When Dave and I started this adventure, it went without any real discussion that we would be truly grass-fed and finished.
Our experience as consumers over the previous decade had revealed the ugly truth about purchasing "grass-fed" and "grass-finished" products from elsewhere, especially the big box stores. And, even the local butchers and producers of beef products weren't the desired final product we wanted to have in our diets.
This, in addition to being the animal welfare advocate that I had been for nearly 30 years, made us all too aware that if we wanted clean meat raised in the most humane manner, we were going to have to raise our own proteins.
Bison meat was harder to come by from a local producer, and, as I've mentioned in previous posts, it was a mere dream that I might someday see a buff, it was beyond my dreams of having them in my own fields! So, rather than beef, we chose bison.
Much of that decision was based on the information we found on the internet initially. There really is not a lot of good information available for newbies or rookies. Everything is basically parrotted and the information may be focused on the Plaines areas, or Texas grasses and weather. You might find information that is focused on how to raise buffs in Colorado or even Arkansas. But there wasn't a lot about raising them anywhere too far East of the Mississippi and certainly not Tennessee specifically.
And, as I said, most of it was like reading a copy/paste edition of the National Bison Association's propaganda.
Yes. That's what I called it. Propaganda.
I write this blog for two audiences: The consumer and the individuals who are considering raising bison. This means the information may not be entirely pertinent or interesting to you. But, in an effort to raise awareness from both ends of the spectrum, it's how I do these - because I have lived on both ends.
So....I made a promise that I would be completely transparent in how we manage our herd. What they do, how we supplement that natural behavior, and how they respond. And, that means I have to share the bad with the good. Now, I've been told by other bison ranchers that consumers really don't want to hear or know of the bad. They don't care about what goes into producing a quality protein. They want the romance of the American Buffalo roaming freely and the belief they are eating something pure, clean, natural....
But, I believe our customers have become repeat and regulars because we do pull the curtain back to show it all. We've built that trust and are recognized as proven producers. And I am forever grateful for that support and continued trust!
That's why I'm sharing the trials we've been facing recently.
Our beautiful green and lush fields from just a few weeks ago are completely gone. We're in another drought that is so bad our immediate area is currently smothered in smoke from wildfires. We were managing to hang on to a little fescue until the first few days of November when we were hit with record-setting lows in the low 20s. And, those two nights of frost wiped out the remaining fescues.
I started supplementing the field grasses with orchard hays and Timothy hays in early October. But now? I'm putting out about 400 lbs of hay daily to keep the herd fed appropriately.
Of course, that does not prevent them from following their instinct to graze. And that means they're overgrazing our fields. Where we thought, hoped, and prayed we wouldn't need to reseed will now require about 5-7 lbs of seeding per acre.
Because we are pesticide and herbicide-free, and we practice no-till on our fields, this year's moist season really cultivated the ragweed. So, it is NOT pretty. In fact, it is ugly.
And this is the result of running a very small herd on our fenced land. Imagine if we had followed the 'advice' of the internet and were running 1 head per acre!
I'm putting out a little more hay each day than probably necessary. But it's an attempt to minimize the grass grazing as much as possible. And, I certainly don't have that much waste from the hay stacks I scatter around the fields for them. Plus, have I mentioned how picky they are?
The orchard hay is the least nutritious. It's not bad numbers, but compared to the Timothy and Alfalfa I have for them? It's certainly lacking. Bison will pick through something that isn't plateable for them, they will eat nubs of softer grasses and clovers over a pile of hay that is too stemmy or woody. And, Timothy and Alfalfa both are more stemmy than our orchard hays. So, I have to be pretty aware of what the intake is of what hays I'm putting out, keep track of what they're consuming, how much, and keep a close eye on their weights and body conditions.
But what about the grounds after drought?
