I know we killed them off to break the Plains tribes. It worked.

We need to transition from beef to buff. Reasons:

Cattle are not native to this continent. They require special care in comparison.

Buffalo evolved here. Their original range was basically the majority of our entire continent...eastern woodlands, to the Rockies, Mexico to Canada.

Cows keel over in conditions buffalo thrive in...be it hot, cold or bone dry.

Sure, you cant beat a fat, marbled steak, but I've eaten buffalo. It's good meat. You want fat feedlot cows, sure, keep some for that. I guess you could chunk up buffalo the same way.

Last reason...buffalo were almost America'd to death. That was a mistake. Everybody knows that now.  It really is about one of the most "America!" animals we have. Russia has Bald Eagles. They don't have our native bison. Besides, Ben Franklin equated Bald Eagles to buzzards. He was right. Pretty carrion birds.

I drove from AL, through the Plains states up to WY last year. I noted a lot of signs that young born there aren't staying on the family farm.  Little dead or dying towns. Lots of land that hasn't seen a plow in a while. Owners of unused land could sew in the native grass, stitch adjacent plots together like an old sharecrop. Let buffalo grow on that grass, like their grass. They will grow in number if you just leave them be. Prairie grass and buffalo are made for each other.

I'm guessing fence maintenance would be the only upkeep. I've seen full grown buffalo bulls up close. Fences would likely be rated for bull cattle. Those suckers literally weigh a ton. They do need water, but not near what a cow needs.

They expand and start overgrazing a stitched parcel? Just go in and have a cull.  That or a steady cull. Some folks will pay good money to can hunt a buffalo. I never heard of any paying for a canned hunt for cows.

I know little of the cattle ranching and less about raising buffalo, but this makes sense the way i see it.

They were America's original cattle. Seems to me they could be again, but on a new industrial scale.

Man, I have a story about Beefalo.  It's a good one, but it's late.  If I don't remember tomorrow, someone @ me.  What is beefalo?  (And why is it funny?) Stay tuned...

So, my friends and I had a tape recorder that you could run a phone line through.  We were putting together a pretty funny prank call tape.  Someone in our group found out about Beefalo and thought it would be funny to call restaurant managers and pitch beefalo.  We needed material so we found the beefalo corporate number and called hoping to get as much as possible.  The cutest little old lady pics up.  Corporate office is this lady's kitchen in Kansas or somewhere.  We must have been on the phone with her for an hour.  She even offered to send us sperm samples.  We declined.  We did get an entire portfolio about Beefalo, nutrition information, associated costs, health benefits, graphs, we even got a bumper sticker.  We had more than enough and used it to comical effect.

It sounds reasonable but the politicians would never go for it because it might be good for the peasants.

I have had a couple of buffalo steaks.

Not bad.

If you can't hunt Bald Eagle as America's Bird, I doubt you'd be able to hunt Buffalo.  


Other than that, I can get behind this

There are bison farmers near me. I love the meat. Op is entirely correct and I hope to raise bison for meat some day. Their hides are also pretty neat.

There's a member here who had some good tales about working a buffalo ranch. IIRC they figured out ATVs were the best way to work them. He also had to shoot one when it chased him into the brush and his quad flipped.

Hell no!!!

If it could make money, someone would have already done it. The fact that it is basically an artisanal industry shows that it will never work.

Fart to proudly for the greenies

It's alright

But I'd have to vote no

Nothing puts yuropoors in their place like cheap beef in the U.S. They know the power and majesty of the steak and the hamburger. Buffalo would just be some weird thing fat Americans eat, in their eyes

Bison is delicious, have a chest freezer full of it.

That is something I'd forgotten about, the leather. I read in a book once that Plains indians made shields capable of stopping and deflecting pistol ball out of a bull buffalo back hide. They'd cook an already thick piece over a low fire. Hide was wet, then they'd smear hide glue on top. Small coal fire under it. As the heat forced the moisture out, the hide would draw and thicken it until rock hard.

Reply I'm looking for. Please expound. I'm genuinely curious.

I imagine we'd be less blubbery eating more buffalo.

I vote for horses. I’ve always wanted to go horse hunting.

I figure those ancient, state sized prairie fires were enraged with the methane from 50 million bison.

"Buffalo" are not native to North America - the name is a mistake made by early European settlers upon first seeing the American Bison. Should we stick to the native breeds, or try for "Beefalo" strains where Bison have been bred with domestic beef cattle, instead?

In the end, it comes down to what's most delicious in the form of steaks, shanks, ribs, or ground up into patties and served on a bun with lettuce, pickles, onion, tomato and cheese?

45/70 as stock accessory on ATV...check!

Sounds like double 'Merica! to me. Henry Repeating Arms bolstered, too.

Too lean.  A rare ribeye is expensive because it’s awesome.

I don't know that word..."artisanal", so your reply is cancelled.

Noted.

I'm thinking it might help us peons. That is why i like the idea.

I've heard of beefalo. They are like mules, half horse/half donkey. Also cannot reproduce. That would be tampering with a viable, already existing potential.

I'd still like to hear your story. I like good stories.

I never said completely do away with beef. Just supplant most staple beef with buff, for cheaper red meat protein. Look at what poor ass Texans started with beef brisket back in the day.  Buffalo dogs on a bun, burgers and stew meats is the idea.

