Top Sales at Gold Trophy Bison Show and Sale

by | May 2, 2023 | News Articles

Westminster, CO (January 26, 2023) – Over 500 ranchers gathered last week for the National Bison Association Winter Conference, and brought with them about 100 head of live bison to the National Western Stock show to participate in the Gold Trophy Show and Sale.

The mission of the Gold Trophy Show and Sale is to create an environment where producers can compete to establish the value of their bison in the current marketplace. 

Thank you to all of our consignors and buyers that made the 2023 Gold Trophy Show and Sale a huge success! Thanks too to our great volunteer handling team, the “Buffaleros”, as well as Karen Conley for organizing a great show and sale. Finally, thank you to our GTSS award sponsors, and Rocky Mountain Natural Meats for sponsoring the banquet dinner.

All of the bison growers bring with them a commitment to continue building the market for bison meat based upon the quality of the meat and a dedication to sustainable ranching practices.

John Graves, Yard Supervisor for the Gold Trophy Show and Sale, commented, “The GTSS animals were some of the highest quality we have had, making judging them quite a challenge.”

Wolverine Bison Company brought the Grand Champion Male. Buffalo Run Ranch had the Reserve Grand Champion Male. Snyder Land and Development brought the Grand and Reserve Grand Champion Females; and also received the high honors of Producer of the Year. Wrapping up the recognitions was Miller Bison, LLC, landing the Rookie of the Year award.

On Saturday, January 21st, at the National Western Stock Show, the award winning animals were sold by live animal. “Previous winning entries at the Gold Trophy Show and Sale have served as foundation seed stock for most of the top buffalo herds throughout the United States.

“We expect great things from these animals, and the prices reflected the quality charging through these pens today,” said Lydia Whitman, Program Manager with the National Bison Association. 

The Gold Trophy Show and Sale is held annually at the National Western Stock Show by the National Bison Association and the Rocky Mountain Bison Association, which collectively represent nearly 2,000 members in 48 states and 10 foreign countries.

Information on the National Bison Association is available at www.bisoncentral.com.

Francie M Berg

Author of the Buffalo Tales &Trails blog

Bison Plant in New Rockford Expanding

by | Jan 10, 2023 | News Articles

Pandemic boosts bison consumption

Dave Thompson, Prairie Public. Dec 16, 2022

The North American Bison LLC processing plant in New Rockford is expanding.

“We’ve been experiencing solid growth, in terms of consumption of bison — not only domestically in the U.S., but across the globe,” CEO and President Jim Wells told Prairie Public. “We saw a need to expand our production capacity.”

North American Bison is harvesting around 11,000 animals per year, according to Wells.

“We’re going to move our capacity to over 17,000 animals annually,” he said.

The company recently was awarded $250,000 in state aid to help with expansion construction costs, according to state Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring. The money is through the Agricultural Diversification and Development Fund, which is administered by the state Agriculture Department and state-owned Bank of North Dakota to support new or expanding value-added agriculture businesses.

The coronavirus pandemic is a big driver of the bison plant expansion.

 “We had a lot of consumers who were at home, preparing meals for themselves, and looking for healthy alternatives,” Wells said. “Bison is extremely healthy.”

 Wells said it was more than just ground bison products.

 “We ended up touching a nerve with consumers in regards to health, both on our traditional ground product, but also on our other lines, like steaks,” he said. “So through COVIDd we were able to expand our household consumption beyond the typical bison burger and that’s been a really positive. Thing for the industry.”

 

A ceremony to celebrate the expansion has tentatively been scheduled for February, Wells said.

Francie M Berg

Author of the Buffalo Tales &Trails blog

NBA Winter Conference: Time is Running Out for Early Bird Discount

by | Dec 27, 2022 | News Articles

Registration is open for the 2023 NBA Winter Conference in Denver January 18-21, 2023. Register before December 18th and save $25 in registration cost! Join the biggest bison gathering of the year where we’ll gather, network, learn and celebrate the American bison!

Two days of top-notch educational programming, market updates, and amazing bison-themed meals, all concluding with our annual Gold Trophy Show and Sale (GTSS) bison auction at the National Western Stock Show on Saturday, January 21st. You won’t want to miss out on this great opportunity!

Also, please be sure to book your deeply discounted Winter Conference lodging before December 18th at the beautiful Westin Westminster hotel. Book your room without breakfast option – $139/night. Or call the Westin hotel directly at 303.410.5000, or Marriott reservations at 888.236.2427 and request the National Bison Association room block to reserve over the phone.

Francie M Berg

Author of the Buffalo Tales &Trails blog

Bison at Camp Pendleton, US Marine Corp

Bison at Camp Pendleton, US Marine Corp

by | Dec 13, 2022 | News Articles

The buffalo herd at Camp Pendleton in California.

