Montana is ranching country, and the 50,000 acres of the Sitz Angus Ranch, in Harrison, is about as Montana as it gets, with the third generation of the Sitz family breeding and raising registered Angus cattle. The ranch was born in Nebraska, with Will and Frieda Sitz, in 1923, and then the family moved to Colorado, and son Bob became active on the ranch. Bob and his bride, Donna, started a ranch of their own, moving to Montana in 1959, continuing the premier Angus lines that the family has worked so hard to develop.
Since 1989, when Bob, Sr., passed away, brothers Bob, Jr., and Jim have taken over the ranch, and what once was 2,000 acres of ranchland is now two ranches and 50,000 acres. The Sitzes pride themselves on the quality of their bulls and heifers, breeding the animals to be hearty and fleshy and durable in all kinds of conditions. And the brothers work with the National Forest Service to adhere to a “rest/rotation” use of the grazing lands so that they will be resilient and healthy.
Hearty and durable applies to ranchers as well as their animals. Says Bob Sitz, Jr., “You’ve got to be a welder, a farmer, and a grass manager, as well as being a good cattleman.”