Valentine “Val” Kuska won wide acclaim for his efforts in developing irrigation, stabilizing farm production, and promoting educational programs for youth and adults. In 1922, he joined the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad as a colonization agent and later as an agricultural development agent. Val worked unceasingly toward irrigation and reclamation projects and was instrumental in restoring the balance of livestock population and feed supplies upset by drought.
Lush, green crops where once hot winds seared plants to a crisp . . . Forage-a-plenty where once livestock went hungry . . . County agents abound where once they were scorned . . . Vast programs for young and old where once they made their own . . .
This is the picture of agriculture in Nebraska which our honoree, Val Kuska, had a major part in painting during the past 50 years. His success stories are many, but each is based on making problems point the way to progress for the man on the soil. Our honoree is truly a man of the soil.
His resourcefulness was tested many times, but never faltered as he went about overcoming all odds to achieve what he believed to be right. He battled for issues with every means at his command believing that anything worth doing was worth doing well. Once he decided on a course of action, he stuck to it until the end. Anyone who did not agree with his point of view could expect to be talked out of it by the persistent, personable Val. As the years went by, we won the respect and admiration of all who knew him.
Kuska’s influence was evident not only in Nebraska but throughout the Great Plains and at least in one instance it extended to Canada. A member of the Canadian House of Commons heard about Kuska’s work with irrigation and asked to tour the area. Upon returning from the tour with Kuska, John R. Mac Nicol wrote the Burlington President stating: “I was continually struck with multitude of folks who knew Val on our 1,000 mile trip.” In Val Kuska the Burlington has a highly well-posted, highly thought of, most courteous, considerate, industrious and helpful official. Gentlemen, I am indeed happy to have known such a real and true man - gentleman -- as Val Kuska. I thank you for according me that high privilege.”
Val’s success over the years can be traced to his inherent faith in the future of Nebraska which was triggered as a boy when he took second place at the State Corn Show in 1906 after struggling on the home farm near Ohiowa trying to beet requirements of a corn club project. He soon realized what good corn crops could do for the hard-pressed farmers. The experience whetted his interest to learn more about agriculture. After completing the 10th grade at Milligan High School, Kuska decided to enroll in forestry at the University of Nebraska, but lacked the necessary high school credits for admission. He later entered the old school of agriculture and graduated in 1907.
Kuska helped homesteaders get settled and managed several farms and ranches in various parts of Nebraska, Wyoming and Colorado until 1913 when he and his brother decided to travel across Europe. The trip made it possible for Kuska to increase his knowledge of agriculture, but it was expensive in two ways. The trip itself cost $1100 and because he wasn’t home to supervise the work he lost $150 on 25 acres of sugar beets on the W.H. Ferguson farm at Bayard. The loss was due, ironically, to lack of irrigation water at the proper time.
As farm demonstrator in Madison County the next year, Kuska set about popularizing sweet clover because he thought it would increase the productivity of pastures in northeastern Nebraska. Although rebuffed at every turn, Kuska continued to preach the virtues of sweet clover and vowed he would not stop until they fired him. He employed the convictions and help of his good friend Cy Thompson. One by one, the farmers learned that stock liked sweet clover and that they did not die from eating the forage. Kuska later likened sweet clover to the first chewing tobacco -- you had to learn to like it. Madison County later became a center for the production of yellow sweet clover seed.
When World War I came along Kuska volunteered in the aviation section of the U.S. Army in hopes of going overseas. Group after group went overseas, but Kuska was left behind with the task of checking out the planes just before being sent overseas. Finally Kuska learned that the military considered him an enemy alien since his father was not a U.S. citizen. The elder Kuska had filed his first papers but had never become a naturalized citizen since migrating from Czechoslovakia in 1881. The officials failed to realize that Val was born in the U.S. which made him a citizen. Although he did not go overseas Val had the opportunity of working closely with Jimmy Doolittle who went on to become a World War II flying ace.
After holding several positions as colonizer and farm manager in Nebraska, Wyoming and Idaho, Kuska joined the Burlington Railroad in 1922 as a colonization agent. During the first year on the job, he answered 2,353 letters and personal inquiries on settlement opportunities in the Burlington’s territory. Carefully maintained records show Kuska mailed 85,463 letters together with 50,447 publicity folders between 1926 to 1929.
Although Kuska was interested in settling land in the 20’s, he also demonstrated an active interest in irrigation as a means of stabilizing agricultural production. He cut his eye teeth on irrigation years before working in the North Platte Valley and could see the benefit in having rivers furnish water where clouds could not. He conceived the time when the nation would need the productive capacity of dryland areas. As a result of his convictions, he prepared exhaustive statistical reports comparing production irrigated farms with non-irrigated farms and presented his finding before government investigating committees. In the years that followed, Kuska played a major role in gaining local, state and national support for every major irrigation and reclamation project in Nebraska and in many neighboring states. His most notable contribution was made in the development of the central Nebraska Public Power District commonly referred to as the Tri-County.
Once while out stumping the territory to encourage local acceptance of irrigation, he came across an apparent progressive farmer who was not the least bit interested in irrigation. Val noticed that the farmer’s wife was watering tulips and both said they could not grow tulips without water. Val asked the farmer whether he would use water if it flowed by his place. The farmer replied in the affirmative, but questioned whether it would ever occur. Kuska made sure that water did flow by the farm.
