Our History

Our History: Four Generations of Success

McLean Farms started with a dairy purchased by Ralph and Maxine McLean of rural Benedict, NE in 1949. Ralph taught his children how to mix feed, care for the cattle and run a successful business.

Ralph's son, Jim McLean continued the farming business and added finishing fed cattle to the operation starting with 100 bucket calves in 1961. Today, Jim's interests in cattle feeding and maintaining the family farm are still strong.

Jim's sons are the third generation of McLeans involved in the family business. All of the boys have been involved in the operation one way or another, which have included crop production to maintaining the machinery.

The fourth generation of the McLeans are learning the cattle business, the importance of a strong work ethic and maintaining the family farm from Grandpa and their dads.

Meet the Team Behind our Success

Max McLeanMax McLean, President of M. Farm Inc. and beef production manager has an Associate Degree from UNSTA in Production Ag, and became manager of McLean Feedyard in 1993. Max has plenty of experience feeding cattle, hogs and farmed with his dad, Jim, while growing up. He was a Cow-calf participant for the IRM cow-calf program at UNL giving him a special interest in direct ranch purchased calves. Max has served as president of the York County Cattlemen Association and is also a member of the National Cattlemen Assoc.

Jeanette McLeanJeanette McLean is the bookkeeper/secretary for McLean Farms.  She has an Associate Degree in secretarial work and has been doing the computerized bookkeeping for M. Farm Inc. since 1986. In 1999, Max and Jeanette started McLean Beef to sell their produced beef at retail.

Lonnie BrownLonnie Brown is the Animal Health Manager at McLean Farms. Lonnie and his wife Keshia have 2 children, Angel and Lane. Lonnie grew up in the Red Cloud, Nebraska area. Lonnie has had a wide variety of experiences involving cattle and the cattle industry in general. He has also spent numerous hours on horseback riding pens, and also maintains the cow/calf herd. Before Lonnie came to M Farms he worked at a beef production facility that housed 30,000 head. Lonnie is currently BQA Certified and has attended several cowboy colleges and seminars. He is the master of all trades here at M Farms!

Char Mae Glause is the Marketing Manager for McLean Beef and bookkeeper for McLean Farms. She has been an asset to McLean Farms since she was a kid - always willing to help out with the family business. She graduated from Nebraska Wesleyan University with a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration and minor in Marketing and Accounting. Char Mae's expertise is bringing new marketing and advertising ideas to McLean Beef. Char Mae is married to Morgan who is a shareholder in Lazy Black Diamond Ranch. They have three boys, Grady, Yaeger & Sage.



Dan CrawfordDan Crawford is the cow-calf manager for McLean Farms. Dan has a Bachelor's Degree in Diversified Agriculture from University of Nebraska – Lincoln. He is also valuable help in the feedlot as pen rider and health management assistant. His expertise in cow and bull genetics is helpful as we raise and grow calves to fit both our feeder program and retail beef program. Dan is married to Tanya (McLean) who is Assistant Extension Educator for York County. Dan and Tanya have two boys, Kole and Briar.


Chance McLean is the Vice President of McLean Farms. Chance has been farming since he was a kid, which brings a lot of experience to the farming and feeding cattle enterprises. Chance attended Southeast Community College for 2 years and then graduated from Northwest Missouri State with a Bachelor's Degree in Agricultural Business. He is in charge of risk management of the cattle and grain commodities. He and Max are heavily busy in buying and selling the cattle. Chance and his wife Amanda have four daughters, Bentley, Taytum, Rory & Allie.