Ranching Revival: Raising Bison with Otter Tail 23 Meats

At Otter Tail 23 Meats Karla and PJ Breen are carrying on the family bison ranch. Along the way, they are investing in healthy soils for a better food future.

Story by Sarah Wescott | Photography and Videography by Sarah Carroll

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As the summer breeze floats over the rolling plains of Pelican Rapids, Minnesota, a mother bison and calf mosey through tall summer grasses, grazing on the diverse pasture of the great plains. Around them, the herd moves as one. They shift fluidly towards fresh grass, leaving nutrient-rich manure in their wake. As the bison move over the hill, Ranchers PJ and Karla Breen of Otter Tail 23 Meats come into view. They have come to do their daily check of the herd. 

While today seeing bison grazing the Great Plains feels like a rare sighting, the bison at Otter Tail 23 Meats fit into a long history. For hundreds of thousands of years, bison have roamed the great plains in massive groups. They were harvested for food by the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ and the Mdewakanton peoples who have called the region home for centuries. At their peak, the bison were more than 30 million. By the end of the 1800s, drought, the introduction of horses to North America, habitat destruction, and intensive hunting had brought bison to the brink of extinction. 

For more than 30 years, Karla’s parents, Dale and Beth Rengstorf have been a part of the movement to bring bison back. In 1987, they established Rolling R Ranch with a modest herd of 13 bison. Today, with the help of PJ and Karla, the family raises and manages more than 700 bison on around 2,000 acres of land. “Dale and Beth are saints and they are super to work with. They look out for me more than I look out for myself,” noted PJ about his introduction to life on the ranch. 

The family affair doesn’t stop there. Ever since Karla left the farm in her teen years, she wanted to return and raise her children on the land. In 2017, they finally made the move from Massachusetts back to Minnesota. Today, PJ and Karla’s three daughters, Rachal, Marybeth, and Myra are a big part of life on the ranch. “They don’t know anything other than living on the ranch. Bison in the front yard is just a normal part of life. It’s a wonderful healthy environment to raise children in,” says PJ.

Life on the ranch is full of lessons, especially with three young girls running around. “We have a saying on the ranch, ‘leave it better than you found it.’ We’re always working to improve,” said PJ. For the Breens, that means using the most sustainable and humane practices possible. 

Humane practices start at birth, as calves are born right on the prairie where their mother starts caring for them immediately. When the calves are ready, their mothers ween them and they integrate into the herd. This provides Otter Tail 23 Meats calves with a few advantages: They don’t undergo stress early in life due to being transported, and they are at a lower risk of encountering or spreading diseases on another ranch.

At Otter Tail 23 Meats, bison are also 100% pasture-raised. Bison evolved to live entirely off of the plains’ grasses. In the winter months, they even use their strong neck muscles to dig down and feed on grasses buried under the snow. Meanwhile, their thick coats ensure they stay warm against the harshest of Minnesota winters. According to PJ, “Bison were meant to be here. This is their natural environment and they could entirely survive without human beings.” This means that the bison stay on pasture year-round. And, just to be sure the bison are well-fed, Karla and PJ provide their herd with supplementary hay through the winter and free-choice grains year-round.

Every year the bison spend on pasture improves the soil. When the Breens move bison from pasture to pasture in a process called managed rotational grazing, a few things happen. First, the grasses are eaten down and trampled. Then, they are covered in rich bison manure. This is the exact environment that the grasses evolved in, and they thrive under these unique conditions. 

The key to this system is movement. Bison are some of the best natural rotational grazers out there. They eat a wide variety of grasses and forbes. They graze as a tightly bunched group, the herd in almost constant motion, just as bison have for millennia.  PJ and Karla take rotational grazing one step further by moving the bison to new grass weekly. This prevents overgrazing and ensures that the grasses have ample time to recover. The end result is a thriving grassland that continues to feed the herd year after year. 

Given the decades of time the family has spent perfecting their product, it isn’t surprising that it tastes downright delicious. The practices that PJ and Karla swear by ensure that the bison meat is lean, flavorful, and tender. The meat is also a great healthy option for red-meat lovers due to its low-fat content. Locals love that Otter Tail 23 Meats are now available at MANNA Food Co-op amongst a slew of delicious local goods. “Shopping at MANNA or any local food co-op you’re really supporting local farms and ranchers and you’re putting money into the pockets of people in the community. Those community dollars keep on spreading,” says Karla about the importance of buying local. 

Folks in the Detroit Lakes area can find Otter Tail 23 Meats at the MANNA Food Co-op. In addition, for those who are interested in purchasing bison meat directly from the ranch, PJ and Karla offer quarters, halves, and whole bison on their website. They can also be found at the Pelican Market on Friday afternoons. 

This farm feature was produced in partnership with the MANNA Food Co-op of Detroit Lakes. 

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