Eric Nelson

Eric Nelson is a farmer, feeder, and rancher from Moville, Iowa in northwest Iowa, where he and his wife, Carol, operate a diversified family operation across Woodbury, Plymouth, and Cherokee counties. Their operation includes two feedlots, a cow/calf herd, crop production, and a commercial farm seed business. The operation feeds out its own cattle while also sourcing feeder cattle, primarily from western states.

The Bar N brand traces its roots to Cherokee County, where the family continues to operate the original farm purchased by Nelson’s great-grandfather in 1920. He is a fourth-generation producer, and that legacy continues with the fifth and sixth generations, his sons and grandsons. Nelson graduated from Iowa State University in 1984, and he and Carol, a Nebraska native, were married in 1989. Together, they have five children, three daughters-in-law, and eight grandchildren.

Nelson has been a member of R-CALF USA since 2001 and previously served as a director and vice president. He now serves as trade chair. In 2023, he helped form the Iowa Stock Growers Association to advocate for independent livestock producers and currently serves as its president. He has testified on behalf of R-CALF USA before the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission on issues impacting cattle producers. He is also a plaintiff in the class action antitrust lawsuit filed in April 2019 by R-CALF USA and several cattle producers against the major meatpackers.