Kiera Leddy Selected for National Cattlemen’s Scholarship

The National Cattlemen’s Foundation (NCF) announced Kiera Leddy, Drake University Law School, and Maci Mueller, University of California (UC) Davis, will each be recipients of a 2021 W.D. Farr Scholarship for $15,000. The annual W.D. Farr Scholarship program, established by NCF in 2007, recognizes outstanding graduate students who plan to pursue careers furthering the beef industry.

Leddy and Mueller were selected from 32 applicants based on their academic achievements, leadership, and commitment to the advancement of the beef industry. They will be recognized during the 2022 Cattle Industry Convention and NCBA Trade Show, February 1-3, in Houston, Texas.
Leddy graduated from Oklahoma State University with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural communications and is pursuing a Juris Doctorate at Drake University Law School in Des Moines, Iowa. Originally from Stockholm, South Dakota, she is a fifth-generation rancher helping her family raise Charolais cattle. 

Upon graduation, Leddy will return home to South Dakota to help farmers and ranchers navigate the regulatory and statutory framework surrounding wetlands, permits, zoning, and land use as well as estate and business planning. Her personal experience growing up on a multi-generational farm guided Leddy toward a career in law and communications. She plans to give producers a voice and help ensure their farmland remains in the family for generations to come. 

The scholarship honors the successful career of the late W.D. Farr. Farr was a third-generation Coloradan, pioneer rancher, statesman, and banker known for his extraordinary vision. His dedication to improving agriculture, livestock, and water development resulted in significant changes in farming methods that have influenced the practices of ranchers and farmers throughout the nation. Farr was the first president of the NCF and served as president of the American National Cattlemen’s Association, which later became the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA). Farr died at age 97 in August 2007.