Benjamin Franklin Buell and his wife Harriet established Shovel Dot Ranch in 1883. Benjamin, a cigar maker and schoolteacher from Michigan, first saw the Sandhills when traveling to Washington and so liked the area that he moved here in 1882. Benjamin was known as a keen businessman with a vision of the development of the cattle industry in Nebraska. Each generation to follow, Homer and Cecelia, Bernard and Susan, Jan and Don Lear, Roger and Sue, Homer and Darla, Larry and Nick, Chad and Tricia, and Devon Nelson, five in total, have all strived to make Shovel Dot, the land and the cattle, the best that it could and can be. The ranch is at present a partnership of Homer and Darla Buell and their son Chad and his wife Tricia and their 4 children. The ranch, which is a good mixture of hay meadows and pastureland, covers about 15,000 acres with and a backgrounding operation being the primary enterprise. Whether it be managing the land, the cattle, or the people their information system is second to none. Homer Buell is the fourth-generation co-owner of the Shovel Dot Ranch near Rose, Nebraska. Buell has been an advocate for agriculture and the cattle industry through his service in trade organization leadership roles. He is a former President of the Nebraska Cattlemen’s Association and the Nebraska Hereford Association as well as holding many positions within the National Cattlemen Beef Association in his 14 years of board service. He has been President of the State 4-H Foundation, Campaign for Nebraska, Committee Chair, Sustainable Animal Production Systems, President of Ag Builders of Nebraska, and Chairman of the Rock County Community Fund. A graduate of the University of Nebraska, he is a strong supporter of youth activities and has worked with the University of Nebraska for the benefit of students and research programs, as well as serving on the University of Nebraska President’s Advisory Council. The Buell Family were the recipients of the 2012 Nebraska Leopold Award