Alumni President
Jeff Pendleton
Role Model for Today’s Student

By Haven Miller

When Jeff Pendleton started classes in UK’s College of Agriculture in 1981, he planned on becoming a veterinarian. Having enjoyed many summers caring for livestock on his grandparents’ Christian County farm, Pendleton thought vet school seemed like the logical next step. But during his junior year at UK, his plan began to change.

“It was about that time that I started rethinking my future,” Pendleton said. “I sat down one day with a yellow pad and a pencil, and when I finished I realized vet school just wasn’t going to pencil out without a great deal of luck.”

Pendleton didn’t know it at the time, but his luck had already happened. He’d been hired by Bob Hall as a part-time worker at Farmers Feed Mill, a highly reputable, fast-growing, family-owned business.

“I swept floors, cleaned out bins, drove the trucks — whatever they asked me to do,” Pendleton said. “There were many things I liked about a family-owned business versus a big corporation, so when I graduated from UK in 1985 I decided to hang around and see what might happen.”

Today Pendleton is general manager of Farmers Feed Mill, manufacturer of Hallway Feeds. He is also president of the UK Agriculture Alumni Association. Attaining these two leadership positions was no coincidence.

“For agriculture students wanting to succeed, there could be no better role model than Jeff Pendleton,” said Lee Hall. “He came here as a part-time worker, then over time earned a position of responsibility because he was honest and had a desire to work and the ability to be an effective member of the team. Jeff exemplifies the value of perseverance.”

Pendleton credits the combination of classroom learning and on-the-job experience with helping him achieve his personal and professional goals.

“Having those experiences in the laboratory and classroom and then being able to apply them in the business setting where I might deal with a horseman or veterinarian gave me a lot of confidence,” he said.

While at UK Pendleton was active in Alpha Gamma Rho and majored in animal sciences. Mentors included Drs. Ward Crowe and Don Ely.

“Both of these men were advisors to me and the things they shared with me or magnified for me about the animal industry were extremely valuable,” he said. “We have high quality faculty and staff throughout the College of Agriculture, and that family atmosphere we talk about is a great benefit in that it fosters deeper educational relationships between students and faculty.”

As Alumni Association president, Pendleton hopes to give something back to the College.

“I did gain from my time and experiences at the College, so it’s going to give me a lot of pleasure to support the organization for current and future students,” he said. “And besides that, it’s going to be a lot of fun. Let’s face it, we wouldn’t be one of the best alumni associations in the country if we weren’t providing our members with great social activities.”

Jeff Pendleton ’85