(soft uplifting music) - Unlike today, there wasn't really any money to be made in the cattle business.

And I had already tried sheep the first three years we moved out here, and I decided I wasn't a cut out to be a shepherd.

I was just looking for something different and something that we could maybe make money on, but might be interesting and fun, and bison sure fit the bill on that one.

And it's something that is going back to what this land was.

My name is Dale Rengstorf, and I'm the owner/operator of Rolling R Ranch, Incorporated at Pelican Rapids, Minnesota.

My wife and I moved to this area in 1979, and we were in the feeder pig business to start out, but we had some land that I wanted to try and put some livestock on, and we decided to take the plunge into bison ranching in 1987.

My son-in-law PJ and and daughter Carla have come home to join the operation, and we have the grandchildren around every day, but other two kids live close enough.

They're excited too about the bison ranch.

It's a unique thing in college, they kind of discovered how unique it was when they would tell their friends that they grew up on a bison ranch, and so on.

They're proud of it.

The whole family is proud of it.

(soft inspiring music) Well, you know, I'm on the edge of being an environmentalist.

I'm concerned about things like that, and I was, you know, just gonna do it on a small basis.

I thought this is, you know, native prairie, and putting bison back on that is just kind of a neat thing to do.

And that's really appealed to me, that it was a native animal.

And when I was doing both hogs and bison, I was spending so much time taking care of the hogs, because cold weather, hot weather, and they're just vulnerable to everything.

And the bison at that time, you know, such a contrast, they weren't vulnerable to anything.

They could take the cold, they could take the heat, and they're just a wonderful adapted animal to this climate around here.

But they do take more management.

And by that I mean, if you don't manage your animals for the breeding season coming up, they're probably gonna give you a calf every other year.

So you're gonna have to try and manage your pastures, put 'em out on nutritious grass, the most nutritious grass you can during breeding season, or supplement with some grain or something like that.

So you get their energy up there and you get a calf every year.

And then when you work the animals in the fall, you do need stronger corrals, 'cause they're a wild animal, they're gonna, you know, try to get out.

Their tendency to jump over things that you're gonna have to have the corrals higher.

And it's just a whole different experience working bison than it is working cattle.

And it's best if you get into the bison business that you maybe visit some ranches and watch 'em do it before you get into it.

Well, we're running 250 cows now, and a cow calf operation mainly.

We're also, you know, we hold some animals back to try and sell as breeding stock, but our mainstay is running a cow calf business, and that would be more in line fitting with the land here, and so on.

(feet clacking) Bison meat is very similar to beef, but the muscles in bison are a shorter fiber, so it tends to be more tender if you don't overcook it.

And of course, if they're fed right.

Bison meat also is a little bit sweeter than beef is.

So it's very acceptable to the consumer.

There's a big demand for it now.

People, we've gotten it into the marketplace and into the grocery stores on a national basis, and it's selling out.

And I think the future looks good for the bison business.

(car door shuts) So we've been in the business for 38 years and we've grown over the years, and it's been a really enjoyable ride.

I enjoyed it and I wouldn't wanna do anything else.

I hope to stay profitable, of course, and the future definitely looks bright for that.

I want PJ and Carla to be able to make a good living when they take it over.

I hope bison are on this area, and whatever, 40 years from now, I hope our grandkids take it over someday.

That would be a nice thing.

(inspiring music) - [Narrator] Funded by the Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund, with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4th, 2008, and by the members of Prairie Public.