Novak Farms and Cattle Co. is a fourth and fifth generation family farm in north-central North Dakota. Our headquarters are here, where we live, work, and raise cattle, and we also farm about 45 miles southeast on family land that’s been part of our lives and operation for generations.
At our headquarters, we winter and feed livestock, including a portion we custom feed using corn silage and dried distillers grain from a nearby ethanol plant. A few years ago, we partnered with family to run mother cows in the rugged and beautiful North Dakota Badlands. Each winter, those cows and their calves come back here to be fed and cared for.
At the end of summer, the calves are weaned, the steers are backgrounded, and most heifers are kept for future breeding. When spring calving begins, the cows and calves return to the Badlands pastures, where family members care for them while we focus on grain farming and feed production at home. We also finish our steers on a high-energy corn ration raised on our own farm, allowing us to oversee every step from the feed we grow to the beef we produce.
Alongside our cattle, we grow wheat, soybeans, corn, and sunflowers. Our roots run deep here, shaped by the hard work and resilience of the generations before us, including family who first made a home on the prairies from Ukraine. The same values that built this farm – hard work, family, and respect for the land – continue to guide everything we do today.
We’re grateful you’re here, taking time to learn about our family and our farm. We hope as you read, cook from our recipes, or follow along with life on the farm, you feel a little bit of the place we’re so thankful to call home.