By Blake Stilwell, USMC

Camp Pendleton first received its bison from the San Diego Zoo between 1973 and 1979. The earliest numbers were small, just 14 individuals.

The installation was a perfect home for the bison, and not just because there’s no better friend than the Marines. Camp Pendleton is enormous; with 125,000 acres of land and two natural water sources, there’s plenty of room on the range to roam. 

Over time and with protection from the Marine Corps, the number of bison has grown so much, they sometimes interfere with basic training and base operations.

By 1987, the Marine Corps estimated the herd had grown to 50. In 1999, the number was 62. Today, it estimates there are 90 on the base. 

The herd is managed by the Camp Pendleton Game Warden’s Office, which advises viewers to stay at least 150 feet away from the six-foot-tall, 2,000-pound gentle giants. While not as aggressive as predatory animals, bison are still defensive and can turn aggressive very quickly. 

When threatened or repeatedly approached, bison will use that bulk to ward off potential attackers. Most injuries at the hands (hooves) of bison usually come because an onlooker got too close to the animal. It’s hard to blame a species that was almost hunted to extinction for being overly cautious. 

Camp Pendleton says its game warden’s office is responsible for monitoring the bison population and keeping track of its genetic diversity, overall health and total population.

The Game Warden’s Office has a management plan that allows the bison to roam free while keeping them (as best they can) from interfering with Marine Corps training exercises.

Still, accidents happen. The Marine Corps estimates two bison from the herd die each year, either from car accidents or some other kind of mishap. That kind of success will likely ensure the Marine Corps bison are welcome on Camp Pendleton for the foreseeable future. 
Blake Stilwell can be reached at blake.stilwell@military.com.

Francie M Berg

Author of the Buffalo Tales &Trails blog

Montana Meat Processing

by | Nov 29, 2022 | News Articles

A rancher-owned meat harvesting cooperative is slated to open this fall in Havre, Montana, according to a Prairie Star report.

The USDA-inspected Montana Premium Processing Cooperative (MPPC) facility, owned by Montana member ranchers, will initially process 3,000 to 3,500 head of cattle, sheep, hogs and bison a year.

The co-op purchased a building in Havre, Mont., where it will park a semi-trailer that has been modified to be a kill floor.

Matt Rains, a rancher and chief of staff for the Montana Farmers Union, told the publication that cattle producers who have been sending finished steers to a large processing plant out of state started the co-op because they wanted to retail their own beef.

Producers leave $1,500 to $2,000 “on the table” for every steer they sell, and wait times to get into a processing facility can be one to two years, he said.

The facility in Havre is near the end of construction and will open soon. The plant is expected to be a year-round operation that can process cattle, hogs, sheep and bison. MFU said the plant will be USDA certified.

Recently the MPPC and Montana Farmers Union announced that Bill Jones was hired as general manager to run the new operation. Jones has worked at Amsterdam Meat Shop and Feddes Family Meats, where the companies saw strong demand for locally produced and processed meat. 

“Bill has been very energetic and really embraces and is excited about the co-op model as a processing facility,” said Rains.

While working as general manager, Jones also plans to partner with Montana State University-Northern (MSUN) to train students in meat cutting and business skills.

“We’re going to be teaching young people how to handle animals in a way that’s calm and respectful,” said Jones. “On a slaughter day, you want to be quiet, calm and move things along carefully, doing a really good job so that everyone maintains quality and integrity throughout.

“We want our people to be careful, safe and take care of those animals all the way through the process.”

Montana Stockgrowers Consider Meat Processing Feasibility

“We’re talking about something that could be a real game-changer for Montana producers,” One Montana Program Manager Matt Bitz enthusiastically told Montana Stockgrowers, meeting at their annual Convention on Saturday, December 13th in Billings.

Bitz spent the past two years overseeing the One Montana research project on the feasibility of building a Montana Meat Processing Plant.

He told them that, based on their research, under the right conditions, a plant in Montana could process 250 head of beef or bison daily. Or a combined 60,000 head of beef and bison annually.

Bitz said One Montana assembled a team of experts across a wide set of disciplines to conduct research in plant design, marketing, wastewater, labor and economic impacts.

They decided to conduct the study after hearing from Montana producers that they wished there was a larger beef processing plant in Montana.

One Montana is a non-partisan, nonprofit organization based out of Bozeman, Montana that seeks to connect rural and urban communities for economic and community development projects.

“Here we are one of the largest beef producing states in the US, we have excellent genetics in our beef herd, but we are still just shipping live cattle out of state for slaughter and processing. We are exporting a raw product,” charged Bitz.

