Leadership & Staff

Montana Stockgrowers Association is led by a volunteer and member-elected Board of Directors and is staffed by five employees based in Helena, Montana.

The board consists of 13 members, two directors from each district and three elected officers. MSGA directors volunteer their time to travel to important industry events and meetings to ensure representation of Montana’s ranching families.

Representatives from the Montana CattleWomen, Young Stockgrowers, Montana Association of State Grazing Districts and the Montana Public Lands Council also hold seats on the MSGA board.

All
Board of Directors
Montana CattleWomen
Montana Stockgrowers Foundation Staff
MSGA Staff
Young Stockgrowers

John Grande

President
Lesley Robinson

First Vice President
Turk Stovall

Second Vice President
Dean Lerum

District: North Central
Rich Roth

District: North Central
Keith Dynneson

District: Northeast
Lon Reukauf

District: Northeast
Kirk Donsbach

District: South Central
Dusty Hahn

District: South Central
Monty Lesh

District: Southeast
Ty Jones

District: Southeast
Bob Sitz

District: Western
John Hagenbarth

District: Western
Vikki Taylor

Montana CattleWomen President
Ian Glennie

Young Stockgrowers Chair
Rocky Forseth

Young Stockgrowers Vice Chair
Raylee Honeycutt

Executive Vice President
Keni Reese

Director of Marketing & Communications
Heidi Kool

MSF Program Coordinator
Ellie Brighton

Government Affairs Specialist
Ian Kane

Membership Representative

Rich Roth

District: North Central

Email: [email protected]

Hometown: Big Sandy

Elected: 2021

Industry Involvement: The IX Ranch is a multi-generational cow/calf operation running 3500 mother cows on a little over 130,000 acres southeast of Big Sandy, Montana. The ranch consists of 6 divisions, 4 of which produce the hay necessary to winter all the cattle. We pasture breed starting with heifers on May 19th (45 days) and cows on June 19th (58 days).

Composite bulls from Leachmans of Colorado are the primary genetic source. Each year the ranch sells 1000-1200 head of steer calves off the cow the third week of October with another 500-600 head of steers being weaned in September and fed at Centana feedlot south of Billings until February. All ranch heifer calves are weaned between September 10^th and October 10th and developed at the Centana feedlot, and 650 replacement heifers are selected and returned to the ranch in April.

The ranch consists of approximately 4,000 acres of farmland, which is managed on shares with local farmers. The ranch produces its own winter feed on 4,300 acres of flood and pivot irrigation.

The IX Ranch has been owned and operated by two families since 1955. Roths have been managing the IX Ranch for three generations. I have been back on the ranch since January 2002. During that time, I have transitioned through all the processes and seasons of our business. We have a family board of directors and employ 5 full time managers along with a spring and summer internship crew.

I currently serve as vice president of the corporation and am responsible for all financial and upper management decisions as well as all social and governmental affairs. My wife Jeri assists me in these duties by overseeing all office management and bookkeeping functions.

Leadership Service: I graduated from the University of Montana with a business degree and served as the Marketing Director for the Montana Department of Agriculture from 1996-1998. While working for the department I received the Governor’s award for excellence.

I served as the Marketing Director for the Arizona Department of Agriculture, 1998- 2000, and did marketing and sales for Hickman’s Egg Ranch in Glendale, Ariz., 2000-2001. I held this position until December 2001 when I had the opportunity to move back to the ranch.

During the course of my career, I have had the opportunity to work in varying capacities with many different private businesses and state and federal agencies, as well as travel around the country and world marketing US food products from mint and Christmas trees to beef, vegetables and citrus. While in Arizona, I attended and completed Project CENTRL (Center for Rural Leadership).

I attended NCBA’s Young Cattlemen’s Conference in 2009, and am the current chair of MSGA’s Water Committee.

Other Leadership:

Former president, Big Sandy Rotary Club (2 years)
Current board member, Big Sandy Conservation District
Member, Board of Ag Operations Technology, Northern Montana College.

Challenges Facing the Beef Industry: I feel that the cost of doing business in an industry that has no control over its input costs has and will continue to plague our industry. The price of supplies, equipment and services coupled with increased demand for higher wages will force ag producers to really think outside the box to find new revenue streams and ways of doing business.

I feel that beef is a commodity, no matter what level; organic, natural or conventional. Therefore, as an industry, we need to work together to find new ways to move beef products all over the world, while at the same time keeping with strong US standards of safety and quality. Under the current administration and direction the world is going as it relates to Climate Change, pandemics and the like, our industry has an opportunity to benefit from large amounts of Carbon held in the land and the safe, quality food source it provides.

