Community development, and contributing to the industry are some of the attributes that Ron Rowan successfully portrays as an employee and neighbor. For the past twenty years, Ron Rowan has played a substantial role for Beef Northwest through cattle and grain marketing, commodity trading, and customer development. “I have been part of the BNW team for the last 20 years and feel very fortunate to have been a part of such a talented, dedicated group of people. Over the course of my employment, the company has grown from a single feedlot in Nyssa, OR to a multi-state agribusiness company that is vertically integrated. Part of the joy of being a member of the team is seeing employees fulfill their personal goals, by utilizing their talents for the benefit of the company.”
Ron’s passion for helping others in the cattle industry started early, as he grew up shadowing his parents, who were both veterinarians in Weiser, Idaho. “My dad did a lot of vet work on big ranches in the region and I often helped him with the herd health aspects of his business. This is when I discovered I wanted to be involved with the ranching industry.” After receiving an undergraduate degree from the University of Idaho, Ron continued his education by receiving his Masters in Ag Economics from Colorado State University, where he worked closely with the Extension Service. “While working with the Farm Business Associations in the state, I learned what ranchers and farmers desired most: to be better at marketing their products. This revelation gave me the motivation to focus my career in ag marketing.”
Ron has committed over 33 years to the cattle industry, working at both Simplot and AgriBeef before joining Beef Northwest. In that time, he has gained various accomplishments and titles while participating with multiple associations and organizations. Some of his industry achievements include: being the president of the Idaho Grain and Feed Association, a founding member and first chairman of the Idaho Ag in The Classroom program, feed advisor to the Idaho Barley Commission, a member of advisory committee to Senator Larry Craig, the marketing chairman for the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association, chairman of the Baker County Fairboard and a member of the board of directors of Barker Capital Management program at the University of Idaho where students are trained to become commodity traders.
Throughout his career at Beef Northwest, Ron has become the frontrunner for customer relations and industry development within the community. When reflecting on Beef Northwest as a company, he is proud of the standards it exemplifies: “Some of our core company values are supporting the youth, community service and contributing to the industry. I have focused some of my volunteer time in those areas.” Beef Northwest is honored to have an employee of Ron’s caliber as a long term member of its team. Ron lives in Baker City, Oregon with his wife of 28 years, Ann Rowan; they have two children Katie and Brent.