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@usdainsurance.com
(866) 374-0864

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. Smalltown country living suited his lifestyle well and helped foster his deep love of the outdoors. Bret spent most of his summers helping neighboring ranchers.

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

Bret uses his business background to help producers understand how crop insurance programs such as the Whole Farm Revenue Program and the Pasture Rangeland and Forage Program can help manage their risk improving their bottom line.

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

Contact

bret@usdainsurance.com
(435) 757-7350