Any bison farmers around this place?

Jeff_NE_WI · Jul 14, 2014

new to this great website! Wondering if anymore bison farmers log on this website? i have a small herd in northern wi. Have around 40 animals.. Curious question on pasturing. Do your animals also eat around red clover and tre-foil in the pasture? mine willnt touch it bale it dry and they eat it fine. Green chop tre-foil and they will just push it around. I know i have been told they like grass and i believe it

bison · Jul 14, 2014

Yeah,..me, I got around 350 give or take

Same here, they don't like clover and alfalfa that much but eat it no problem as hay.
I have no experience with trefoil.

Jeff_NE_WI · Jul 14, 2014

How do you sell your animals? on the rail or breeding stock?

I mostly sell breeding stock.. Yearlings for $1200.00

Have been out of the meat business for a couple years. Was getting 3.50 on the rail hot hanging for the young butcher animals a few years back

bison · Jul 15, 2014

It depends on were i can get the best price and that varies from year to year.
I have sold long yearling bulls and heifers to the US for 5-6 yrs in a row.
last fall Canadian feedlots paid better so they went there i got $1470/head mixed bull/heifers FOB farm
I sell occasionally some breeding stock but the market is rather sparse for that around here.
Cull cows and spend breeding bulls i sell to a local butcher and i sell a bit meat off the farm.
It don't pay for me to finish butcher bulls/hfrs,..distance to a meat plant is to far.
I don't want the extra work either.

1130Leo · Jul 15, 2014

Do either of you deal with beefalo at all? My wife and I are just getting into them, have 10 right now, hoping to get up to 20 or 30 head. Enough to sell a few to help cover the taxes etc. I do not think our fences could handle full blood bison.

Tx Jim · Jul 15, 2014

I have feed out & slaughtered a couple of Beefalo's. All I can state is IT's GOOD EATING.

bison · Jul 15, 2014

(quoted from post at 10:42:06 07/15/14) Do either of you deal with beefalo at all? My wife and I are just getting into them, have 10 right now, hoping to get up to 20 or 30 head. Enough to sell a few to help cover the taxes etc. I do not think our fences could handle full blood bison.

hy one would contaminate a bison with beef is beyond me.
All you get is an ugly animal that combines the worst traits of both species...an ornery beef.
Keep them pure as they were intended to be.
Pure buffalo can be kept no problem behind any 5 feet high fence.
They will never leave you if there's enough to eat.
In the twenty years i been raising them they got out twice,..both times cause i left a gate open.
They're also easy to get back in if you know how to handle them.
Yelling and loud noises and strange people and their vehicles is a ticket for disaster.

1130Leo · Jul 16, 2014

Tx Jim, That is exactly why we got into them, can't
beat the taste. We have hand selected our cows, and
so far only have one that is headed for the butcher
due to it's attitude, bad attitudes are not going to
live here. So far, they are very easy to handle,
better than the holstiens I grew up with at least.

Any bison farmers around this place?

Jeff_NE_WI

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bison

Well-known Member

Jeff_NE_WI

New User

bison

Well-known Member

1130Leo

Member

Tx Jim

Well-known Member

bison

Well-known Member

1130Leo

Member

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