By ANN ALLEN
Indiana Correspondent

SHIPSHEWANA, Ind. — When bison growers meet there’s no need for anyone to croon “Oh give me a home/Where the buffalo roam;” not only do they already live where the buffalo – make that bison – roam, they prefer sharing ideas to singing.

And that’s what happened June 17-19 when the National Bison Assoc. summer conference drew more than 100 bison producers, marketers and conservation enthusiasts to Shipshewana.
The northern Indiana Amish-Mennonite town is accessed by State Road 5 – one lane each direction for motorized vehicles, and another for horses and buggies. Using “Pickin’ Up Speed” as its theme, the three-day event offered an opportunity to slow down in the middle of a business described as “rapidly growing.”

For the uninitiated, it explained the difference between buffalo and bison, terms even dedicated bison growers interchange.

“The correct word is bison,” said Ruth Koeppen who, with her husband, raises about 70 head of bison on their farm near Hobart, Ind., and whose Sew Much Like Home drapery shop concentrates on stitching handbags and other accessories from their hides.

“A true buffalo is an Asian or African water buffalo. When French fur traders first saw the American bison, they dubbed them boeuf – their word for an ox or large bovine. Somehow, the word was adopted into our vocabulary as buffalo.

“They are wild animals,” she explained. “If you see someone riding a bison at a fair, it is unique. The only way you can have a tame bison is to bottle-feed a calf. You can’t take one out of the pasture and hope to tame it. Statistically, only one in 10 bottle-fed bison are trainable, and only one in seven of those can be trusted.”

As a result the Koeppens’ fences are six feet high. “The bison could jump them in a heartbeat from either side of the fence,” she said, “but if they’re fat and well-fed, they won’t challenge the fence, although two fighting bulls could break it.”

None of those drawbacks deter bison growers, who recognize if their herds were taken away not many bison would remain in North America, where their numbers were estimated between 30 million-60 million prior to the arrival of the horse. By 1833, bison were nearly extinct east of the Mississippi.

Those that remained were centered on Western grasslands, where thousands are being raised in an attempt to bring back bison, illustrating one grower’s comment: “They’ll eat hay, but they sure like grass.”

Bison producers are eligible for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), a federal program that helps farmers and ranchers who want to protect natural resources on their farms.
The largest bison producer in the United States is CNN founder Ted Turner, whose 55,000 animals thrive on 14 ranches in seven Western states. Although his primary interest is conservation, he co-founded Ted’s Montana Grill, a chain of restaurants featuring bison that stretches from Montana to Florida and New York and encompasses the Midwest.

Turner did not attend the meeting, but his Bad River Ranch manager, Tom LeFaive, chairman of the NBA’s conservation committee, joined in discussions. He said Turner has only three guidelines: pay bills promptly, be a good neighbor and go out every day and make a difference.

“His guidelines embrace his vision for what he wants to accomplish,” LeFaive said.

Most herds are far smaller, ranging from six animals to several hundred. Six is considered the minimum size, since bison are herd-oriented.

“You have to have six to keep them happy,” observed one producer. “If you have only one, he or she will not do well. They need leadership.”

Getting back on the menu

“Getting bison back on the menu is restoration,” said speaker Dr. Stuart Strahl, president of the Chicago Zoological Society and CEO of Brookfield Zoo.

He said there is no conflict between the zoo’s Great Bear Wilderness that includes bison, and its Bison Prairie Grill that serves bison: “Sustainable use, good management and restoration are the major objectives of conservation and preservation.”

In Illinois, where 80 percent of the population is urban, Strahl estimated more urbanites visit zoos and aquaria than all other cultural institutions and major sporting events combined.

“Eating bison promotes prairie restoration,” he added. “Our research shows that our bison burgers beat Angus burgers three-to-one.”

In spite of those positives, he said barriers such as rural/urban demographics, changing values and apathy stifle growth. “The urbanized public is losing touch,” he added.

According to Cook’s Bison Ranch, host for the Indiana meeting, eating red meat is not a sin – but not eating healthy red meat is.