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LINCOLN — The Center for Agricultural Profitability (CAP) at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln has been selected for the 2026 Western Agricultural Economics Association Outstanding Extension Career and Project Award for its work delivering practical, research-based economic education to farmers, ranchers, and agribusiness professionals. CAP is based in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Nebraska.
The award recognizes extension programs that demonstrate the importance of their subject, overall effectiveness, sound economic analysis, strong communication, and clear evidence of positive impact, according to the Western Agricultural Economics Association.
In 2025, CAP delivered 260 extension education programs that reached nearly 11,000 participants through weekly webinars and inperson workshops, while attracting over 225,000 website users to its articles and decision tools.
The center's Agricultural Budget Calculator program has enrolled 1,800 users who have generated 4,000 individualized enterprise budgets since the tool launched in 2021.
CAP leads statewide efforts related to farm succession and estate planning, policy education, enterprise budgeting, financial benchmarking, risk analysis, and wholefarm decision-making, ensuring economic considerations are a key part of production agriculture.
CAP faculty also developed a 12-module farm and agribusiness management curriculum for high school students, piloted by more than 20 teachers in 2025, and enhanced the farm and agribusiness management portion of the FFA Career Development Event, hosting a simulation competition for 95 teams.
Since launching in 2021, CAP programs have supported 22 graduate students through MS and Ph.D. degrees.
In her nomination letter, Kate Brooks, head of the Department of Agricultural Economics, cited CAP’s multi-channel outreach, its grounding in applied economic analysis, and the coordination of a team spanning faculty economists, Extension educators, communications staff, and technical personnel.
'CAP is a model for how interdisciplinary teams can organize effectively to deliver meaningful economic education,' wrote John Westra, director of the Panhandle Research, Extension, and Education Center, in support of the nomination.
