Dylan Handrich
Prairie Monarch Bison Ranch
Laramie, Wyo.
Wyoming’s official state mammal, the bison, appears smack in the middle of the state flag. Is there something macabre about encouraging Wyomingites to eat a proud symbol of their state? Maybe — but most will get over it when they realize that bison meat is delicious.
Why we chose this bison:
Handrich raises entirely grass-fed bison, free of hormones and antibiotics. Why?
“I’m just thinking about a larger issue of what we’re trying to do to produce food,” says Handrich. “Why is it that we need to take fossil fuels and grow corn and ship that corn all over the place [for feed] when we can just use the native grasses that are already out there growing?” Handrich also has a relatively low transportation footprint. Most of his customers are within 150 miles of the ranch, and he sells at farmers markets in Laramie and nearby Cheyenne.
At home on the range
“There’s something kind of majestic about seeing the bison roam around out here, compared to cattle,” says Handrich. “They look like they were meant to be here.”
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