Lifetime Leaders of Rodeo & Ranching Rodeo Ranching Great Westerner Western Entertaiment & Arts Rodeo Producers & Livestock Special Achievement Cowboy Long Rider Legacy Award

Ranching

Frank Kubik Jr
2001 Hall of Fame Ranching Inductee

  Frank Kubik Jr. was born near Dickinson on June 8, 1917, a son of Frank Sr. and Anna (Kralicek) Kubik. He attended rural school in Dunn County, graduating from Dickinson’s Model High School in 1937. He earned a standard teaching certificate and taught school for two years.

  On September 22, 1939, Frank married Doris Zander of Dickinson, and they had three children. In 1942, Frank purchased a ranch southwest of Manning. He bought his first eight registered Polled Hereford cattle from his father, eventually increasing his herd to 300.

  In 1956, Frank began keeping extensive production records including precise birth and weaning weights. He hosted the first performance-tested Polled Hereford bull sale in the United States on March 13, 1958. Through the years, Frank sold cattle across the United States and into Canada, South Africa and South America.

  In 1972, Kubiks bought a majority of the Havre Line 1 Polled King Domino cattle sold at the North Montana Agricultural Research Center dispersion. Thus, Kubik Polled Herefords became the largest source of “Line-Bred Polled Herefords” in the U.S. Under the supervision of the North Dakota Beef Cattle Improvement Association (NDBCIA), Frank produced two certified meat sires. In 1978, he had an American Polled Hereford Association Gold Seal Sire.

 Frank served his community and industry as a 4-H leader, NDBCIA president and Dunn County Agriculture Association president. He received conservation awards in 1950, 1960 and 1970. He was the 1974 NDBCIA Seedstock Producer of the Year and the outstanding seedstock producer in the nation in 1975. Dickinson State University recognized Kubik with the Alumni Chief Award in 1981 for “distinguished professional and unselfish services.”

 The Kubiks sold their ranch to the state of North Dakota in 1980 and they moved to Dickinson in 1980. The NDSU Dickinson Experiment Station uses it as a livestock research center.