thefencepost.com · Carrie Stadheim · September 7, 2026
Nebraska Gov. Pillen appoints new Brand Committee members | TheFencePost.com
# Nebraska Gov. Pillen appoints new Brand Committee members
News News | Sep 7, 2026
###### Carrie Stadheim Follow
editorial@tsln-fre.com
Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen has appointed new members to Nebraska’s Brand Committee. Upon the passage of LB 1187, the governor was required to appoint new members. Central to the new law is the formation of a new committee consisting of seven representatives. Previously, the Brand Committee had five members. The law change also requires the governor to approve the board’s selection for a director to oversee the program.
The group now includes five cattle producers, plus the owner or operator of a feedlot and the owner of a livestock auction market. The secretary of state as well as the director of agriculture serve as ex-officio members.
Governor’s appointments and initial terms: District 1 – Ben Holliday, 2-year term; District 2 – Jed Connealy, 3-year term; District 3 – Kraig Freeman, 4-year term; District 4 – Dr. Kip Lukasiewicz, 4-year term; District 5 – Jordan Feller, 2-year term; Registered Feedlot Owner – Larry (Doug) Sheppard, 3-year term; Livestock Auction Owner – Todd Eberle, 4-year term
The new membership requirements and the governor’s appointments are effective as of Aug. 28, 2026. The term of appointment for new Brand Committee members will be staggered starting out. Following those initial appointments, members will each serve a four-year term. Any appointments to the committee are subject to legislative confirmation.
The current board members, prior to the new appointments were: Duane Gangwish, Lexington; Brenda Masek, Purdam; Susan Connell, Hyannis; Steve Stroup, Benkleman. Chris Gentry, Hyannis, had served on the committee, but resigned after the legislative session.
REGISTERED FEEDLOTS FEES
Hundreds of ranchers attended legislative hearings to oppose bills that the Senate ultimately adopted, that lowered required inspections, audits and fees for registered feedlots (RFLs), significantly changed the makeup of the Nebraska Brand Committee, gave the governor final authority over the hiring of the brand committee administrator, increased the brand registration fee and allowed the movement of cattle from backgrounding lots into RFLs without inspections in some cases.
The law new committee setup requires the governor to appoint members from pre-determined districts, one of which is outside of the brand inspection area (approximately the western two-thirds of the state), and another district, a portion of which is outside of the inspection area.
Jordan Feller, is a part of Feller & Co Cattle feeding. He works at the family feedlot near Wisner. He represents District 5, which is outside of the brand inspection area.
Part of the family cattle operation consists of a ranch in Thomas County located in the Sandhills. A couple of different ranchers from back home asked Feller to apply for the position, so he did.
Feller said he believes the program could be run more efficiently and he looks forward to learning more about what can be done to help the program run more smoothly.
He believes the feedyards in the inspection area have been funding a significant portion of the program, and that fees for the cow-calf producer will likely go up to compensate for the lowering of fees for registered feedlots.
Jed Connealy of Whitman, said he applied for the seat because brand inspection is an important part of Nebraska’s cattle industry and he wanted to ensure good leadership continued to keep the program successful. “We’ve had good leadership in the past, and I think keeping a strong group of people is important,” he said.
He said he’s got a big learning curve ahead of him and he looks forward to it. “The new legislation will need to be interpreted and implemented. And I think we can do that,” he said.
Tanya Storer, a Cherry County rancher and state senator, served on the Nebraska Brand Committee from 2021 to 2023, advocated for the cow-calf producers who opposed the changes during 2025 and 2026. During session, Storer explained that mandatory inspection is needed to maintain a chain of title to cattle, which have dramatically increased in value in recent years.
“The bottom line for me is no segment of the industry is exempt from inspections, and the program will continue to be funded. At the end of the day, that’s a win given where we started and where we’ve been these last two years,” she said. “We have faced very well-funded efforts to get rid of brand inspection for RFLs or to completely eliminate inspection,” she said earlier this year.
‘SKIN IN THE GAME’
She was not impressed with the fact that many legislators who live outside of the inspection area and have no “skin in the game” as far as the cattle industry, took it upon themselves to make major changes to the brand law.
“I’m grossly disappointed in how legislation is crafted in Lincoln,” she said. “It’s based far less on fact and common sense and more on emotion and pressure from lobbyists.”
Several ranchers who testified voiced their disgust with the committee for taking up the issue while four massive fires raged across the state and many ranchers were calving.
On the new appointments, Storer said: “On behalf of over 14,000 cow-calf producers of Nebraska, I am profoundly disappointed in the lack of representation for them, demonstrated in these governor appointments. On the heels of President Trump’s announcement to bring in over 300,000 metric tons of imported beef, which is the equivalent to almost half of our entire annual cull market in the U.S., these appointments are yet another sign of contempt for our hard working ranchers. Make no mistake, the cow-calf producer is grossly under-represented in the membership of this board.”
“The fact that no previous board members were retained, even those who were recently appointed by this administration, raises concern about the intent for a meaningful and successful transition,” said Storer.
The purpose of the Brand Committee is to protect Nebraska brand and livestock owners from the theft of livestock through established brand recording, brand inspection and livestock theft investigation.