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    I was born December 9, 1962 in Neligh, NE. I grew up on the family ranch five miles west of Ewing, NE. I am the fourth generation to live on the ranch.  I graduated from Ewing High School in 1981.  After one year of college at UNL, Chancellor Massengale decided I should continue my education back at the ranch.  I must say I learned a lot that year, but very little in the field of academics.  In 1985 I married Joan, we have three children, Issac  (1988) Katie (1990) and Hannah (1993) all of them have earned post-secondary degrees.  Katie is teaching and coaching volleyball at Norfolk High.  She has a son, Josiah (2019).  Hannah is the marketing department at Charles Drew Health Center in Omaha.  Issac is running the ranch.  He has two sons, John (2017) and James(2019), they are the sixth generation to live on the ranch.  Joan also returned to college and earned her RN degree in 1992 and her BS in business management in 1997.  In 2003 we bought the Neligh News and Leader along with the Creighton News, Ewing News and Clearwater Record.  We print five other community newspapers as well.  In 2019 we sold the newspapers. 

    In 1996 corn hit $5 per bushel and the cattle market fell.  It was a very difficult time to be ranching.  I was complaining in the feed store about the cattle markets when one of my dad’s friends told me, “Stop bitching and get involved”.  Needless to say that is not what I wanted to hear, but he was right.  So I threw my name in the hat for parish council at St. Francis church.  I was elected to a three year term, the third year I was elected chairman.  Then I joined the Knights of Columbus and became a third degree knight.  In 2002 I ran for the 41st Legislative District but lost by four hundreds votes in the primary.  After the primary that same year I was asked to run for the Nebraska Beef Council (NBC).  In November I was elected to NBC and served two, four year terms (2002-2010).  That same year I was elected to serve on Congressman Osborne’s Ag Advisory committee, I served three years (2002-2004).  After we bought the newspaper I was elected to the Neligh Chamber of Commerce Board for a three years term.  In 2005 I helped to form the Independent Cattlemen of Nebraska (ICON) where I served as vice-president (2005-2009) and as president (2009-2019).  In 2010 I was appointed by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to serve on the Cattlemen’s Beef Board, I served two, three year terms (2010-2016).  

   In 2014 the Neligh-Oakdale School was trying to pass a $7 million bond, it became very contentious, dividing the citizens of the school district.  We had three incumbents and one write in candidate.  I tried to get others to run but no one wanted any part of it.  So ten days before the election I filed as a write in candidate.  The bond failed 9-1, the school board president and secretary lost, and both write in candidates won along with one incumbent.  The superintendent resigned along with one board member.  The division was so bad no one would serve as president of the school board.  I was the third choice for president and served as Neligh-Oakdale Schools president from 2014-2018.     

    In 2019 I was elected by the members to serve on the board of the Organization of Competitive Markets (OCM).   

John Roswech is a media and technology industry leader with over 25 years of experience working with the world’s largest brands, retailers, media companies and technology providers.  John has significant experience growing high-potential companies, having worked in strategic roles for multiple start-ups, guiding the rapid growth and ultimate sale of his last two start-ups.  John has always had a passion for the west and the great outdoors. The Roswech family originates from the New York area. Ten years ago, the family purchased pasture and farmland in Mott, North Dakota. John and his wife, Kim, felt that that the family needed a quiet place to settle their busy minds and schedules. The farm became a place where they could ride horses in the open fields, pheasant hunt, go fishing and have no access to cell service!! John and Kim dreamed of moving out west permanently. They made the decision to leave the east coast in 2018.   John and his family purchased cattle and started South 40 Beef in 2019.  They thought that building their own beef plant would make the most sense and be the most effective way to market their beef. In September 2020, they broke ground in Mott, ND, on a multi-million dollar state of the art, 6000 sq ft beef processing plant. Their main objective is to sell their North Dakota raised beef, direct to consumers, while also partnering with local ranchers to help them market their beef to consumers.  South 40 Beef is vertically integrated, owning the cattle, pasture and processing facility, that will be able to process 200 head per month. South 40 Beef will utilize e-commerce and social media platforms to market high-end North Dakota beef nationwide. John and Kim have two children, Connor and Megan, who are both college students. You can learn more about South 40 Beef by visiting www.south40beef.com

Eugene Graner is President of Heartland Investor Services, a commodity brokerage firm with branch offices in North Dakota and Minnesota. He established Heartland 25 years ago in 1995 in preparation for the Freedom to Farm Act. To date, he brings 36 years of trading experience, starting the early years working for EF Hutton and AG Edwards. With his experience in economics, he combines the technical aspects of market movements with fundamentals to create an easy to understand price outlook in the commodity markets.

Eugene became a registered Commodity Trading Advisor with the NFA in 2007, establishing Heartland Investor Capital Management, Inc. when he started publishing marketing advice for traders and hedgers and managing money in the markets.

He is featured daily on several radio stations throughout North Dakota and on multiple TV networks every week. He has been featured in Bloomberg News, Reuters, CNN, and other financial news sources. His programs are followed widely for his unique perspective of making the complicated seem simple.