Eminent Leader in Agriculture, Family, and Community
County: Marshall
The motto: “It’s not our land, but it is our turn,” has served as a guide to the caretakers of Bien Ranch for more than 130 years.
“Conservation has been important to our family ever since my grandfather, Ole homesteaded in 1888,” said Neil Bien, a third-generation Veblen rancher and a 2023 Eminent Leader in Agriculture, Family and Community Honoree. “Every generation has taken their turn to care for the land, water, soil and animals.”
Bien’s turn arrived earlier than anticipated. He was only 17 when his father passed away. The second of seven children, he turned down a collegiate football scholarship to take over his father’s ranch responsibilities.
Determined to keep the family ranch going and further his education, Bien balanced ranch work and studying. A year after his father passed, he enrolled at Northern State University and four years later received a degree in biology.
Bien’s connection to the land influenced his area of study.
“The word “biology” means the study of life. I don’t know where you would get a whole lot closer to studying life than in ranching,” he said. “I was always fascinated by the natural world. I saw things in nature – simple things like insects, birds, the birth of calves – and those things inspired me from a young age. You don’t have to pay tuition to observe things in nature. You don’t need a scholarship to study it.”
Bien shared his enthusiasm for the natural world with generations of students, teaching high school biology off and on for 38 years - all while caring for the ranches’ grasslands, wetlands and cattle.
He worked to bring biology to life for his students in creative ways. Using a kiddie pool, Bien re-created the wetland ecosystem he saw on his ranch. The classroom kiddie pool was home to crayfish, water bugs, fish, frogs and tadpoles.
“When you are interested in something and excited about something, you learn without realizing you are learning,” Bien said.
Bien was recognized for his efforts in the classroom. He was twice named South Dakota Science Teacher of the Year and in 1974 he received the National Biology Teacher Award.
Although he enjoyed teaching, caring for his family’s ranch has always been his passion. Located on South Dakota’s Prairie Coteau, Bien Ranch includes hundreds of wetlands and thousands of acres of native prairie. Like his father and grandfather, all along Bien was intentional about land stewardship – never draining a wetland, and implementing rotational grazing, no-till and other soil health techniques to bolster and support the natural ecosystem.
“You can choose to take every penny you can get out of the land and try to make as much profit as you can. Or you can choose to go a little slower and treat the land and the soil as best as you can,” Bien said.
Over the years, Bien was recognized for his efforts: South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks named him Habitat Partner of the Year. The South Dakota Chapter of the Wildlife Society named him Citizen of the year. In 2005, he received a National Wetlands Award and in 2022, the South Dakota Grassland Coalition presented Bien with the South Dakota Leopold Conservation Award.
Of all the awards he has received Bien said the most rewarding is the fact that his, and his wife, Muriel’s, grandson, Nate, has returned to the family ranch.
“It’s his turn now,” Bien said. “Our goal was always to make this ranch ready for the next generation to take their turn and make it work.”
In an effort to make Bien Ranch viable for the next generation, over the years Bien slowly expanded its land and cow/calf herd size. He also invested his time and shared his knowledge allowing SDSU Extension and many other organizations to host educational field days on the ranch. Bien has also served on the board of cooperatives, state agencies and agriculture organizations.
“Being involved was my way of giving back because just baling hay and fixing fence do not make a ranch sustainable,” Bien said. “You have to be able to do other things in order for the ranch to be ready for the next generation and I learned many of those things from others.”