NDSU business grad finds success in agriculture

As the morning sun rises over Skull Creek Bison Ranch near Rhame, North Dakota, Conner Buchholz doesn’t just see legacy, he sees opportunity. A 2022 NDSU graduate, Buchholz now serves as co-owner and board member of North American Bison, the largest USDA-certified bison processing plant in the state. From ranch to retail, he’s helping reshape what agricultural success looks like in North Dakota.

Buchholz’s path from western North Dakota rancher to ag-sector business leader didn’t begin with a love of lectures or a clear-cut college plan. In fact, as a first-generation college student, he admits he wasn’t eager to leave the ranch or sit in a classroom. But attending NDSU, and stepping away from what was familiar, proved to be a defining decision.

“I didn’t want to go to college,” said Buchholz, who started working at his family’s Skull Creek Ranch as a child. “But I knew if I was serious about building something, if I wanted to grow, I had to get uncomfortable first. NDSU made that possible.”

The importance of NDSU’s role in agriculture takes center stage during NDSU’s annual North Dakota Tour from July 14 through Aug. 7. NDSU President David Cook, university administrators, deans and others will meet alumni, local leaders, legislators, members of the State Board of Higher Education, Extension employees, agriculture producers and NDSU supporters during stops throughout North Dakota. The tour coincides with NDSU’s annual field days, which highlights groundbreaking NDSU agriculture research at Research Extension Centers across the state.

Attracted to NDSU’s strong reputation in both agriculture and business, Buchholz pursued a management degree with an emphasis in human resources. He minored in animal sciences. Thanks to scholarships, affordability played a key role in making his college experience possible. But the real value, he said, went far beyond tuition.

“What stands out now are the relationships with professors and students from all over agriculture,” Conner said. “You learn so much just from hearing how people do things differently in different states.”

Today, Buchholz combines his lifelong background in bison ranching with the business acumen he built at NDSU. As co-owner and a board member at North American Bison, he oversees executive operations and maintains direct connections with bison producers across North Dakota, Montana, South Dakota, Minnesota and Canada. His leadership bridges the gap between family ranches and national retailers, delivering premium bison protein to major retailers across the country.

“My favorite part of the job is working directly with producers and plant employees,” he said. “There’s a lot of pride in knowing we’re taking a bison calf someone raised for over 400 days and turning it into a product that feeds families across the country.”

Buchholz credits NDSU for helping him develop the skills he uses every day, from negotiation to conflict resolution and financial planning.

“Some of the things I learned didn’t hit me until I was in the real world,” he said. “I’ll be in a meeting or facing a decision and something from a class just clicks. It’s the kind of stuff you don’t realize you absorbed until you need it.”

He also praised professors who brought real-world experience back to the classroom, especially those who had successful careers outside academia.

“I have huge respect for the professors who ran businesses and came back to teach,” he said. “They weren’t just talking about theory, they were passing on something they lived.”

“Conner stood out to me. He wasn’t just a student who grew up on a ranch, he intimately understood the business of ranching,” said Eric Gjerdevig, NDSU management and marketing lecturer and executive director of the Center for Professional Selling and and Sales Technology. “We had numerous conversations before or after classes where I felt like I was learning more from him than he probably was from me. His business acumen and entrepreneurial interests were clear from the start. It’s fun to see where he is today.”

Buchholz remains deeply committed to North Dakota. He continues to operate Skull Creek Ranch, a bison operation founded by his great-grandfather in 1939 and he’s passionate about growing the bison industry into a more central part of the state’s ag economy.

“There’s so much potential in bison,” Buchholz said. “It used to be seen as a side venture, but we’re proving it can be a sustainable, profitable piece of agriculture.”

Looking ahead, Buchholz sees opportunity not just for his company, but for the future of agriculture in North Dakota. He’s excited by efforts to add value in-state, turning raw materials into finished goods and growing rural economies through innovation and leadership.

His advice to students from rural backgrounds is simple: Don’t be afraid to leave home, even if only for a little while.

“If you grow up in ag, it’s easy to think you don’t need college,” he said. “But stepping away helped me understand what I really had at home and how to come back to the ranch stronger. I wouldn’t be where I am right now without my time at NDSU.”

For Buchholz, that return has meant more than carrying on a family tradition. It’s meant redefining it and leading from the ranch, boardroom and everywhere in between.