My Homestead Vision: Why Bison? (Austin)

If you're reading this, I'll assume you're somewhat interested in my homesteading endeavors; and if you're interested in my homesteading endeavors, I assume we've had this conversation before. But just in case, here is my explanation for why I have elected to aspire to ranching buffalo. Be warned: this is one of my longer posts.
When I tell people that I want to ranch bison, I get a lot of weird looks. Particularly from people with cattle experience. "Why not just raise cattle?" There are a few reasons and, while there are definitely some differences in approach, I feel like bison are more suitable to me and to my aspirations for the future.

Reason 1: bison are, in the long run, cheaper to maintain over the years. They are more expensive to start with, given the necessary equipment and the higher price per head to purchase from other operations. But bison are more cost effective in daily operations because:

• Bison are more efficient grazers than cattle. Cattle will chew pastures all day, whereas buffalo stop when they are no longer hungry. The chance of overgrazing the pastures is significantly reduced. Grass-fed cattle are suggested to have 2-3 acres of pasture per head, and buffalo only need 1 or 1.5 acres.
• The immune system of domesticated cattle is very weak, and they require vaccinations and treatment every couple months. Bison are extremely hardy and I've read about multiple bison ranches that get their bison vaccinated once a year, if at all, and still maintain a healthy herd.
• Cattle often need assistance in birthing. There are high numbers of complications that kill the calf, the mother, or both. This poses a danger to your number of valuable stock every year, and human-assisted birth is pretty common in a lot of cattle ranches. Bison, in contrast, require much less assistance. I spoke with one buffalo rancher, the gentleman who owns the ranch I was at in the picture above, and he said he hadn't needed to assist in birthing for a few years. He also said it was usually pretty easy to tell if they needed help or predicting a difficult birth.
• Cattle tend to push on fences when the come up next to them, so the time and cost of repairing fences for cattle is higher because bison don't do this. As long as they are content with their living space, have enough food, and are happy with the size of their herd (generally 8-10 is the minimum recommended herd size) buffalo won't push on fences. I've read about a few operations that use only a standard wooden split-rail fence for their pastures, and they have no problems with bison escaping because they are content with their situation.

Reason 2: Bison meat is one of the healthiest meats known to man, being both extremely lean and high in protein and nutrients. It is by far healthier than beef, and even more so than poultry. Bison also produce a large amount of by-products that have a slightly wider range of use than cattle. Native Americans lived off buffalo meat and products for centuries, and that's why the buffalo populations were decimated and the species nearly made extinct at the end of the  19th Century. The government ordered that the Indians' food supply (a.k.a, the bison herds) be wiped out as much as possible. That, and the price for buffalo hides and pickled buffalo tongues were extremely high in the eastern states.

Reason 3: Cattle is a very large, albeit pretty stable, business market in the country. Particularly with the rise of organic food and pasture-raised livestock, that group has potential to make good money. But there's also a lot of competition anywhere you go. Bison, while a significantly smaller market, has been growing very quickly in the last decade and it is much easier to find a market with little to no competition in the immediate area.

Reason 4: Let's face it, bison are just a freakin' sweet animal. Fun fact: when cattle see a storm coming, they turn and run away from it to seek shelter. If no shelter is found, cattle will wait out the storm with the back to the wind. Bison run into and through the storm as much as they can, so that they spend less time in it than if they had tried to outrun it. They post up and face straight into the elements, taking the brunt of it right on their faces because their head and shoulders is where their fur is the thickest. Pretty B.A. if you ask me. They are an American icon and a symbol of strength, perseverance, and the ruggedness of this nature that God created.

These animals definitely pose a unique set of challenges that I'll be facing in addition to the other hurdles of establish a homestead as a new farmer. For this reason, despite my enthusiasm and want to have them sooner, the buffalo will probably be the last addition to the homestead. But I think it will be well worth it once the time comes. If you're nice, I'll even share some of the meat with you ;)

-Austin