Assistant Ranch Manager

ASSISTANT RANCH MANAGER

Brush Prairie Ranch is a 240-acre bison ranch located in northwestern Minnesota owned by a husband and wife that live on the ranch. The closest town is Roseau and it is a 20 minute drive away. We are 2 hours from large towns of Bemidji, Minnesota or Grand Forks, North Dakota. We currently have 16 bison and will build our herd to approximately 50 cow-calf pairs in the next few years. We also run egg-laying and meat chickens and vegetable production in subsistence quantities. The ranch is a Minnesota Water Quality and Wildlife Certified operation that practices regenerative grazing methods. The bison are rotationally grazed through a series of interior paddocks to benefit the bison and the grassland habitat.

The job pays from $20 to $25 per hour depending on qualifications. We prefer full-time hours through the 2024 growing season. We have worker’s compensation insurance and paid breaks throughout the day but no other benefits. We are open to candidates of any race or gender that meet our qualifications.

The Assistant Ranch Manager will be the sole paid employee of the ranch operation. All work will be done in collaboration with, and under the supervision of, the owners. The work is diverse and include all aspects of running a ranch operation. We are looking for a person with a keen interest in ranching and agriculture. Our selected candidate will work in a safe manner in all tasks. We prefer a candidate that has experience using farm tractors, track loader skid steers, and implements and attachments that operate on such machines. We also prefer a candidate that is tool smart and safe and that has experience working with livestock.

Some specific duties will include:
• Maintaining and improving the existing high tensile electric fencing system
• Encouraging bison to rotate through paddocks in a regular, systematic way
• Providing water and supplements to the bison
• Assessing bison health and welfare
• Using power and manual hand tools to accomplish work tasks
• Operating farm tractors and a tracked skid loader and various implements and attachments to accomplish work tasks
• Supervising and assisting hired contractors that may be hired provide services to the ranch operation
• Maintaining equipment by monitoring fluid levels, replacing wear items, greasing fittings, and immediately notifying the owners of any issues or malfunctions
• Assessing pastures and using mechanical, chemical, and prescribed fire to manage such communities
• Preparing new pasture plantings by eliminating existing vegetation, preparing the soil seedbed, and planting prairie seed mixtures
• Transporting new bison to the ranch operation
• Ability to perform light construction and handy-person projects around the ranch property
• Groundskeeping jobs such as tree watering, weeding, and mowing