“Beef from Montana is channeled into the national supply chain and essentially becomes anonymous beef on grocery store shelves.”

“Rather than that beef becoming anonymous, One Montana researched the possibilities of processing it here in Montana and selling it as Montana beef.”

Bitz’s presentation on Saturday laid out their findings including promising research on marketing, locations, community impacts and design.

Based on producer feedback, Bitz said they focused their study on the potential of a medium sized, source verified processing plant to succeed in Montana.

Francie M Berg

Author of the Buffalo Tales &Trails blog

Carie Starr realizes her dream at Cherokee Valley Bison Ranch

Carie Starr realizes her dream at Cherokee Valley Bison Ranch

by | Nov 15, 2022 | News Articles

Farm and Dairy, by Sarah Donaldson -September 1, 2022

Buffalo Tales and Trails - Carie Starr realizes her dream at Cherokee Valley Bison Ranch

Carie Starr stands near a pasture with her bison at Cherokee Valley Bison Ranch, in Thornville, Ohio. Photos credit Sarah Donaldson.

In 2005, Carie Starr had a life-changing meal. At that time, she was living on 25 acres of her family’s land, in Thornville, Ohio.

Her grandparents originally owned that land as part of their 160-acre farm. They enjoyed harness racing and had most of the farm in hay production. They also kept a few other animals, like goats and cattle, over the years. Starr grew up around the farm and her grandparents, but never had any plans to be a farmer.

But near the end of 2005, she had dinner at Ted’s Montana Grill, a restaurant in Columbus, to celebrate getting a new job. She wanted to try something new and adventurous, so she ordered bison prime rib.

“I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s the most delicious thing I’ve ever eaten. I’d like to be able to eat that all the time’ … Well, I live in the middle of 25 acres. I could raise bison,” she said.

By 2008, bison grazed the pastures around her. Now, in 2022, she has almost 50 of them at Cherokee Valley Bison Ranch.

She really never thought it would happen. Bison are expensive. She was a single mom at the time, and had recently gotten out of an unhappy relationship. But the idea stuck with her. It was something she read about and thought about to take her mind off of things when she wasn’t happy.

“It was just kind of a fun little fantasy,” she said.

Starr’s bison in pasture at Cherokee Valley Bison Ranch.

Starr uses rotational grazing for her herd. She puts some hay bales out for the cattle, and is starting to experiment with “hay bombing” in the pastures. That involves unrolling hay bales on sections of the pasture where animals have eaten most of the grass.

The bison eat the hay, and whatever they don’t eat gets trampled into the ground. Because the bison are eating there, they also fertilize the ground there, and eventually, the seeds from the hay bale grow into more grass to replace the grass the animals overgrazed.

But another part of managing the farm is knowing which land is better kept out of pasture. Brushy fence rows around the farm provide habitat for pollinators, birds and other wildlife. Starr also keeps an area near the back of the property, where several small streams run, in more butterfly and pollinator habitat.

“If you cram every square inch of your property into production agriculture, there’s no room for those things,” Starr said.

Starr’s grandmother influenced the way she farms, Starr said. She always shared her love for nature and her Cherokee heritage with her family, and was careful to take good care of the land.

“You grow up like that, and you learn to appreciate those kind of things.”

Starr sells most of her bison by the cut from her on-farm store. She also supplies a few small grocery stores and markets, including the Native American Indian Center of Central Ohio’s food truck in Columbus, with wholesale bison and occasionally sells halves or quarters to customers.

“Bison is not cheap. I know that,” she said. “So, we had to go to where the market was.”

Areas like Columbus tend to have more potential customers who want to and can afford to buy bison meat. She started going to farmers markets to build up her customer base in 2008. By 2010, she didn’t have enough bison to meet the demand at the market, so she switched to selling from the farm.

In 2017, she expanded the herd, so she went back to farmers markets for a little while to help build up her customer base again. She’s also gained a lot of customers through posting about her bison on social media.

Starr also welcomes people to the farm with tours, and with camping sites on the property. She and her husband added a tipi to the farm in 2021 for camping, and immediately had bookings. They added a second this year.

They put the tipis on the part of the property that has several streams running through it. It’s an area where she always enjoyed hanging out, and she thought it might be a good place for camping.

“We have that area and like I mentioned, it’s not really good for pasturing,” she said. But it does have an abundance of native plants, pollinators and birds for campers to see. “I think it’s important that people come out and they see that kind of thing. It makes people appreciate nature more.”

Reporter Sarah Donaldson is a former 4-Her and Mount Union graduate from Columbiana County, Ohio, 800-837-3419 or sarah@farmanddairy.com.

Francie M Berg

Author of the Buffalo Tales &Trails blog

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