2011 Bison Production Down
2011 Bison Production Down. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Line On Agriculture.
The bison industry is one that is still in it’s early growing stages even though the animals themselves are as old as the America’s themselves. Dave Carter, President of the National Bison Association says that 2011 was a year of change for the industry.
CARTER: Last year came out great. We continue to grow in terms of sales. Our sales continue to grow. It’s a particularly challenging time right now because a lot of our producers are getting the message we need to grow the herds to keep up with the demand and what we saw last year was that a lot o ranchers began to hold back their heifers to build their herds which really diminished the already short supply in the marketplace.
That of course has affected the price of bison.
CARTER: We were down about 16% last year in terms of the number of animals processed under USDA inspection even though we are still at record high prices at the retail counter so it’s one of those things, one of the challenges with our business is that it takes a while for these animals to grow and catch up but we see that the groundwork is out there and feel really confident we’re going to have more animals and more product in the months ahead.
While there are some similarities, bison differ from cattle especially when it comes to time frames.
CARTER: The heifers don’t get their calf until they’re 3 years old whereas in the beef business it’s a 2 year old heifer that’ll have her first calf. And then in terms of the animals going to market weight it’s about 24 months to 27 months in our business as opposed to 14 to 18 months in the beef business. Long term there’s a real advantage in the bison business because bison are long lived animals that cow or heifer out there is going to give you about twice as many calves over the course of her lifetime as the comparable beef animal.
And Carter says with the premium price that bison demands in the marketplace there is some make up there. He gives a brief look at what 2012 might bring.
CARTER: Well we’re seeing continued growth ahead for this next year. We think we continue to line up where a lot of consumers are at. It’s unfortunate some of the news stories you’re seeing out there in terms of red meat and the way the meats processed and all of that. But the reality is people do not want to give up on red meat. They want to have a good eating experience and they want to know the meat comes from animals that were raised the right way. As long as we keep ourselves aligned with those consumer expectations we see that our business will just continue to grow.
That’s today’s Line On Agriculture. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.
