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Originally Posted by Hog Farmer
Bison are mean. Local butcher in Amarillo told me when they are unloaded he shoots them in the head with his .44 mag as soon as they enter his chamber. He said they will absolutely kill you in a heartbeat.
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This. They are ****ing wild. Strong ass wild cows. And they jump like bastards.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fat Elvis
We're thinking about raising bison. We've had beef on our land for as long as we can remember. Bison are native to the prairie, and to be quite honest, I'm thinking that there is probably a better margin on them than the cattle since we rent out the land. Right now I think our land is being overgrazed since we have the water on four sections (not sure that is the right wording since a section of land is a specific measurement) of land that are connected. I'm sure the folks whose land is next to ours, but screw 'em, they can do raindances, otherwise the guy renting from us can pay a whole heck of a lot more rent. Aside from the money, I'd just rather have a healthy meat being raised on our land rather than some cows that are going to be injected with who knows what and fattened on grain. I'd rather do something that is better for the environment, better for people, and better for our pocketbook.
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OK, well, a couple things here. If you as the landowner are responsible for fence maintenance, don't do it. It will take a significant capital outlay to get it ready for buffalo.
As far as the feedlot thing, unless they're marketing them as grass fed, there is a pretty good chance they end up at a feedlot being treated like beef cows (grain fed, antibiotics, medications for sickies). There was a feedlot down the road that did just that, and I believe it is a 30,000 head lot. Maybe they still feed them out there, I haven't been by there in awhile. So if you are wanting to do it for warm fuzziess, you may not gain anything.
As far as rent, you can call the ag-econ department at KSU and they can give you a rough estimation of what your grass is worth for free. They're pretty familiar with flinthills grass.
You can probably talk to your county extension agent for a visit to discuss overgrazing.
I'm not a livestock guy, but if you have any specific questions, feel free to PM me.