I'm JoAnna Hartsoch, a ND Ranch Wife and I am here to share with you our journey on the Hartsoch Ranch as we raise kids and cattle in Northwestern North Dakota.

Did you know that ranching developed in western Dakota where little rainfall and the rough badlands made farming very difficult? The ranchers (people that raise livestock such as cattle, sheep or horses) could not get a good start until about 1880 when the Northern Pacific Railroad reached the Montana-Dakota border. 

The Dakota territory became North and South Dakota on November 2, 1889. This was about the same time my ancestors migrated from the east coast to the Dakotas. My great great great grandfather, Stephen William Brown, built his farming and ranching establishment in south central North Dakota. In 1893, Stephen built a house made out of stone and strategically placed it on the highest hill in the area. It was a magnificent and unique house. I was raised in this house for most of my younger years living and learning about livestock.

Today I reside in northwestern North Dakota raising kids and cattle with my husband. If you would like to learn more about what we do on our ranch, you can follow us on Youtube!

The Hartsoch Ranch is a family ranching operation started from scratch in 2018, raising commercial Angus beef cattle. We have a long family history of ranchers on both sides of our family so it was almost inevitable that we would create our own ranching legacy.

See the "About Us" Page for more.