Bison industry recruits ranchers as prices rise

Meat sales small, but appeal to the health-conscious

Associated Press

June 22, 2008

MONUMENT, Colo. - Susan Popp was a manager at Hewlett-Packard and her husband was a pilot at the Air Force Academy more than a decade ago when they decided to become bison ranchers.

Now the U.S. bison industry is trying to encourage more people - veteran cattle ranchers or newcomers like the Popps - to start raising the animals to help meet growing demand nationwide.

"People understand the health benefits of bison. More people are trying it," said Susan Popp, 42. "It's not quite so exotic."

The Popps' Black Forest Bison ranch boasts a herd of about 60 animals, and their store in Colorado Springs is looking for more bison suppliers.

"If things keep going with the demand growing the way it is, we need to get some more people out there raising buffalo," said Dave Carter, executive director of the Denver-based National Bison Association.

The industry, which touts the meat as a healthier, leaner alternative to beef, is offering an online "Bison 101" course, evangelizing the benefits of bison to lenders and expanding mentoring opportunities for new ranchers.

But it may be a tough sell right now, as factors that are affecting other meat producers such as the cost of land and rising fuel and feed prices can be obstacles to starting a bison ranch.

In the past few years, the bison association has built demand among customers looking for locally supplied, lower-fat alternatives to beef, and more top chefs are starting to serve bison. Largely wild, bison can calve on their own and aren't regularly injected with antibiotics or hormones. They also do well in extreme climates.

Today, there are bison producers in all 50 states, with about 4,000 private ranches raising roughly 232,000 animals. But the 46,195 bison processed through USDA-inspected facilities last year was dwarfed by the estimated 128,000 animals processed daily in the beef industry.

"It's a tiny part of American agriculture, but bison has been a part of people's diets on this continent for thousands of years, and there's a good reason for that," said Bob Dineen, who founded Denver-based Rocky Mountain Natural Meats.

The trade group estimates up to 70 million bison may have roamed North America centuries ago, but that figure dwindled to about 1,000 in 1900. The industry claims credit for helping the population rebound.

Annual sales at Dineen's company have increased from 700,000 pounds to more than 2 million pounds over the past five years. Revenues, expected to reach $30 million this year, have grown 10 percent to 20 percent over the past 10 years, said Dineen, who started his company in 1986.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported average wholesale prices for prime slaughter bulls at $220.94 in March, up 22 percent from a year earlier, even as slaughter numbers in federally inspected plants rose at about the same rate.

"There's no guarantees in this world, but we've seen this growth steadily and slowly," Dineen said. "As we enter new marketplaces and get a toehold, it's staying and continues to grow."

This isn't the nation's first bison boom, though. The industry thrived on sky-high animal prices during a down market for cattle in the late 1990s but got too big before ranchers had enough customers wanting to eat buffalo. That led to a slump, worsened by years of drought.

The Popps had only three animals they kept on a friend's ranch during the boom. They survived the downturn by staying small and buying a herd only after prices plummeted. "We were still in the growing phase. We just didn't grow as fast," Peter Popp said.

Bud Flocchini of Reno, Nev., a meat industry veteran and chief executive of Armand Agra, estimates prices for heifer calves reached $2,000 around 2000 before dipping as low as $200 in 2001-2004, partly due to drought that forced many ranchers to sell off their herds. He estimates a rancher could buy a calf today for $400 to $500.

The bison association long has been touting the high-protein benefits of bison to health-conscious consumers. Dineen said Ted Turner's Ted's Montana Grill has made the meat more accessible while spreading the message that, no, bison are not endangered.

Generally, a pound of ground bison can cost twice that of prime ground beef at the supermarket. In Colorado, ground bison retails at up to $7 a pound.

Bison 101 includes tips for would-be ranchers on what age of animals to buy, when to vaccinate, fencing and other pointers.