How do we come back year after year without throwing seeds to the ground annually? That's an expense we didn't initially add into the normal overhead in our maintenance column. But the reality of buffs is this - when you look out at fields growing a good variety of grasses and legumes, you might think the animals will have more than plenty. But in actuality, they will pick from the varieties what tastes the best, is softest, and most palatable.
Isn't rotational grazing an option for grass-fed and finished bison during a drought?
Yes, we could rotate and force them into eating more varieties. Or, we could mob graze and force them to eat the less desired.
But what we've learned is that this management method is more detrimental to our land than open-grazing or free-ranging the herd. Plus, if we wanted to manage them as cattle or sheep, we could have raised cattle or sheep, right?
We've also realized it is healthier for the herd to remain somewhat associated with their ancestral instinct to roam. And, for parasite control, it is much less risky having them spread throughout the ranch than living in small quartered confinement for a set number of days grazing right over numerous piles of manure.
Therefore, on our ranch and in our operation we refuse to practice the trendy 'rotational grazing' that other bison ranches are implementing. Again, this is our choice.
If we were a 100,000-acre ranch out west where 'rotation' meant moving them from 200-acre tracts to 500-acre tracts? Sure, that might be something that made sense. Not on small ranches in the East in my opinion. It's not humane, it's not healthy for the buffs, and it is not healthy for the land. That is my experience, and I don't have to go along to get along with what the 'industry' trend and propaganda put out there.
Other Alternatives
We'll seed drill in late February. Our soils are healthy, fortunately, we aren't in need of spreading lime or making corrections to the dirt itself. But due to the overgrazing of this field, and to combat the ragweed infestation that is highly possible after yet another year of drought, reseeding the grounds with grasses the buffs have shown us they prefer is the best step forward in meeting their needs while obtaining our goals of grass-fed and grass-finished bison in drought. And, in addition to that selection of seeding, we are currently working with a wildlife habitat biologist with the Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency to re-establish native grasses. Such as Little Blue Stem and Sideoats Grama the buffs used to graze when they roamed our land in the 1800s. Conservation has been a priority goal for us. And that includes returning our grounds to their natural state before they were farmed and became a dairy farm for three generations.
Corrective Actions
This one field is about 25 acres. When you remove the areas highlighted in orange, it's less than 20 acres. The orange highlights are wooded areas (great for shade and security), wallows the herd has established, a farm road for ingress/egress without disturbing the fields or spreading manure piles in the fields, water/mineral stations, and a run-off water control area. Twenty acres in that field for 12-15 buffs? Not enough forage and vegetation, especially when there is a variety of grasses that may or may not be their target.
We're in the process of making changes that will add another 30-plus acres to the fenced area and allow the herd to move off of the fields for hay feedings and rest the newly seeded fields.
Some might think that by adding another 30+ acres we can manage more head per acre. But that won't be the case. Or, at least it won't be our situation!
After two consecutive years of drought and extending the hay feeding experience tells us that the balance between land and animals is too fragile to risk for either. We will remain a small herd producer, no matter how much land we add to the operation.
We didn't become bison ranchers to be a Yellowstone, the TV Show. We wanted to raise clean and healthy meat. And to do that we need to stay dedicated to the health of our herd, our land, and the environment the two combined produce.
We could easily start throwing more animals in, add grains or "cubes" or do as others do...we could bring in animals that others have raised (and fed), rush them off to the butcher, and tell our customers they are 'our' product.
But, we eat our product! We want to know exactly what we're putting into our body, and most especially we want to know that we are preserving the American Buffalo...not raising a less-domesticated version of cattle.
*Another post for another time -- the "bison industry" is turning buffalo into cattle and the treatment of these majestic icons is increasingly less ethical.*
In conclusion. Buffs are hard on the grounds. It takes more ground to maintain them than most cattle. Grass-fed and grass-finished is a lot of work (I see now why there is so much dishonesty in labeling). And, walking a tightrope to find a healthy and happy balance is non-stop, even through the ugly times.
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