Hybrid Winter Wheat Being Developed

National Bison Association program manager Lydia Whitman says that research is a priority for the organization and its members.

“On research, really excited that there's live vaccine trials going on for M Bovis and for MCF, malignant Kataral fever, both really rough diseases that you can't really treat once a herd gets it that's been managed by USDA-ARS service, really hopeful to hear results as they move through those live vaccine trials. It's a really big deal. It's like 15-20 years in the making to get to this point.”

Another priority, according to Whitman is working on opening up new international markets for bison meat.

“We've got a lot of international trade interest. That's kind of fun. We had a delegation from Japan visit in December and seeing where that goes for opening Asian markets for bison consumption. Also looking at some other international trade negotiations as we move forward to see if we can open up some new markets or get rid of some regulatory some tariffs that are unnecessary bison is exclusively grown in North America. So we're not really competitive against other bison growers throughout international territories.”

Lydia Whitman, program manager for the National Bison Association