Ronald Eustice is Executive Director for the Minnesota Beef Council. He has directed the Minnesota Beef Council's research and promotion efforts on behalf of Minnesota's 28 thousand cattle producers since 1990.
As the Minnesota Beef Council's chief executive, Eustice coordinates Minnesota's beef check off program as authorized by the USDA and the Beef Board. Minnesota beef check off revenue reaches approximately $1.6 million annually.Eustice also is the state coordinator for the Beef Quality and Safety Assurance program, which has been successfully implemented at producer, veterinarian and educator levels. He directs beef issues management activities for the council and oversees research and promotion activities including statewide radio, print, and television advertising campaigns.
Eustice has a special interest in food safety and has been at the center of efforts to establish food irradiation as a routine intervention practice to improve the safety of ground beef and other foods. He has conducted and participated in hundreds of food irradiation education activities in more than thirty US states and Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Peru, Spain, Thailand and Uruguay.
Eustice has represented the U.S. cattle industry on various assignments in more than 80 different countries and recently completed 3 years of service in Indonesia. Previous career responsibilities include nearly 20 years of international marketing activities with major U.S. corporations and cooperatives, including on-site assignments in Mexico and Uruguay. In 1967 Eustice represented Minnesota as an International 4-H Youth Exchange delegate to Uruguay, South America. Eustice is fluent in Spanish, German, and Indonesian, and has a working knowledge of three other foreign languages. Eustice has trained thousands of farmers and ranchers in the USA and throughout the world in genetic programs, quality assurance and artificial insemination.
Ronald, his wife Margaret (McAndrews) have two sons; Kevin, a graduate student at UCLA and John, a recent University of Minnesota graduate and a daughter Ann Marie majoring in Interior Design at the University of Minnesota. The Eustice family lives at Savage, Minnesota.