{"id":143449,"date":"2025-07-24T08:15:32","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T13:15:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/?p=143449"},"modified":"2025-07-24T13:21:16","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T18:21:16","slug":"mankato-free-press-farmers-keep-it-humble-as-a-farm-family-of-the-year-fischer-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/mankato-free-press-farmers-keep-it-humble-as-a-farm-family-of-the-year-fischer-family\/","title":{"rendered":"Mankato Free Press: Farmers keep it humble as a Farm Family of the Year (Fischer Family)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Gavin, Craig, Bryce, Elizabeth and Logan Fischer in 2023 in front of their keystone prairie species, the American bison. The family farms in Sleepy Eye and is being honored, along with other county designees, as a 2025 Farm Family of the Year by the University of Minnesota. Eighty-six families are being recognized Aug. 7.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

SLEEPY EYE \u2014 In 2013, Craig and Elizabeth Fischer got married and one of their wedding gifts was a bison.<\/p>\n

It came with the stipulation that they buy one more, as bison are herd animals, Craig Fischer said.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo weeks after we got the first one we bought three more through the Minnesota Bison Association,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd our herd has been evolving ever since then. We now have about 100.\u201d<\/p>\n

The couple operates Sleepy Bison Acres in Sleepy Eye and got introduced to bison farming in 2009 at the Minnesota State Fair. There they met their bison mentors, Jim and Connie Stannard of Byron.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s where I got bit by the bug,\u201d Fischer said. \u201cI started looking into raising bison and what it would take. I was trying to see if it made sense for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fifth-generation farming family has made a name for themselves, being honored as a Farm Family of the Year in Brown County by the University of Minnesota. Eighty-six farm families are being recognized Aug. 7. The Fischers will be at the ceremony during Farmfest near Redwood Falls.<\/p>\n

Of their achievements, Fischer said: \u201cI like to say I\u2019m in the top 100 in the state,\u201d he said. \u201cI kind of joke with people that we\u2019re in the top 100 but, well, there\u2019s 100 of us. I\u2019d rather stay humble than be humbled.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fischer is the fourth-generation farmer and he and Elizabeth\u2019s sons, Bryce, 10, Logan, 8, and Gavin, 5, are fifth-generation farmers of the Alfred \u201cFritz\u201d Fischer farm. The boys own bison and help with farm operations.<\/p>\n

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The Fischers farm with Craig\u2019s father, Steve, mother Elaine, brother Keith and uncle Mike Seitz. Elizabeth\u2019s parents, Duane and Mary Havermeier, help out as needed.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Over the years, the Fischers have created a vertically integrated operation producing bison, corn, soybeans, small grains, pasture-raised pigs, egg-laying chickens and guinea fowl.<\/p>\n

Today, farmers have modern tools available to them that make their work more convenient, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cTractors, equipment, electric fence \u2014 we have tools that my great-grandfather would have given his left arm for,\u201d Fischer said. \u201cSo a lot of the things we\u2019re doing are the same as what great-grandpa did. It\u2019s just a little easier to do the labor these days with the equipment that we have available to us.\u201d<\/p>\n

At Sleepy Bison Acres, they use adaptive rotational grazing, cover cropping and no-till farming, doing what Craig\u2019s great grandfather did, but with modern tools.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just relearning what our ancestors knew previously,\u201d Fischer said.<\/p>\n

They were early adopters of the Minnesota Ag Water Certification Program and the farm operates as both a production and education space. They host field days, school groups, 4-H clubs and customer events. The Fischers sell at farmers markets in Mankato, Prior Lake and St. Paul.<\/p>\n

Elizabeth operates the Sleepy Bison Grill, a food trailer serving farm-fresh bison at state fairs, rodeos, powwows and business events across the Midwest. Customers also buy from their website and stores.<\/p>\n

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\u201cYeah, we do an event where there are 300,000 people,\u201d Craig Fischer said. \u201cSo we get in front of quite a few people. The Clay County Fair in Spencer, Iowa, promotes themselves as the world\u2019s greatest county fair. We\u2019ll also be at the Nebraska State Fair this year. We do fairs and events around the Minnesota region.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

He enjoys raising the former beasts of the prairie. \u201cBison are very athletic and I think you have to respect them,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s something different. As a retired baseball player, I like the athleticism and the challenge. But also the peace and quiet that they usually carry.\u201d<\/p>\n

The sheer size of bison can be intimidating, he said, but each animal is selected based on personality.<\/p>\n

\u201cBison are kind of like people,\u201d he said. \u201cThey all have a different demeanor. We do select our bison for different traits, so if there\u2019s ever an issue as a family-run farm, we remove the issue if necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n

The demand for bison is slowly growing. The Fischers help new Sleepy Bison Acres\u2019 customers when it comes to preparing bison at home. Most customers have a limited experience of eating bison, Craig said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe stat I\u2019ve heard is that less than 1% of the population in the United States has eaten 1 pound or more of bison in the past year,\u201d he said. \u201cSo a lot of our customers either have had bison to a limited extent or have not cooked it for themselves before. So we end up trying to help them have a better experience. That\u2019s what really pushed us toward serving bison through the Sleepy Bison Grill.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Fischers also are members of the Minnesota Bison Association, the National Bison Association, Minnesota Grown, Minnesota Farmers Union, Practical Farmers of Iowa, The Land Stewardship Project and the National Independent Concessionaires Association.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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SLEEPY EYE \u2014 In 2013, Craig and Elizabeth Fischer got married and one of their wedding gifts was a bison. It came with the stipulation that they buy one more, as bison are herd animals, Craig Fischer said. \u201cTwo weeks after we got the first one we bought three more through the Minnesota Bison Association,\u201d …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":143450,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-143449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-e-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":true,"date":"2030-08-24 13:15:00","action":"change-status","newStatus":"trash","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=143449"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143449\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":143451,"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143449\/revisions\/143451"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/143450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=143449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=143449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=143449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}