KENNER SIMMENTAL RANCH has been raising Simmental cattle since 1974. Roger purchased his first Simmental bull in South Dakota in 1974 to cross on his herd of Hereford cows. He noticed such a significant increase in the weaning weights that he went back to South Dakota and bought 20 head of halfblood Simmental cows. The neighbors started to take notice, and Roger began selling bulls privately off the farm in 1976.

At that time, Canada was so far ahead of the United States in the Simmental breed, so Roger traveled to Bar 5 to purchase bulls, and made several trips to Agribition as well.

The 1980s saw a trend of big framed, spotted Fullblood Simmental cattle that were not functional for the feedyards forcing the Simmental breeders to downsize and remove the spots. Roger used the genetics of the Full-Fleckvieh Simmental to reduce the frame size, add muscling, reduce spots and add pigmentation. Examples of the Full-Fleckvieh genetics were Hack's Friar, Hack's Bold Fenella, and KS Tattenhack.

The first non-spotting and non-diluted bulls were very important to the breed as well. The first non-spotting black bull purchased at Kenner Simmental was Meyer's Black Dakota from the Meyer Ranch in Elgin, ND. Black Dakota was very widely used in the Simmental breed and was a tremendous bull for his time. Roger also purchased a couple of non-spotting, non-diluted, red bulls that were breed changers - ER Mackfrid and SV Red Charlie. The Red Charlie daughters have been super cows, with excellent udder quality. There are daughters and granddaughters of all three of these bulls still in production in the Kenner Simmental herd.

As the breed kept moving forward, so did Kenner Simmental. In 1999, Roger purchased Ellingson Black Perfector, at the North Dakota State Sale in Bismarck, ND, from Terry Ellingson, Ellingson Simmentals. Perfector was used as a power bull and was in the 20 most commonly used bulls within the Simmental breed for many years. His son, Brooks Above Par, has also been widely used and is also in the top 20 most commonly used bulls. Above Par is known as a curve bender bull as he will calve easily and still bring in high weaning and yearling weights all in a smaller frame.

Roger sold bulls privately from 1976 until 1996 when he joined with Black Tie Simmentals and Riverview Farms in the Northern Exposure Sale. Riverview Farms dispersed their cowherd in 1999, so it became just Black Tie Simmentals and Kenner until Black Tie Simmentals redesigned their partnership. It has been the Kenner Simmental Ranch Production Sale since 2004.

The SimAngus program was developed in 2001 with the first half-blood bulls sold in 2003. They were so well received, that each year the number has increased. It has been fun to utilize some of the best genetics in both breeds through AI and embryo transfer.

Roger has been very involved in the Simmental breed on both the State and National levels. He served on the North Dakota Simmental Board of Directors for six years, serving as President in 1986-87. He was also on the American Simmental Board of Directors from 1997 - 2002, serving as Chairman in 2001.  His daughter, Erika, was also on the ND State Simmental Board from 2008 - 2013 and was President in 2013. She also served on the American Simmental Board of Directors from 2014 - 2019.

Besides the cattle, grain farming is also an integral part of the operation at Kenner Ranch. Roger oversees the day-to-day operations of the farm, which was started by his father, Alvin.

Roger & Jeanette have three children, Erika, Jessica and Brett. Jeanette retired from teaching English and Speech and directing the plays at Lake Region State College in 2013. Erika worked for the American Simmental Association and the Register magazine for four years and has been home working alongside Roger and expanding her cowherd and farming acres since 2007. Erika married Tyler Lannoye in 2018. Tyler is a pharmacist with Indian Health Services in Belcourt. They had their first child in December of 2022 - Eleanor Lannoye. 

Jessica is known for her singing and owned and operated a flower shop in Devils Lake. She is currently a paraprofessional at the Leeds Public School. She is married to Drew Dalziel, and they have four children: Osker, Lola, and the twins - Beau and Fischer.

Brett lives in Devils Lake and is a hunting and fishing guide, owning his own guide business. In between seasons, he helps some on the farm. He has a son, Cole.

Bryan Leapaldt was hired as a herdsman in 1995 and has been a tremendous asset to Kenner Simmental Ranch. He manages all the daily operations and plays a huge part in the breeding plans each year. Bryan and his family are very involved in the community and have been a great family to have on the Kenner Ranch team.  Bryan has served on the ND Simmental Board since 2020 and has served two years as President.

The Kenner Family

The Leapaldt Family