Name: Jim Sitz
Age: 33, married to Tammi, two children
Education: Associate degree in Ag Management from Ricks College, Idaho
Occupation: Cattle Rancher
Name of the Business: Sitz Angus Ranch, with two offices, one in Harrison and one in Dillon. Jim and his brother, Bob Jr., are partners in the buisness
Number of Employees: 8 full time and 3 part time, excluding family members.
Annual payroll: Has grown 35 percent over the last 10 years.
For cattle rancher Jim Sitz, choosing to live on a ranch near Dillon was a no-brainer.
"I was raised here, I like the atmosphere of a small town and the scenery. Dillon is small enough yet big enough if you know what I mean. It's an awesome place to raise kids," he said. "Of course, with my job, I couldn't live in a metropolitan area, but I do visit them frequently and I can't wait to get back here."
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The Sitz Angus Ranch takes in 30,000-plus acres on both deeded and leased land between Dillon and Harrison. It ships cattle embryos and bull semen across the country and around the globe to Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and Sweden.
The embryo-transplant work has been ongoing since 1978. Thanks to technology, the company now sells more than 100 embryos a year compared to eight or 10 a year in the '70s. The ranch has been doing artificial insemination for more than 40 years.
"We don't discount our genetics. They are worth the price we charge for them," Sitz said.
The ranch started out in 1959 when Jim's parents, Bob and Donna Sitz, moved to Montana from Nebraska. His grandparents were in the angus ranching business since 1923 there.
Like other ranchers in the area, costs of raising cattle in southwest Montana is higher than other parts of the country and even other parts of the state.
"The area is ideal for ranching, but there's very little room to expand," said Sitz. The problem is that many ranches are being subdivided into smaller parcels and sold to out-of-state owners; taking the land out of agricultural use.
The company runs 1,600 registered angus cows on the ranch and sells about 600 bulls a year. It holds one live auction annually at Harrison, the first Thursday of December and sells about 450 bulls.
Aside from that Sitz travels to other cities across the West and sells feeder cattle via video tape that is piped over satellites around the world.
He sees technology playing a huge roll in future bull sales.
"It's a great way to market cattle. And now there's DNA testing available. All the information will be there, such as a cow's history, birthweight, shots administered, where they were fed and carcass data. It will change the industry."
And, as others in the valley, leasing out their land to hunters and outfitters is another method of bringing in revenue.
"We us an outfitter out of Bozeman who brings in about 300 fishermen a year. We were doing it ourselves, but not capitalizing on it. It makes good business sense to have an agent," he said. "I mean, we're in the cattle business, not recreation."
