Bison Meeting Coming Up

Bison Meeting Coming Up

Bison Meeting Coming Up. I'm Greg Martin with Colorado Ag Today.

The National Bison Association is celebrating their 20th anniversary and NBA's executive director, Dave Carter talks about the upcoming meeting.

CARTER: We've got probably 400 folks coming to town to celebrate the fact that we built a great business over the last few decades but also to plan forward because we've got more people discovering the great taste of bison every day and so we've got to make sure we've got the animals out there to keep up with the demand.

A lot has changed in the last 20 years for the bison industry.

CARTER: When the USDA first started keeping track of the number of animals processed, it was in the year 2000 and I think it was about 12-thousand animals that were processed for year for the meat market. This last year we will have finished up with about 55-thousand animals processed. But you know the great thing is in terms for the ranchers is the price has increased. When USDA started tracing the price the ranchers received for a carcass, about a 600 pound carcass, it was about $1.40 a pound and right now it's up to about $4.10 a pound

Carter says they will have a lot of current bison producers attending the meeting.

CARTER: That's probably the best reason that somebody that's just even thinking about getting into the bison business ought to be coming to the meeting because this is the best place for people to come and learn what's involved in bison ranching and bison marketing. We actually start off our conference next Thursday with what we call a mentors panel.

And that's Colorado Ag Today. I'm Greg Martin, thanks for listening on the Ag Information Network of the West.

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