Our Team

Brandon Willis

Brandon grew up on his family’s ranch in northern Utah. Brandon earned his undergraduate degree at Utah State University, his law degree from the University of Wyoming, and his LLM in agriculture law at the University of Arkansas. At Arkansas, he wrote an extensive history of U.S. farm policy while earning his master’s in agriculture law.

Brandon began his career working as an Agriculture Legislative Assistant for Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), then Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and senior Member of the Senate Agriculture Committee. He played a key role in the development, passage, and implementation of the 2008 Farm Bill from the U.S. Senate and later the Department of Agriculture. At Senator Baucus’ direction, Brandon drafted the Livestock Forage Program (LFP), the highly successful livestock disaster assistance program. LFP has provided U.S. ranchers over $6 billion in drought assistance nationwide.

After working for Senator Baucus, Brandon served as the Deputy Administrator for Farm Programs at the Farm Service Agency, and then as senior advisor on agriculture policy to then-Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. From, 2013 through 2016, Brandon served as the Administrator of the Risk Management Agency overseeing the federal crop insurance program. In that capacity, he worked to expand the crop insurance program and to improve crop insurance for ranchers.

Brandon has had the unique experience of serving in senior posts at both the Farm Service Agency and the Risk Management Agency.

Brandon, his wife, Vickie, and their son, Charlie, reside on the family ranch near Bear Lake, Utah.

Contact

brandon@ranchersinsurance.com

(435) 213-0463

Bret Abbott

Bret spent the early days of his childhood on his Grandpa’s dairy farm in Cache Valley Utah before moving to the small ranching community of Laketown, Utah. Small town country living suited his lifestyle well and helped foster his deep love of the outdoors. Bret grew up working with neighboring ranchers and is no stranger to the benefits and challenges of working in the agriculture sector.

Bret spent several years in the masonry trade, eventually starting his own small business. After marrying his wife Lacey, he went back to college and graduated in 2015 with a degree in Business Administration.

For the past five years, Bret has used his business background to help producers understand how crop insurance programs such as the Livestock Risk Protection (LRP) and Pasture, Rangeland & Forage (PRF) programs can help protect producers against price declines and drought while also raising their year over year revenue.

Bret and his wife along with their five kids currently reside in the small town of Richmond, Utah.

Contact

bret@ranchersinsurance.com

(435) 757-7350

Errol Rice

Errol Rice is a fifth-generation Montanan, whose family has been farming and ranching since 1877. Errol leverages his experience in ranching, business, and federal lands to specialize in Livestock Risk Protection (LRP) and Pasture Range Forage (PRF) products to mitigate risk for his clients.

Previously, he served as a Director at Profitable Ideas Exchange (PIE), advising clients on strategic relationships with Fortune 250 CFOs, and executive functions across private equity, private company, manufacturing, construction, and real estate. Previously, Errol was Executive Vice President of the Montana Stockgrowers Association and led trade and marketing policy for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association in Washington, D.C.

He received a Master of Business Administration from the W.P Carey School of Business at Arizona State University and a Bachelor of Science from Montana State University.

Errol and his wife Kelley live in Bozeman, MT, and they have two children, Jack and Will. Together, they enjoy their careers in higher education, business, and ranching.

Contact

erroldrice@pacercap.com

(406) 439-2029

Trevor Erickson

Trevor Erickson brings business experience and an agriculture background to Ranchers Insurance, LLC. Trevor grew up in rural Utah working on his grandfather’s dairy and cow-calf operations. Working with his grandpa, Trevor developed his lifelong passion for agriculture. He now resides in Providence, Utah, with his family, where he works with horses. Trevor’s days are filled working with the greatest people in the world, today’s livestock producers.

Contact

Trevor@usdainsurance.com

(435) 841-9480

Tim Teichert

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Ryan Smith

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Weston Taylor

Weston Taylor grew up on a cow/calf operation in southcentral Utah, which gifted him a deep-rooted passion for agriculture and the ranching industry. Weston received a bachelor’s degree in accounting and a master’s in education from Southern Utah University. Weston enjoyed a rewarding career as an educator for nearly two decades, serving as a teacher, technology-trainer, counselor, and principal. Weston finds the most joy with his wife Sarah and their three children.

As an agent specializing in the Livestock Risk Protection (LRP) and Pasture, Rangeland, and Forage (PRF) insurance programs, Weston combines his background in technology, education and the agriculture and ranching industry to help others leverage these two programs to serve their operations.

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