About Us

The Risa family settled in the quiet town of Opheim, MT in 1905.  Starting in 1976 Lee Risa along with his parents, Theron and Dorothy, incorporated the operation naming it Northern Lites Ranch Inc. Lee and Theron's Red Angus herd was highly revered for their feeder steers, and were sought out for their replacement heifers.

 

As time progressed Bryce Risa, the fourth generation on the ranch, wanted to start diversifying his family's herd. In 2014 Bryce began building a registered Red Angus herd  starting with the foundation females of Lee's commercial cows. After much success selling private treaty, Northern Lites moved to hosting an annual production sale the first Thursday in April.

 

Northern Lites is known for their quality cattle and in September 2023 at the National Red Angus convention, Lee and Bryce along with the rest of the Risa family were awarded the commercial producer of the year. Their commitment to producing cattle for commercial cattlemen is at the forefront of their genetic decision making. Without the foundation Lee established, along with their commercial producer's success in marketing feeder cattle, and replacement females, Northern Lites Red Angus would not be here today. 

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The ranch continues to be operated by Bryce along with his mother who manages the bookkeeping and finance side of the ranch. Bryce's two sisters and their families continue to help in different roles on the ranch throughout the year.