Convert to bison

During a chat with Dave Carter, executive director of the National Bison Association, I asked if it would be a good idea for a rancher in cattle, to transition his operation to bison.

There are two things working with our friends in the cattle business. One of the things that we've seen over the last several years is cattle people, they’ve got the experience raising cattle. They've got their input structures set up and I don't know too many of them that are going to say, guys, I'm just going to take all of that and sell it in transition. But what we are finding is that there are some ranchers that are saying, you know what, diversification’s a pretty good business strategy. And I've got a section of land over here that I could dedicate and maybe I'll start bringing in some bison in addition to my cattle and learn to run both. It's interesting. We've had a number of people do that. And what we found in many times is they will slowly transition out of cattle and focus on bison, particularly during times like when a blizzard hits and the next morning they’re hauling feed out to their cattle herds. Then, watching the bison over across the way, just having a great time in the snow. Bison are cold weather animals. There really isn't much that Mother Nature is going to throw at bison that they haven't seen for the last five thousand years.”

Dave told me that bison are almost impenetrable to wind, snow and sleet.