Bison meat stampede

"It had the turning radius of an arthritic bison," David Jacobson wrote.

The hot sports car isn't the only thing that turns around like a big, old bison. So do bison breeding programs.

Bison meat has been selling so well in the Baltimore and Washington area that the people at Gunpowder Gunpowder Bison & Trading Co. in Monkton are wishing they could increase their herd size -- and quickly.

But they can't rush Mother Nature.

"It's not like we can turn production around very fast to create more product," said Nathan Stambaugh, Gunpowder's director of sales and marketing. "We're trying to -- slowly -- but trying to do it the right way."

He said it will be six to eight months before the herd can grow even slightly.

"Right now, we're kind of holding steady, working on our breeding operation."

Touted as a more healthful than beef, as lean as turkey breast, bison meat has grown in popularity since Gunpowder began selling meat about six years ago. The company supplies 20 to 25 restaurants in Baltimore and Washington, and sells as several area farmers' markets.

In all, it is harvesting about 10 animals a week, yielding 450 to 500 pounds of meat.

All 200 pounds of burger meat Gunpowder took to the JFX farmers' market last Sunday sold out before 9 a.m. -- at $6.50 a pound.

"Business has picked up in the last six months," Stambaugh said. "We're actually are selling everything we can produce. We are selling out on a regular basis at the farmers' market."

Some people have started calling Gunpowder ahead of time to place orders that they can pick up at the market. The company has also started a waiting list for restaurants that want to sell its meat.

I happened to pick up some Gunpowder bison for the first time last week at Mill Valley General Store in Remington. The burgers we made with it were flavorful and not dry -- a concern since the meat is said to be lower in fat than beef.

I can understand why there's a run on it.

Sun file photo of bison at Gunpowder