www.FarmProgress.com – November 2012
American Agriculturist
Dairy & Livestock
38
Bison roam East’s
lean-meat niches
By P.J. GRIEKSPOOR
and JOHN VOGEL
O
UT East, where the West really
began, nearly 6,700 shaggy-headed
bison still snort and thunder across
the plains — until they reach bison-proof
fence lines. The Northeast, from Maine to
Maryland, is home to 307 herds, according
to the 2007 Census of Agriculture.
Surprisingly, every New England state
has at least two farms with bison, even
PASSION FOR BISON: Dave Carter,
head of the National Bison Association,
says bison is a “niche” market, and
growers are willing to embrace that.
“We don’t want to be the next beef.”
Key Points
■ Bison enjoy a comeback as an exotic
niche food with many nutritiion benefits.
■ Strong meat demand is slowing herd
expansion for bison producers.
■ The effort to interbreed bison with beef
cattle was a total failure.
Rhode Island. Pennsylvania has the largest
concentration on the East Coast, with 144
herds and more than 2,700 head. While
a few are kept for novelty purposes and
agritourism, the real money is in the meat,
says Trey Lewis, owner of Gunpowder
Bison Ranch, north of Baltimore, Md., at
Monkton, where the country begins.
The 70-acre spread also is headquarters
for Lewis’ Gunpowder Bison and Trading
Co., which merchandises steaks, roasts,
burgers, jerky and more in the BaltimoreWashington, D.C., region. He harvests
about 450 animals a year and supplies
meat to 10 area farmers markets, high-end
restaurants, and he also sells meat online.
“We walk a fine line between knowing
how to meet demand for our product,
yet hold back heifers for herd expansion
and replacement,” says Lewis. With meat
prices at record levels, that’s a quandary
all bison ranches are in.
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Stampeding demand slows growth
That’s the case all across the country,
says Dave Carter, executive director
of the Colorado-based National Bison
Association. Carter, who makes no secret
of his love for bison — both the animals
that once numbered in the millions on the
Great Plains, and the tenderloin he likes to
cook in a cast-iron skillet and serve with
cowboy potatoes — reports that bison
meat sales to grocery stores, restaurants
and farmers markets topped $278 million
in 2011.
That’s 15.8% above 2010. And this
increase came despite a 16% drop in
animals processed.
After being hunted almost to extinction
in the late 1800s, the species made a major
comeback. By the 1990s, bison had become
the “in” niche crop, with a Gold Trophy
(Show and Sale) bull selling for $101,000 at
the National Western Stock Show.
As is often the case with “hot” new
trends, the zeal didn’t last. By 2002, a Gold
Trophy bull brought only $5,800, and the
business of bison meat was becoming a
serious one.
“Bison will always be a niche market,
and we treat ourselves accordingly. We
Pennsylvania
gets first deer
CWD case
J
UST as Pennsylvania
hunters were starting prehunting season scouting for
white-tailed deer, the state’s
first positive case of chronic
wasting disease popped up on
an Adams County deer farm — not in
the wild deer population. CWD has been
in the neighboring states of Maryland,
New York and West Virginia for years.
In mid-October, state officials
confirmed a positive sample taken from
a white-tailed deer near New Oxford,
in Adams County. The Department of
Agriculture immediately quarantined
that deer farm and two others directly
associated with the positive deer. One
was in Lycoming County, the other in
York County.
The quarantine prevents movement
of animals on and off the premises.
Making the announcement, state Ag
don’t want to be the next beef,” Carter
says. Among today’s foodies, bison has a
number of spot-on qualities, he contends.
It’s high in protein, low in fat and high in
omega-3 fatty acids.
Bison ranches tend to be familyowned, earth-friendly and chemical-free
operations. Cows calve with ease, and a
newborn calf is up and running within 15
minutes of birth.
About 100 years ago, Carter notes,
there was an effort to see if interbreeding
bison with European beef genetics would
produce calves with hybrid vigor and a
superior meat product. The experiment,
he adds, failed.
“Not only did the interbreeding not
produce hybrid vigor, it produced just the
opposite,” he explains. “First-generation
bulls were sterile, and the females had
calving problems and high mortality rates
of calves. The whole idea was scrapped.”
Carter contends almost all bison raised
today are genetically the same animals as
roamed the Plains in the 1800s.
Learn more about Gunpowder Bison
and Trading Co. at www.gunpowderbison.
com. Learn more about the National Bison
Association at www.bisoncentral.com.
Secretary George Greig
said, “Pennsylvania
has an aggressive
surveillance program
and a strong response
plan. Steps are being
taken to prevent further
spread of this disease to
the state’s captive and
wild deer populations.”
“To date, CWD
has not been found in
Pennsylvania’s wild
deer population,” added Carl Roe,
Game Commission executive director.
”Concerns over CWD should not prevent
anyone from enjoying deer hunting and
consuming meat from healthy animals.”
Signs of the disease include weight
loss and excessive salivation, and
abnormal behavior such as stumbling,
trembling and depression. Infected deer
and elk may also allow unusually close
approach by humans or natural predators.
For more info, visit: www.agriculture.
state.pa.us and click on the “Chronic
Wasting Disease information” button, or
www.pgc.state.pa.us and click on “CWD
info.”