Heartland Bison Ranch

September 18, 2018

Heartland Bison Ranch started in 1996 when Lee and Rebecca Leier, along with their 8 children, moved back home to North Dakota after living and working in the construction industry in Las Vegas, NV for almost 20 years. At that time, the bison industry was looking strong and the opportunity presented itself to start the ranch. 10 cows and a bull started the initial herd and the first calves hit the ground in 1997. Fast forward to today and Lee and Rebecca, along with their son Kevin and his wife Anne, continue to work the ranch and grow the herd when opportunities present themselves. Over the last 10 years, Kevin has taken the lead on working to increase the production side of the ranch through adding better genetics and instituting a strong culling process. He will be the first to admit that the herds at Heartland Bison still have work to do but the trend in the recorded data continues to show that these decisions are paying off. That philosophy of genetic improvement is what hooked Kevin into the DTBA performance classes in the first place. The first DTBA performance sale Kevin and Lee attended resulted in the guys bringing home the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place heifers from the very first Girlz Gone Wild Class. Those animals made an immediate impact in the herd and from there the ranch has been all in of the classes the DTBA has put forward every year.

This summer marks the 4th year in a row that Heartland Bison has hosted a performance class for the DTBA. After three years of hosting the heifers, Kevin and Lee took on the challenge to have both classes hosted at the ranch. Kevin believes that the biggest thing that has allowed DTBA participation is the continual ranch growth. Both Kevin and Lee agree that the responsibility of hosting these animals is nothing to take lightly. Everyone at Heartland Bison believes that these classes have the ability to alter the direction of any ranch looking to improve their herds, and that is a driving factor in continuing to support the DTBA efforts. The Leier family would like to sincerely thank the ranches and the DTBA board for their trust and support in caring for these animals and hope readers will look forward to having a chance to buy some exceptional animals in February.