(KMAland) — Like most of the other segments within American agriculture, the bison industry was hit hard early this year by COVID-19.
Dave Carter is the President of the American Bison Association. He says many people might not realize just how important the loss of restaurant business was to the industry’s producers.
“So much of our high-value cuts go to the restaurant trade. That’s where almost every ounce of tenderloin, strip loin, and ribeye go. And so, when those restaurants shut down, even though we were selling more product in grocery stores, that was primarily ground product in the grocery stores, so that hit us pretty hard. A lot of our producers rely on farmers’ markets and they’ll sell to their local restaurants, and they got hit very hard. We hunkered down and worked with USDA and were very grateful they provided us with access to the CFAP 2 assistance program, so that’s helping some of our folks get through this.”
As COVID will one day be in the rearview mirror, Carter feels positive that the industry will remain strong.
“We’re very optimistic because we monitor a lot of consumer research, and right now, two things we’re finding is that people coming through COVID are concerned about their personal health as well as the health of the environment. You think about this animal that produces such a great nutritionally delicious meat that’s low in fat and high in protein and iron, it’s grown without growth hormones and antibiotics, and so it fits within the health concerns. But we also like to tell the story that grassland ecosystems evolved in concert with Bison.”
Carter says raising Bison will have a positive effect on the environment.
“The more people that eat bison, the more incentive there is for us to restore bison to those grasslands. It’s the bison out there on the grasslands that are helping capture carbon, return it to the soil, and build up those healthy grasslands. I think the more we can get that message out, it will be very beneficial. In fact, we’ve just trademarked the term ‘Regenerative by Nature’ to help us tell that story to our customers.”
One reason Carter is optimistic about the future of raising bison is how quickly the word about bison as a protein source is spreading across the country.
“We’ve been very fortunate through the years as restaurants have started to bring bison on, a lot of people go into those restaurants and try bison as a novelty, and when they do, they say ‘wow, this is delicious, and where can I get some more?’ A lot of our folks out at farmers’ markets or food trucks are handing out samples on a toothpick.”
Carter is confident there will be future opportunities ahead for other producers interested in raising bison.
“Absolutely, there are opportunities in the bison business, and one of the things we’ve found since COVID hit is a real uptick in people interested in getting into the bison business. I don’t know if they’re looking for opportunities, or maybe if their life gets upended in one way then why not upend it a little bit more? We’re so positive about this business because there are so many places to plug in across the spectrum. If you want to be a larger commercial marketer and sell to the restaurant chains and the like, then we have opportunities. We have opportunities for a whole lot of folks to just build small herds and sell their product at farmers’ markets or online.”
More information on the bison industry is available at www.bisoncentral.com.
