On the Minnesota prairie near the South Dakota border, you will find Ben Dwire and his family moving their grass-fed beef cattle from one field to another.

Not just for the health of the herd, but the health of the earth.

“This is nature’s original template. What we’re doing is nothing brand new. This is the same system the buffalo used when they built the prairies,” Dwire said.

It’s a philosophy known as regenerative agriculture, a way of doing things that enhance the ecosystem and replenish the soil.  

For Dwire, a fifth generation farmer, desperation and drought was the catalyst for change. 

“Probably the biggest thing was economics…Wanted to look for a different way of doing things, and also, just environmental impacts,” he told Fox 9.

The drought of 2012 was a turning point for the family. Dwire got half the corn he was expecting and ran out of grass to feed his cattle by August. He thought he might have been looking at his last harvest.