“Buffalo Hills where the bison roam, nothing fancy, but we call it home!”
Buffalo Hills Bison is located in the scenic hills of southeast Minnesota along the Mississippi River just north of the Iowa border. It is home for Steve and Linda Fruechte and their growing herd of bison.
They began their adventure with bison in 1993. With pastureland available on the farm that wasn’t being grazed, they wanted to capture the available resources. However, the outlook for the cattle industry didn’t appear very promising. So after seeing an advertisement for bison they investigated that avenue. Bison are native to the area and the lower maintenance aspect was a definite plus. But the qualities of the meat and the uniqueness of the shaggy beast is what really captured their attention. This was a way to utilize non-productive land and to offer a superb product that wasn’t controlled by the “middle-man”.
At the time, they only knew of one other producer. After a few visits to their ranch and many hours of looking over the fence at the majestic herd, they became owners of 12 buffs. The herd consisted of four cows, two with calves at their side, five heifers, and a bull. They couldn’t decide what to start with so they got a little bit of everything! Now they had the land and the herd and just needed one more thing. FENCES! Soon the mad scramble to build fences began and coincidentally so did the monsoon of 1993.
After starting out small, the herd quickly grew from a hobby to a small “non-profit” business. Early on, the Fruechte’s decided they would concentrate their efforts on meat production and sales. The growing herd of butchering bulls demanded the development of a meat market. So with a lot of direct marketing, the meat business has evolved to become a part-time operation. They sell meat to retail customers and also supply restaurants and grocery stores and sell direct to online customers.
Thanks for visiting our web site,
Steve and Linda Fruechte