Posted 09/29/2020

For immediate release

Sept. 29, 2020

For more information, contact:

Dan Rorvig, NDSA president: (701) 797-7338 • rorvigranchco@gondtc.com

Julie Ellingson, NDSA executive vice president: (701) 223-2522 • jellingson@ndstockmen.org

Elizabeth Neshem, NDSA communications director: (701) 223-2522 • eneshem@ndstockmen.org

USDA Under Secretary Greg Ibach to address

North Dakota Stockmen’s Association

Federal ag leader to discuss cattle industry issues at organization’s annual convention

The North Dakota Stockmen’s Association (NDSA) will welcome Greg Ibach, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) under secretary for marketing and regulatory programs, next week at the organization’s 91^st Annual Convention & Trade Show at the Ramkota in Bismarck, N.D. In his role as under secretary, Ibach oversees the Agricultural Marketing Service and Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. He will address the 3,000-member state cattle-producer trade organization on Saturday, Oct. 10, highlighting USDA’s ongoing investigation into the cattle market situation and the agency’s recently released Boxed Beef and Fed Cattle Price Spread Investigation Report. The NDSA had called on the agency to conduct the investigation last fall following the severe market disruptions that followed the temporary closure of a fire-damaged beef packing plant in Kansas and that continued with the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Cattle producers have many questions about these two black swan events that have impacted their businesses,” said Dan Rorvig, NDSA president and McVille, N.D., cow-calf producer. “We are grateful to the under secretary for making the trek to North Dakota and meeting with our cattle ranchers about these important issues. It’s not every day that you have a chance to talk directly with USDA’s second-in-charge.”

Before becoming the under secretary, Ibach, a Sumner, Neb., farmer and rancher, served as Nebraska’s director of agriculture and had oversight of Nebraska’s plant and animal health regulatory functions. He has been actively involved in foreign and domestic marketing and development activities for the better part of his career. He is also the former president of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture.

Ibach’s presentation is one of the highlights of the upcoming NDSA convention, “Roaring into the ‘20s,” which runs Oct. 8-10. It will also include a 50-plus-vendor trade show, an afternoon-long workshop on “Improving Price Discovery and Transparency in the Beef Industry,” a direct-beef-marketing how-to session, policy-development opportunities and more. For a full convention agenda, visit http://www.ndstockmen.org/programs/convention-new/.

Full- and one-day registration options are available ahead of time or on site. For more information, call (701) 223-2522 or e-mail ndsa@ndstockmen.org.

The NDSA is a 91-year-old cattle producers’ trade organization that works to unite, protect, promote, educate and serve North Dakota’s beef industry.

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