Ray Erbele, who ranches at Streeter, North Dakota, is in his final year on the Cattlemen’s Beef Board. Erbele has a unique viewpoint with his previous experience as an owner of Napoleon Livestock Auction Market. “When you’re in the auction business, you work with every sector in the beef business and it gives you a very broad perspective on what their concerns are and trying to make a livelihood.” The cowherd is at levels not seen in nearly 75 years. Erbele doesn’t expect that to change quickly. “The average age of the producer is such that it’s pretty hard to maintain a cow herd and we have an economic situation where it’s very difficult for the young people to get engaged so we’re at the threshold of some very interesting times.”