Fine with me.  I prefer deer and elk and also bison over beef anyways.

had an uncle went in the the "Beefalo" biz, breeding Buffs with white face angus.
his farm was on the Connecticut River in Vermont, ayup....had great cow fences on the land side of his property
don't you know...
and none, zero, zip on the river side...hell, angus don't swim

Buff do and swim well.

the third time we roamed New Hampshire seeking 1200lbs of Buffalo Bull was the time found a buyer
with 8' fences, cause they can jump a 6' fence with out thinking about it and let it go at a loss.

It would be fucking awesome.

And you would have to fence all the interstates off. Unfortunately, million head megafauna herds are incompatible with modern life.

I never implied putting the Plains back aboriginal. Just stick more less maintenance buff on existing unused plots. Give them their original fodder, too.

I was in Wright, WY last summer. Huge buffalo ranch there. I think it is called Buffalo Ranch. Looked like they used a typical cattle fence there. I don't recall them being 8' high.  Hundreds were in one herd.

Neighbor kid got a FareWell Burn tag about 30 yrs ago and that Buff had the most beautiful marbling on the steaks, pearls of white fat evenly interspersed throughout the meat, fucking tasty.

Does not matter.
There is not enough viable land to support herds large enough to supply the quantity the op is thinking of.
If it were viable it would have happened already.
I think Ted Turner developed the largest herds in recent modern history with his huge land acquisitions throughout the 80’s, 90’s & early 2k’s. Along with supplying A significant increase in Bison meat to the market.

Not to mention the already noted challenges of keeping the animals corralled as needed.
It’s not happening. Next..?

yep

Cool idea, not practical.


Fencing is strictly optional for Buffalo. A 2500-3000lb male will go basically, wherever it wants.


This makes them essentially impossible to feed lot.  

The equipment needed to handle Buffalo is… a lot.

The time it takes to raise a calf to being at the butcher is longer than a cow. By a lot.  Time is money.


Let them be wild.


Edit:

My neighbor has Buffalo.  We do a once a year Buffalo wrangle when they decide to go on their walkabout.

Cattle are a lot easier to deal with.

A guy here had buffalo, they were a pain right in the ass to keep in the pasture.

Angus seems to do just fine.

Agreed op.

I've never heard of bison being milked. Is that a thing? OP, your premise may have some validity, but it will never happen.

We have ~100 head on our ranch in southeast Kansas. Cool animals, and they do eat good.

I raise grass-fed Scottish Highlands. Great foragers, gentle as can be and one of the most ancient of breeds still in existence. Except when in season, they stay where you put them and as care-free as cattle can get. They handle heat and cold with ease. I have never had to vaccinate a Highland. Highland beef is as good as it gets. Highlands are slow maturing like bison and I think that has an impact on the quality of the meat like bison, lean and tasty. You never cook either like beef. You will overcook it.

I never raised bison and for good reason. After seeing neighbors try raising them I never will. It is recommended to get a mental examination before attempting to raise them and have lots of land for grazing. Raising them is not cheap. Your fencing is expensive and needs to be bison-proof. Cattle fencing is not bison fencing. You do need to vaccinate and good luck with that. You also need the best/strongest chutes and corral equipment. Expect the county sheriff to visit on a regular basis letting you know they have plowed thru your fence again and again. Keep a fair supply of spare fencing, you will use it. They are also amazing jumpers. My neighbors found 5' fencing was not a deterrent. The bison my neighbor had never heard of electricity either. More fencing. Bison are not friendly, don't like people, and from their experience, don't like darn near anything. They go where they darn well please. If you have poor forage, you will learn about the saying "The grass is always greener on the other side." They are also very nervous animals. Bison are similar to Highlands as they have very strong herd instincts and the whole herd will protect the calves. The threat of disease is so high, it is a bad idea to mix sheep and cattle with bison. Some ranchers do but it is still a bad idea. They can carry diseases that bison are very susceptible to. Both neighbors found it just wasn't worth going bankrupt over. They had a few bison and not enough land to make them happy. They really wanted to roam, here, there, and everywhere.

True buffalo are found in Africa and Asia. Bison are found in North America and Europe. They are not closely related but are in the Bovidae family.

Pigs aren't native to North America,  I'm not giving up bacon

No desire in raising buffalo. 100 x more expensive to keep. No cattle fencing will keep them in.

A neighbor had real problems keeping them fenced in. The last straw was when they got loose, plowed across town, and thru a college campus. Darn near threw the whole township into a panic. That was enough.  

Added: I would think raising Elk would be easier though you do need at least 9' wolven-wire fencing.

I’ll be sure and notify our dexters that they require special care.  I guess if putting out a round bail every once in a while qualifies, your right.

Lol - city folk

Out here on the prairie, our buffalo are actually cheaper to raise than beef (we do both). They require less care and attention. Regular Ol’ barbed wire fence works just fine.

The entire industrial food system in this country is bad from top to bottom.  Cheap processed food, chemicals with ignored downstream risks, low margins, and dead or dying rural communities.

I'm all for changing that paradigm, but let's get the low hanging fruit first.  Bison are dangerous as hell.  Asking farmers to raise them is pissing into the wind when you can't even get them to move toward less tillage and less chemicals.

We don’t have prairies, we have neighbors with more cows/bulls on other side of fence.

I am curious about that free grazing though. How do you get them up for vax, preg check, or tagging? What about pulling calf? Lasso?

Sounds like a great idea until you try to keep them.  Nothing can tear fences up like bison.  Bison are assholes.  They go where they want and do what they want.