With their marriage in 1949, Bernard and Hazel Neill began a partnership that lead to many farming and ranching innovations. Bernard was a founding member of the Plainsman Agrisearch Foundation, a research organization that farms on a large scale in cooperation with Colorado State University. Until 1994, he served as one of the original directors of the Southern High Plains Groundwater Management District. Bernard was also a charter director of Baca State Bank and is a director of the Colorado East Bank and Trust of Holly, Lamar, Granada and Springfield. The Neill's have worked tirelessly to garner support for youth in agriculture and to support a strong agricultural future in Colorado.