Lincoln, Neb., Bill Rishel of North Platte will be recognized as the newest University of Nebraska-Lincoln Block and Bridle honoree.
Rishel will be honored at 6 p.m. April 25 at the Block and Bridle Club Honoree Banquet at the Nebraska East Union. Tickets to the banquet are $10 for club members, $20 for non-members. Tickets can be purchased by calling Terri Behl at 402-472-6411 or emailing [email protected]. A reception for Rishel and his family, friends and past honorees will precede the banquet at 5:15 p.m.
The Block and Bridle award recognizes those who have contributed to Nebraska agriculture through leadership, service, youth projects, community activities and involvement with UNL.
Rishel was raised on a livestock and crop farm near York, Pa. He and his family moved to North Platte in 1975. Along with his wife, Barb, he started Rishel Livestock Services Inc., a sales management company, in 1977. He also began developing Rishel Angus, a registered herd of Angus cattle.
Rishel has been in a variety of leadership positions in many organizations in the livestock industry. He began his journey with the American Angus Association and Certified Angus Beef, where he sat on their board of directors for five years, including being chairman of the board in 1995. More recently, Rishel has been involved with the Nebraska Cattlemen, being the president in 2010.
Rishel Angus is nationally and internationally recognized and has received special recognition for its commitment to identification and improvement of carcass merit. Rishel has kept performance records on his herd and has identified outstanding seed stock for the operation from the beginning. Rishel Angus continues to be a leading breeder in terms of its commitment to identifying the carcass merit of cattle out of a belief that the real focus of the breeding program needed to be the acceptance of its product by consumers.
The Department of Animal Science in UNL’s College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources is part of the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
