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Re: Buffalo Rancher in Texas who ia a member of the group



Rome Hutchings wrote:

>     1. The number of animals "sustainable" per acre
>     2. Species mix for grasses forage
>     3. Species mix for forbes
>     4. Estimated age of new plantings for grazing
>     5. Any and all pertinent information to Buffalo ranching
>         on prairie restoration land

Do you mean me?

How you will run your operation determines the answers to the questions.

One extreme is no supplements, native grass, little intervention - the
other
is heavy supplementation, fertilized exotics, and lots of intervention -
(ie.
dehorning, selective breeding for gain on grain, Artificial insemination,
- gee
sounds like a cow - all of this is going on now.  >:(   )

Obviously, you are tending to the former.

First, let me preface by saying I do not understand Iowa weather,
soils, growing season, etc, so you will have to use common sense
and talk with locals.

Get your grass in shape first, then your fences, then your facilities,
then get bison - start with calves - maybe 3 -5 female calves. Later,
in 2 years, get a 2 year old semen tested bull from a long-time
established producer. Then add calves each year until
you get to the number your want to be at. In this way, you can gentle
the first set of animals and  the later additions iwll learn from them.
You will want to make small mistakes and
train yourself and the bison together. Bison will live into their
30s so this is a lifelong relationship. (You might also consider
putting a conservation easement on the land when you get
your grass planted..)

How many head per acre is highly variable. If you were down here,
I would say 1,000 pounds of livestock per six acres. A full-grown
bison female weighs from 800 - 1400 pounds. If you run the herd
with no cross-fencing, this is called extensive grazing. If you
run the herd in small acreages for short duration, then move
them to another piece, this is called intensive grazing - intensive
grazing is what you want to do. ( Grazing is a long subject - I would
refer you to Burt Smiths book "Intensive Grazing Management." (IGM) -
this is an excellent book because he approaches grazing from
and ecological perspective. ) High Stocking density with bison works
great - we have done up to 25,000 pounds per acre. We used
permanent fences - but will be moving more towards electric
fencing - since it is cheap, portable, and can be completley
removed for field work and burning. I would aim for 1000
punds per 8 acres to start with and use IGM. You can contract out
to have hay made on your excess grass or buy prairie hay from
Kansas or off an Iowa preserve.

Your grasses and forbs will be what works up there. It takes
2-4 years to really get things established. I wish we had just
planted our place completly when we first got it. You'll
never regret planting grass! They say you cannot graze the first
year - but you can - when the plants have gone dormant
in the fall *and* the soil is firm.

Bison ranching is a whole subject unto itself and within it there
are several schools of thought. Get your grass
planted. Get 3-5 female calves who are sisters from an intact
herd of long-standing. Get some fence up. And
get some corralls up. If you take the low-stress approach
with the bison and develop a freidnship with them, then you
can lead them anywhere. If you want to play cowboy, then
you will kill one or more of them, or they may kill you. We
can walk into the middle of our herd, feed the top bulls and
cows out of our hands, lead them with a bucket of feed,
and confine them, with little stress, breeding season, calving season,
anytime. All the stories you will be told about how mean
they are, how difficult they are, are just stories - bison can be
trained to do anything if you approach them with respect and kindness.
They are not "tame", just accepting of us.

The other thing about bison is that they are social animals and
rely on their social group. If you allow them to form strong bonds
and keep those intact - then the herd will be a disciplined,
predictable unit. If the group is a collection of unrelated, unfamiliar
animals, then it will be unruly and hard to predict.

(Another thing to think about is how any dewormers you give
the bison will affect the insects on the place. Some like
Ivomec will kill everything - others like safeguard in
cubes are a lot less toxic. You need the inssects to cycle the
manure back into the soil. If the dewormer sterilizes the manure,
then no insect will touch it and those that do will die. )

I would get Burt's book on Grazing, join the National Bison
Association (http://www.nbabison.org) and get started. You can
also see a FAQ my wife, Jan,  put together at
http://www.bisonranch.com/questions.html for more information.

There is an individual in Iowa, named Bob Jackson, who has
had bison since 1976. If you get an NBA directory, you can
call him up and I am sure he will let you visit his place.
A Yellowstone Ranger, Bob has a deep knowledge
of bison from owning them and his work in Yellowstone.
He would be your best local contact and source of information.
His herd is the most intact in the state.

Hope this helps. Bison are not for everyone. They are
wild animals and they require a much higher degree
of stockmanship, but on the other hand, they do much
better in our climate in North America.

-Austin Moseley




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