BISMARCK, N.D. – A long-time beef industry spokesperson and a nationally-recognized holistic range manager are the latest inductees into the North Dakota Agricultural Hall of Fame. Nancy Jo Bateman of New Salem, ND and Jerry Doan of McKenzie, ND will be inducted March 8th, during the 2023 North Dakota Winter Show in Valley City.
Nancy Jo Bateman
As Executive Director of the North Dakota Beef Commission for 38 years, Nancy Jo Bateman became a familiar face and voice to producers and consumers alike, advocating for beef and the beef industry her entire career.
Considered the longest-serving beef council executive in the nation, Bateman served as an advisor to the Federation of State Beef Councils and was selected to be on a national task force that chose the agency that formulated the very successful “Beef, It’s What’s For Dinner” national advertising campaign.
During Bateman’s career with the Beef Commission, she has overseen producers’ beef checkoff investments directing funds for beef research, education and promotion. She has been accountable to every beef producer in the state and responsible for millions of dollars earmarked to help keep beef in the center of the plate in this country and overseas. She has delivered thousands of consumer and producer programs, media interviews, educational and Ag in the Classroom sessions and cooking demonstrations; and voiced the popular “Beef Insights” radio series. It’s not surprising, then, that she’s often referred to as “the beef lady.”
A native of Kindred, ND and a former Miss Rodeo North Dakota, Bateman retired at the end of 2022. She and her husband Rocky have three daughters and farm and ranch near New Salem, ND.
Jerry Doan
Doan grew up on the Black Leg Ranch near Bismarck, a ranch that has become known nationally as a showpiece for holistic management and land restoration. He and his family have opened the ranch as a living classroom for producers. Doan is a strong advocate and spokesman of the system in North Dakota, nationally and internationally.
Always committed to making farm policy better, Doan was elected the first chair of the State Board of Ag Research and Education in 1997 and served as chairman of the state Ag Coalition before that. He chairs the ND Grazing Lands Coalition and is past chair of the ND Beef Commission. He has also been active in the ND Stockmen’s Association, the ND Natural Resources Trust, National Livestock and Meat Board and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. He served as chairman for Rural Leadership North Dakota and has been a 4-H leader for 46 years.
Among his many awards, Doan was named one of the Top 100 Ag Producers in the country by Farm Credit Services and received the NDSU Harvest Bowl Agribusiness Person of the Year Award. The Black Leg Ranch was inducted into the ND Cowboy Hall of Fame in 2020 and has received the National Environmental Stewardship Award from NCBA and the Aldo Leopold Conservation Award. He and his wife Renae have three sons and one daughter, all of whom are involved in the Black Leg Ranch and its associated agri-tourism business.
The ND Agricultural Hall of Fame provides a way to honor men and women who have made significant contributions to the state’s leading industry, agriculture. These inductions bring to 61 the number of men and women have been inducted into the hall since it was created, by statute, in 1997.
