GRANVILLE, N.D. (AP) -- At the Big Sky Buffalo Ranch, checking the Internet for meat orders is on the list of daily chores, along with tending the herd of 350 bison that roam vast pastures in north-central North Dakota.
Big Sky sells its buffalo meat to customers all over the world via the Internet, providing a financial boost while many farmers and ranchers are struggling to stay on the land."You have to find other avenues to bring money into North Dakota," Cathy Ulland said as she drove by herds of buffalo on her family's pasture. "We know we don't have much in North Dakota."
Ulland's father, Duane Woodall, started Big Sky in 1982 with five head of buffalo. It was a hobby, something to supplement his farm and ranch income. But bison ranching has become big business in recent years, while traditional farming and ranching has hit hard times because of bad weather and low prices.
Big Sky started to focus on bison -- and the Internet -- as an alternative. Ulland said the ranch sells about the same amount of buffalo meat by computer as it does at its small store in downtown Granville, also known as McGillicuddy City.
The ranch started selling online four years ago, and it has bolstered sales every year. Big Sky ships buffalo meat to every state, and it sells buffalo jerky strips worldwide from Granville, population 400.
"Granville or New York City, it doesn't matter. We're on an even playing ground there," said Sue Blikre, Internet office coordinator for the Minot-based Central North American Trade Corridor Association. The business promotion group creates World Wide Web pages for companies and cities throughout North Dakota.
Big Sky customers can fill out an order form on the ranch's Web site and have the meat shipped the next day in a special container to keep it cool. Buffalo meat is more expensive than regular beef, but the product is leaner and lower in fat and cholesterol.
Not all North Dakotans like the higher-priced meat, but that doesn't matter for people elsewhere who are willing to pay more for a delicacy.
"Before they would have to depend on the local market with people buying buffalo. Some of us can't afford buffalo, but the people on the East Coast sure can," Blikre said. "They've made a lot of sales all over the country."
Big Sky is the only North Dakota ranch to sell bison meat on the Internet, Ulland said. The North American Bison Cooperative processing plant in New Rockford has an informational Internet site, offering recipe and menu ideas for the food service industry, said Chad Bullinger, marketing manager for the co-op.
Big Sky is one of 330 ranches throughout the region that belong to the cooperative. Ulland expects more ranchers to use the Internet to help stay on their land.
"I think you're going to see a lot more farmers doing what we're doing," she said.
The Big Sky Web site is http://www.tradecorridor.com/bigskybuffalo/