROWING UP in Humboldt, Nickell was a member of the Logan Pals 4-H Club and FFA. His family had a small herd of cattle, and he started his own herd with his 4-H bucket calf.
He met his wife, Jodee, in 2015, when they were freshmen in high school.
“We joke that she married me for my herd,” he said.
She will be the Family and Consumer Sciences teacher at HHS in the fall. Together, they now have about 10 cow-calf pairs with a mix of Angus and Simmental, with plans to expand.
He benefited from taking dual-credit college classes in high school, and was able to start K-State as a sophomore in the fall of 2018.
During high school, Nickell worked for Red Barn Veterinary Service in Iola.
It would be the first of several jobs that stoked his passion for working with animals. In fact, he enjoyed it so much, he was determined to become a veterinarian.
“I learned a lot. We did C-sections and pulled a lot of calves. I helped with surgeries and vaccination programs for dogs, cats and cows.”
At K-State, he studied animal science and took pre-veterinary courses.
