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Agriculture Committee holds confirmation hearing for Anna Kastner Whiteman to Nebraska State Fair Board
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Summary
The Nebraska Legislature’s Agriculture Committee heard the confirmation of Anna Kastner Whiteman to the Nebraska State Fair Board. Whiteman recounted her 4‑H background, work with extension offices and fair staff, and said she is a fifth‑generation landowner; the committee recorded one proponent and took no committee vote during the hearing.
Agriculture Committee Chair Senator Barry DeGabe opened a confirmation hearing for Anna Kastner Whiteman to serve on the Nebraska State Fair Board, and Whiteman described her lifelong connection to 4‑H and state fairs.
Whiteman, who told the committee she was appointed by Governor Jim Pillen, emphasized her “4‑H roots” and family ties to fair participation as qualifications for the board position.
The hearing provided committee members an opportunity to hear from the appointee and ask questions. Whiteman said she learned “countless life skills” in 4‑H and recalled the pride of having a project marked to go to the State Fair. “I pledge my head to clearer thinking, my heart to greater loyalty, my hands to larger service, and my health to better living, for my club, my community, my country, and my world,” Whiteman recited, describing the values she said 4‑H instilled in her.
Whiteman told the committee she worked under a longtime fair official identified in her testimony as Mrs. Smith and later for Bill Barrett of Lexington, and said those roles deepened her understanding of how fairs and extension work operate across the state. She also described herself as a fifth‑generation Nebraskan and a fifth‑generation landowner.
During a brief question-and-answer period, Senator Abel remarked on Whiteman’s statewide cycling trips, and Senator Folcroft asked about her prior employment with First National Bank; Whiteman confirmed she had worked on the same floor as the person Folcroft referenced. No other public witnesses spoke at the hearing, and the chair recorded one proponent and no opponents or neutral witnesses.
The committee did not record a committee vote on the appointment during the hearing and closed the session after questions. The matter will follow the committee’s usual process for nominations moving forward, with any formal vote or committee recommendation to be recorded separately from this hearing.