Society’s growing need for food, open space and feeling healthy and safe opens doors for this industry. The challenge will be having the business sense and resources to grow internally and externally. WATER and water resource management will affect those of us in the northern states. Retaining water rights and water will be something all landowners should be focused on.

Lastly, I feel that government and societal pressures will drive our industry in the next 10 years. We as an industry must remain vigilant in our efforts to be present and active in all levels of the food chain.

Lon Reukauf

District: Northeast

Email: [email protected]

Hometown: Terry

Elected: 2020

Industry Involvement: Lon’s grandparents homesteaded near his ranch in 1910 and raised eleven children. His parents began the current operation in 1958, and he helped manage the ranch throughout his life except during college at MSU-Bozeman, where he earned an Agriculture Production degree. He and his wife Vicki returned to the ranch in 1982 and helped grow the ranch roughly six times as large as it was originally. They have a son Thane and daughter Dr. Lynze Franko. Along with their son and daughter-in-law, they run mostly a cow-calf operation consisting of Black Angus-cross cattle. They keep replacement females with some AI and have retained ownership of calves and finish them in custom lots. They also purchase feeders to finish. Lon has 38 years of commodity futures trading experience. Their ranch has been a long-time Fish, Wildlife and Parks Block Management participant. They have implemented an extensive rotational grazing system with numerous proactive conservation methods and were the 2016 State and Region V Environmental Stewardship Award winner.

Leadership Service: Lon has served as director of the Southeastern Montana Livestock Assn., served on the Prairie County Weed Board, was a Montana Range Days speaker, an Environmental Stewardship Ranch Tour host, and has been president, secretary and director of the Terry Roping Club. He was a founding steering committee member and chair of the Montana Grazing Lands Conservation Intiative, served as representative for several counties on the Big Dry/Powder River Resource Area BLM Management Plan, and was chair of Montana Young Stockgrowers. He is a member of the National Public Lands Council. Lon is current chairman of the Prairie County Land Planning Board, founding member of the Prairie County Predator Board, Past Master and current Secretary of Terry Masonic Lodge #74, and past Elder and current Deacon of Terry Community Presbyterian Church.

Challenges facing the beef industry: There is a bottleneck at the beef processing phase of our industry that creates a huge farm to retail spread in prices. We need more ranch-direct sales to consumers as capitalism does not work without competition. I’m a vigorous supporter of the beef check off because continuing investment in product development and promoting the image of beef is extremely necessary for our future. Environmental regulations such as governmental climate change policy may be an opportunity or a complete disaster so we must be wary. The next few years, the biggest challenge for our ranch will be grasshoppers.

Dusty Hahn

District: South Central

Email: [email protected]

Hometown: Townsend

Elected: 2022

Industry Involvement: Hahn Ranch is a diversified, family-owned agricultural corporation that has been in business 112 years in Broadwater County. Hahn Ranch strives for high volume, highly efficient livestock and crop production. A cow/calf ranch, irrigated farm, small feedlot enterprise, and a trucking company comprise the core of the company’s business. There are currently three generations living on the ranch, two of which are actively involved in operating and growing the business. Dusty serves as an “operations manager,” and works hands-on with all aspects of the company. He also oversees seasonal employees and focuses on effectively organizing operations.

Leadership Service: Dusty is an advisory committee member for Broadwater Co. Extension Service’s Rancher Roundtable program, served as vice chair and chair of MSGA’s Water Subcommittee, and has been trustee, vice chair and chair of the Montana Stockgrowers Foundation. He was a delegate to the NCBA Young Cattlemen’s Conference, and participated in the King Ranch Institute for Ranch Management Excellence in Ag leadership program.

Challenges Facing the Beef Industry: The biggest challenge to the beef industry in the next ten years revolves around the same challenge we have faced for the last 100 years: politics. As agriculturalists, we have a very keen focus on the physical and economic forces and influences that pressure our business. However, we do not always focus on or have a good grasp of the influence that politics play in our lives and our industry. The beef industry needs great leaders to navigate through the pitfalls of complex issues, opposing viewpoints, and unfavorable legislation. Leaders in the beef industry will be at the forefront of negotiating favorable policy at the local, state, federal, and international level. They must be the face and the voice of those they are representing. I believe most agriculturalists would rather stay in the country and do what they do best: produce. However, leaders must step forward and represent these interests. We all recognize the successful marketing campaign, “Beef… it’s what’s for dinner.” When speaking about politics, this saying is often used: “If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.” So it is imperative that we, as leaders, are involved in the political process to make sure that we have a seat at the table, and it’s beef that’s for dinner, not beef producers.