Black Leg Ranch in North Dakota: History, What It Raises, How It Makes Money and How to Contact It
Profile updated November 2026
Black Leg Ranch is a five-generation cattle, bison and farming operation near McKenzie, North Dakota, covering about 17,000 acres. It won the 2016 North Dakota Leopold Conservation Award and the 2016 national Environmental Stewardship Award from the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, and it has built tourism, brewing and direct-meat businesses around its grazing system.
| Location | McKenzie, North Dakota |
|---|---|
| Founded | Homesteaded in the 1880s by George H. Doan |
| Sectors | Angus cattle; bison; cover-crop and no-till cropland; direct meat; hunting; lodging and events; brewery |
| Scale | About 17,000 acres, including about 14,000 acres of grazing land; a news profile reported about 3,000 cattle and 400 bison |
| Why it is elite | 2016 North Dakota Leopold Conservation Award; 2016 national NCBA Environmental Stewardship Award |
| Ownership | Doan family; Jerry and Renae Doan with their sons |
| Official website | Leopold Conservation Award announcement (no official site found) |
History of Black Leg Ranch
George H. Doan moved from Canada in the late 1800s and homesteaded in Dakota Territory, starting with 160 acres and a sod house. His grandson, Jewell Doan Sr., brought the first Angus cattle to the area in 1930, and the ranch takes its name from the black cattle. Today Jerry and Renae Doan lead the operation as the fourth and fifth generations, with their children expected to take over in coming years.
Jerry studied animal science at North Dakota State University and later trained in holistic management, which he credits with improving rangeland, wildlife and profitability. Sons Jeremy, Jay and Jayce each lead a business unit: hunting, agritourism and the brewery, and cattle, bison and meat sales.
What Black Leg Ranch Grows and Raises
The ranch uses intensive grazing modeled on historic bison behavior: large herds, concentrated hoof impact and long rest periods. The national award write-up describes over 65 miles of high-tensile fence creating 90 pastures, with cattle moved regularly. Sandy ground once bare and used by off-road vehicles now supports big and little bluestem, purple prairie clover and yellow coneflower.
On partnered cropland the ranch uses crop rotations, no-till and cover crops. Landowner material describes about 700 acres of a 20-species cover crop mix that supports pollinators and gives low-cost winter grazing. Crop residue and cover crops feed cattle, so the cropland and grazing systems work together.
How Black Leg Ranch Makes Money
Direct beef and bison
A news profile describes a direct-to-consumer meat business built on grass-fed, smaller-framed cows and bison, managed by Jayce and Kassy Doan.
Hunting and outfitting
Rolling Plains Adventures offers guided waterfowl, pheasant, deer and coyote hunts, plus a bison fair chase hunt. The outfitting business has appeared on national and regional hunting shows and received a governor's tourism award.
Lodging, events and brewery
The Grand Lodge, a renovated 1917 home, hosts hunting parties and groups. The Copper Jewell event center, a converted barn, hosts weddings, and Black Leg Brewery, opened in 2018, brews craft beer including a bison beer made with NDSU.
Farm Insight: What Other Operators Can Learn from Black Leg Ranch
The main lesson is that healthy grass can support more than cattle. Wildlife habitat became a hunting business, the ranch's heritage became lodging and weddings, and the cattle and bison became a direct meat brand. Each enterprise rests on land the family already managed well.
A second lesson is succession by assignment: giving each son a distinct business to run avoids fighting over one job. A third is that environmental awards are marketing assets, because recognition from the Leopold program and NCBA gives the brand credibility with customers and neighbors.
Black Leg Ranch is proof that the best bison joke is a bison that pays its own brewery bills. Readers who enjoy farm.FM for farm satire, farm humor, ranch humor and farm jokes might picture a herd quietly auditing the wedding barn's seating chart. We say it kindly, since few ranches can claim cattle, bison, a lodge and a taproom without losing the thread of the grass.
Readers who want the full experience can pair the jokes with Tractor Tunes, the country music for farmers that farm.FM, the nation's first satirical farm site, plays between stories. This author page is a fine starting point.
How to Contact Black Leg Ranch
No official ranch website was found in the sources reviewed, so this link is the 2016 Leopold Conservation Award announcement, November 2026. Business contact details were not confirmed; search for the ranch's outfitting, lodge or brewery pages and confirm details before traveling.
Black Leg Ranch Sources and Agriculture Authority Links
- Sand County Foundation: 2016 award - Leopold Conservation Award announcement for the ranch
- Beef Magazine: national stewardship award - Coverage of the NCBA award and grazing practices
- Grand Forks Herald profile - News profile of the ranch's cattle, bison, hunting, lodging and brewery
- LandCAN: Black Leg Ranch - Conservation success story on grazing and cover crops
- USDA NASS 2022 Census of Agriculture: North Dakota - State farm numbers, land and sales
Black Leg Ranch FAQ
Where is Black Leg Ranch?
It is near McKenzie in central North Dakota.
How big is Black Leg Ranch?
About 17,000 acres, including about 14,000 acres of grazing land, according to the national award coverage.
What awards has it won?
The 2016 North Dakota Leopold Conservation Award and the 2016 national NCBA Environmental Stewardship Award.
What does the ranch sell besides cattle?
Sources describe bison and direct meat, guided hunts, lodging, wedding events and craft beer.
Black Leg Ranch shows how grazing, wildlife and hospitality can share one landscape. For soils, programs and markets across the state, see the North Dakota farms guide linked on this site.