What did the mama buffalo say to her calf when he left home?

[Guest guest]

BISON!!

And it follows that BISON is the topic du jour in the Minneapolis Star and Trib.

In a massive

full page and a half article, replete with many color pictures, our friend RICK

NELSON has

done it again! The fabulous article is entitled " THE OTHER RED MEAT, Local

Restaurants

Turn to the Bison for Free-Range Flavors " . Several good-sounding bison recipes

are

included. The article mentions several producers and features almost

exclusively LOREN

AND MARILYN SMEESTER who own and run the SILVER BISON RANCH near BALDWIN, WI (50

miles east of the TC on 94). (715-684-2811 or www.silverbison.com) Mr.

has

truly put them on the map!!

You can read the paper, and I highly recommend it, but here are the particulars

of note.....

> They have 1000 acres divided into 24 paddocks.

>The herd fluctuates between 400-500 head and they harvest 2 animals/wk

>They harvest at an average of 2.5 years and 1100#. Each animal yields about 60#

of

steaks. Average is 93% lean they say. Steaks are dry-aged.

>They've planted a mix of " all native grasses " , big bluestem, bluegrass, brome,

,

buffalo grass, orchard grass, Indian grass and others. Although one picture does

show the

Smeesters offering a bison an ear of dried corn out the pickup window, their

stock are

apparently 100% grass-fed.

>They " field-harvest " shooting on-site and hauling to a plant 5 miles away in

Woodville

that's mostly famous for sausage-making.

>Their prices are the same as they were in 1995 with rib-eye at $13/# and ground

for

$4.75/#.

>They are in several dozen restaurants in MN and western WI and most of those

are listed

in the article. They also sell meat at their store.

>Biggest sales obstacle: Women won't eat bison!

>Their Answer to why " this meat costs so much " ..... " it costs more to produce on

open

ranges which require more infrastructure. No herbicides or pesticides and, since

no

steroids or growth hormones it takes an extra year to get them to market weight "

>Best quote, from Marilyn.... " What we're really doing is farming grasses, not

farming

bison "

A companion article interviews GAIL GRIFFIN executive director of the MINNESOTA

BUFFALO ASSOCIATION who says...

>There are about 175 bison producers statewide

>This is a 300% increase in the last 3 years!

>Bison is " high iron " and " Low fat " and considered one of the Top 5 Superfoods

for

Women (Reader's Digest) along with papaya, flaxseed, tofu and collard greens.

I think we locals should WRITE THE TRIB AND RICK NELSON and commend them for

running these great nutrition articles! Who else but RN is promoting LOCAL,

SUSTAINABLE,

NATURAL food so well???? Who else but RN would list all the grasses the bison

eat?????

Will Winter