Beel Ranch in Nebraska: History, What It Raises, How It Makes Money and How to Contact It
Profile updated November 2026
Beel Ranch is a third-generation Sandhills cow-calf ranch about ten miles from Johnstown, Nebraska, spanning the Cherry and Brown county line. Started in 1937, it covers roughly 22,000 acres, runs about 1,200 cow-calf pairs and won the 2013 Nebraska Leopold Conservation Award.
| Location | About ten miles from Johnstown, on the Cherry and Brown county line, Nebraska Sandhills |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1937, by Henry O. Beel |
| Sectors | Angus-based cow-calf; native grassland; subirrigated meadow hay; some pivot irrigation |
| Scale | About 22,000 acres and about 1,200 cow-calf pairs, per a 2016 DTN Progressive Farmer profile |
| Why it is notable | 2013 Nebraska Leopold Conservation Award; third-generation family ranch |
| Ownership | Beel family; Frank, Henry and Adam Beel with Frank's wife Jennifer, as of the 2016 profile |
| Official website | DTN Progressive Farmer profile 'Borrowed Land' (news profile, not an operation website) |
History of Beel Ranch
Henry O. Beel started the ranch in 1937. His son Henry C. later ran it and passed it on to his sons, and after Henry C. died in 2003 the third generation carried on. DTN Progressive Farmer's 2016 profile, titled Borrowed Land, describes Frank Beel, his wife Jennifer, his twin brother Henry and younger brother Adam running the ranch together.
The profile notes the family won the 2013 Leopold Conservation Award for Nebraska, which recognizes private landowners who combine production with stewardship. The family describes the ranch as working best as one unit, and that shared-management approach is central to how the property is organized.
What Beel Ranch Grows and Raises
The ranch covers about 22,000 acres, most of it nonirrigated native grassland, with 3,500 acres of subirrigated meadows and 260 acres under center pivots. It runs about 1,200 Angus-based cow-calf pairs: roughly 800 spring-calving cows that start calving around March 1 and about 400 fall-calving cows that begin in September.
Grazing is rotational, and DTN reports no pasture is visited more than three times a year. The family keeps native warm- and cool-season grasses to anchor sandy soil, has installed more than 30 miles of pipeline to spread water, and planted about 9,500 trees in roughly 31 shelterbelts for wind protection and wildlife. It also uses grain banking with a local co-op to secure feed in dry years and worked with the Sandhills Task Force on five erosion-control structures along a four-mile stretch of Plum Creek.
How Beel Ranch Makes Money
Calf sales
The core revenue is the calf crop from about 1,200 pairs. Splitting the herd into spring and fall calving spreads labor and gives the ranch two sale windows, though the sources do not describe buyers or prices.
Hay and feed from meadows and pivots
Subirrigated meadows and a small pivot acreage supply winter feed. Grain banking with a co-op gives the ranch a hedge on feed costs in drought years.
Stewardship investment
Pipelines, shelterbelts and creek work are costs that protect pasture productivity. The sources present them as long-term investments, not as separate income lines.
Farm Insight: What Other Operators Can Learn from Beel Ranch
The first lesson is to manage the whole ranch as a single unit. Combining pastures, meadows and herds under one plan lets brothers share labor and equipment instead of dividing the land into small pieces.
The second is to build drought tolerance before the drought: water pipelines, shelterbelts and a grain bank each reduce the cost of a bad year. The third is to partner on conservation. Working with a task force on creek structures spread cost and expertise beyond the ranch boundary.
Running 22,000 acres with your brothers is either a tribute to family harmony or a very long chain of text messages, and farm.FM salutes the Beels either way. The Sandhills supply endless farm satire, from the fall-calving cows that never read the calendar to the farm humor of counting 9,500 trees one more time, and every ranch family knows that good ranch humor and the occasional farm jokes about pipeline leaks keep the pickup running.
farm.FM calls itself the nation's first satirical farm site, and between the headlines it spins Tractor Tunes, country music for farmers; a good place to start reading is this farm.FM columnist's archive.
How to Contact Beel Ranch
Website: https://www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/web/ag/news/article/2016/09/19/family-legacy-bright-future-2
No official ranch website, address, phone or email was found in this research, so the link is the best verified public page about the ranch (November 2026). The profile dates from 2016, so family roles and herd numbers may have changed. Confirm details before any inquiry.
Beel Ranch Sources and Agriculture Authority Links
- DTN Progressive Farmer: Borrowed Land - 2016 profile of the Beel family and ranch
- Western Livestock Journal: Sandhills livestock tour - independent coverage of Sandhills ranch tours
- Beef: It's What's For Dinner, Nebraska - Nebraska beef industry and checkoff information
- USDA NASS Census of Agriculture - national and county farm statistics, including Nebraska
- USDA NASS Quick Stats - searchable Nebraska crop and livestock data
Beel Ranch FAQ
Where is Beel Ranch?
DTN places it about ten miles from Johnstown, Nebraska, in the Sandhills on the Cherry and Brown county line.
How big is Beel Ranch?
DTN reported about 22,000 acres and about 1,200 cow-calf pairs in 2016.
Has Beel Ranch won awards?
The family received the 2013 Leopold Conservation Award for Nebraska.
How can I contact Beel Ranch?
No ranch contact details were found in public sources reviewed. Use the DTN profile for background and confirm inquiries through local Nebraska cattle organizations.
Beel Ranch is a good example of a family cow-calf business that pairs scale with grass, water and tree work. See our Nebraska farms guide for the programs and markets that shape ranching across the state.