In later years Kuska wrote a bulletin entitled “Irrigation a National Asset”, which was distributed to 45,000 persons mostly in the industrial east with the purpose of selling labor interests on the value of irrigation. He portrayed irrigation development as a good government investment that benefits everyone not just the farmer. The bulletin won national acclaim and was reprinted in several publications.
Kuska’s efforts were recognized in 1957 when the South Platte United Chambers of Commerce presented him with a plaque for his outstanding contributions in the field of irrigation.
Earlier this year he was cited by the four states irrigation council meeting in Denver, Colorado as winner of the headgate award for “Selfless service in promoting the welfare of irrigation for nearly 40 years. The wisdom of his experience and his love of the land passed on to countless farmers and irrigation organizations, mostly in Nebraska.”
When the drought came along in the 30’s, Kuska turned his efforts to obtaining and maintaining feed and forage supplies as a means of retaining foundation herds of livestock. He helped establish and direct the pasture-forage-livestock program from its inception. Kuska served as chairman for seven years. When many felt the P-F-L program had outlived its usefulness, Kuska made sure it was continued. He later saw the P-F-L program become national in scope.
Throughout his tenure with the Burlington, Kuska organized a number of educational trains in cooperation with the Agricultural Extension Service and other interested groups. Several million farmers participated in the activities. In addition to carrying the “gospel of better farming”, at least one of the trains had an effect on the outcome of the Presidential election of 1924. In an effort to encourage use of better sires, the Burlington took out a load of 31 purebred sires to trade for an equal number of scrub sires. Election forecasts indicated that Robert Lafollette, Progressive from Wisconsin, would carry Nebraska but Calvin Coolidge carried the state. After the election, the Republican National Committee Chairman told Hale Holden, Burlington President at the time, that the purebred sire program had swung Nebraska to the Republicans. Four special sugar beet education trains were sent into western Nebraska during the latter half of the 20’s. Following one of these trips, sugar beet returns increased $1 million.
There were times when Val’s enthusiasm and drive proved embarrassing to the railroad management but he generally won the full support of his supervisors because the betterment of agriculture meant progress for the company.
He became a stalwart in support of agricultural extension work and research. When President Roosevelt asked congress to cut $220,000 from federal appropriations for dryland experiment stations, state extension work and research, Kuska went into action. After compiling data from many sources, he wrote to the President and through Senator Wheeler of Montana urged reconsideration. As a means of getting the President to change his mind, Kuska refreshed Roosevelt’s memory of a letter written to the Atlanta, Georgia newspaper in July 1932. In that letter Roosevelt went on record as being “forcefully in favor’ of agricultural extension and experimental work. The brashness of the Burlington agent in reminding the President paid dividends. Congress voted full appropriations for agricultural extension and research work. A similar situation arose in the late 30’s and Kuska resorted to similar tactics to help achieve the same results.
In Nebraska, he was perpetual prod to the extension service and the people it served. He has always been a faithful friend of the University of Nebraska. He stumped the country many times in support of local county extension work just as he did for irrigation and other issues. As a result of his efforts in support of extension work, the Nebraska County Agricultural Agents Association in 1956 presented Kusk with a certificate of commendation for meritorious service in the field of agricultural education. In 1954, he was made an honorary member of Innocents Society in recognition of his interest and service to the University.
Although Kuska traveled extensively throughout his career, he was a strong family man but not until 1928. “I didn’t have time to settle down before then,” he confesses. In that year he married Marie Letovsky who was born on a farm north of Florence. She, too, was a 4-H Club member and 4-H always has been a part of their lives. The Kuskas led or assisted 33 different 4-h clubs with a combined total of 300 members between 1941 and 1954. Many a club meeting was held in the basement of their home at the outskirts of Omaha. All three Kuska children, Richard, Calvin and Janet followed in their parents’ footsteps and were rewarded with trips to the National 4-H Club Congress in Chicago and two were Washington trip winners.
Although the National 4-H Club Congress had not started when Kuska was active in boys and girls work, he did get an early trip to Chicago as a delegate to the first National Corn Show in 1907. He served as judge and assistant superintendent at five succeeding shows. In addition, he has had the pleasure of escorting Nebraska delegations to the annual 4-H event in Chicago. Many young men and women in Nebraska remember their trip to Chicago and the box of golden delicious apples that Val always provided.
Kuska’s efforts in behalf of the 4-H program and agriculture in general won national recognition in 1954 when he was selected as one of the nine in the United States to receive the coveted National 4-H Alumni Award. It was a fitting tribute to the man who got his start in boys and girls club work.
Such a diverse career as Val recorded hardly sounds like that of a railroader. But as the editor of Irrigation Engineering Maintenance Magazine once penned: “When Mr. Kuska talks about his job you find that working on the railroad can mean almost anything.” That’s your friend and mine, Val Kuska, whose contributions to Nebraska agriculture have been numerous and great, but the full benefit of his efforts are yet to be realized. Nebraskans of yesterday, today and tomorrow can be thankful for the faith which Val Kuska had and still has in the future of his favorite state. May we have more like him.
