About Rocker 7 Ranch
Brandon and Katie Leister, who own Rocker 7 Ranch, have been growing premium alfalfa hay for sales since 2008. But their farming experience goes back much further, in fact, clear back to Brandon’s great-grandpa, who relocated to Arizona from Kentucky in the 1940s. Brandon grew up on the family farm in Buckeye, Arizona, and grew his first cotton crop at age 15.
Brandon soon earned a B.S. degree in Agricultural and Resource Economics from the University of Arizona. While there, he served as the Arizona State President of the Future Farmers of America, and was a member of the livestock judgement team. He then went on to complete a Master’s Degree in Agricultural Education, and then taught agriculture at Buckeye Union High School for two years.
Another opportunity came up, leading Brandon to attend Texas A & M University for another Master’s Degree, and it was then that he met Katie. On the very first day of graduate school, they were assigned adjoining seats in the back row for a class in Managerial Economics in Agribusiness.
Katie also grew up on a farm, raising Brahman show cows and hay in Southeast Texas. She says her family’s agricultural interests were “more of the hobby type,” but they do have roots in the farming and dairy industries.
By the time Brandon and Katie completed their respective graduate courses in Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness, they were engaged. They harvested their first wheat crop together on their Arizona farm within days of their marriage in June 2008.
Today, Rocker 7 Farms specializes in growing the finest quality alfalfa in Arizona. Brandon’s secret is more than just having the right baling scales and a good moisture meter. Over years of talking with individual customers, Brandon has developed a precision to sorting the harvests based on varying customer preferences. Some want a very fine stem, others focus more on leaf retention, etc. In order to please each customer, we have several choices. Whether we’ve grown the hay, or personally selected it from a neighbor, every bale is evaluated and sorted to a certain section of one of our four barns. Our goal is to keep every customer, and their animals, eager for more.