Livestock Cattle Contract Manager Jeff Rose

By Denice Rackley
Answering an ad in a local paper brought Livestock Cattle Contract Manager Jeff Rose to National Farmers, but it’s the people that keeps him here.

Cattle have played a part in Rose’s life from day one. He grew up on a northwestern Pennsylvania cow/calf farm, and his parents owned a custom slaughter facility. In the 4H show ring, with homegrown steers or purchased purebreds, Rose spent a lot of time with cattle. Once old enough, he began working in the family slaughter facility. “I learned to break down a beef carcass from the best of them.”

Rose attended college at Penn State, coming away with a bachelor of science degree in animal science and a soon-to-be wife, Krista, with a degree in horticulture. After college, he worked on a Hereford farm in Massachusetts where he put his degree to good use and honed his cattle fitting skills.

He and Krista moved to Iowa, where she worked in ag retail selling chemicals, and he worked on a cattle farm before beginning his 30-plus-year career with the organization in 1992.

Rose has always worked in National Farmers’ livestock division. “When I began working for National Farmers, the majority of the cattle were cash sales and sold through one person headquartered in Iowa. Now almost all sales are handled regionally, and producers have more risk protection options.”

“I did spend a couple of years with the Missouri Department of Agriculture as an international marketing specialist from 1995 to 1997. It was a pretty cool job. I traveled to Taiwan once, Mexico twice, and hosted potential buyers traveling through Missouri,” he said.

When Rose had the opportunity to move back to Pennsylvania and continue his work with National Farmers, he jumped at the chance. He and Krista have three children. Jared is an engineer who designs combines for Case New Holland, Kaylin is a physical therapy major on a path to attain her doctorate, and Kendall is in her second year of college aiming for a degree in special education.

On the farm, Rose raises and sells hay and buys feeder calves in the spring. He runs stockers on pasture and sells them in the fall.

Working with National Farmers and Nexus shippers, Rose takes care of the forward contracting of cattle and handles the data entry, scheduling of contracts and hedging duties, along with a small amount of cash sales.

It isn’t Rose’s passion for cattle that has kept him at National Farmers all these years – it’s the people, members and staff. “I am privileged to work with and for incredible people,” Rose said. “I wish I had all the answers for our members, but most of them have heard me say, I can’t predict the future.”

When asked about his job, Rose reflected a bit. “Meeting people, getting to know our producers and traveling throughout the Midwest and being welcomed onto our producers’ farms is the most interesting part of my job.” Building relationships throughout the cattle industry and touring packing plants comes in a close second, he noted.

Rose said he would love to answer the timeless question on every cattle feeder’s mind – ‘When will the market peak?’ His advice – Don’t waste time and energy worrying about selling at the market peak – hasn’t changed much, and he doesn’t expect it to.

“Selling at the peak market never happens. It’s most important to lock in and sell at a profit that enables you to do it all again next year.”
As the last 34 years have proven, Rose enjoys helping producers sort through risk management options in the ever-changing cattle market, and he is just a phone call away.