‘The McBee Dynasty’ Family’s Ups and Downs: Creating the Farm, FBI Investigation and More

The McBee Dynasty: Real American Cowboys shines a light on Steven “Steve” McBee and his family as they run their farm in Missouri — but not everything has always run smoothly for the farmers.

Steve and his ex-wife, Kristi McBee, were married 28 years before his infidelity came to light, leading her to file for divorce. The pair, who share sons Steven McBee Jr., Jesse McBee, Cole McBee and Brayden McBee, separated in 2019.

Despite his personal woes, Steve’s dream of building McBee Farm & Cattle Co. into a massive business continued with the help of his sons. However, in November 2024, Steve pleaded guilty to one count of federal crop insurance fraud, throwing their family and farm into disarray.

“We take it day by day,” Steven exclusively told Us Weekly of the family’s plan in July 2025. “The situation is still ongoing. We’re hoping to have it wrapped up and have some finality to it before the end of the year. That’s the goal, just so we can move on and say, ‘OK, we’ve got this figured out. We can start life again now.’” Steve was sentenced to two years in prison in October 2025.

Scroll down to relive the McBee family’s highs and lows, starting with the purchase of their farm in the ’90s:

1998

Steve bought his first tract of land, a 300-acre parcel in Missouri.

2005

After purchasing more land and having “some issues” with a local farmer he hired, Steve took on the role of farming the land himself, according to the company’s website.

2009

Steve added cattle ranching to his resume by expanding the farm to include raising livestock. The company would later add buffalo to their list of farm animals.

2018

Once Steven joined the farm full-time, he created Apex Protein Snacks as an offshoot of the company. Apex sells high-protein meat snacks, including jerky and travel sticks.

2019

“Steve and I were married 28 years. Then I started finding out there was a lot of infidelity,” Kristi revealed during season 2 of The McBee Dynasty, noting that she filed for divorce in 2019.

After their split, Kristi founded her own company, Lan-Tel Communications. “Steve definitely said that I was going to run it into the ground within six months,” she said in a July 2025 episode of the Bravo series, describing her business as “communications, underground construction and [a] concrete company.”

She revealed, “We’ve been able to grow the business three times the size that it was. Little sweet revenge.”

2022

Steven starred on Joe Millionaire: For Richer or Poorer, which premiered in January. On the show, he met Calah Jackson. The couple dated on and off from 2021 to 2024.

That June, the McBees opened their first McBee’s Coffee N’ Carwash in Missouri. As of September 2025, there are eight locations in Missouri and three in Arkansas.

2023

In summer 2023, the family expanded their business and opened the McBee Meat Co. facility in Lamoni, Iowa, bringing their products from farm to table. That same year, the group filmed season 1 of the The McBee Dynasty: Real American Cowboys.

2024

The McBee Dynasty premiered on Peacock in March, following the family’s lives as farmers and ranchers. That September, the family launched their “Meet the McBees” podcast.

In October, second eldest son Jesse married his high school sweetheart, Alli McBee, in Missouri. One month later, Steve pleaded guilty to his part in a multimillion-dollar fraud scheme.

Steve was charged in November with one count of federal crop insurance fraud after being accused of falsifying reports about his crop yields and misrepresenting his crop usage. His sentencing took place the following year.

Amid all the turmoil, the McBees celebrated the birth of Cole and girlfriend Kacie Adkison’s first baby, daughter Blair, in December. Blair is the first grandchild of Steve and Kristi.

2025

The McBees expanded their brood in April with the birth of Jesse and Alli’s first baby, daughter Summer.

In June, season 2 of The McBee Dynasty premiered on Bravo. It was renewed for season 3 that October.

As fans learned in more detail about Steve’s legal woes, the family awaited his sentencing, which took place in October. A judge ruled that Steve must serve two years in prison with two more years of supervised release. Us confirmed that Steve was ordered to pay $4,022,124 in restitution. According to court documents, Steve has until 2 p.m. on December 1 to self-surrender.