Popularity of bison meat reaches record levels

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) _ The convergence of high-protein diets and the demand for healthier foods is making it a good time to be a bison producer. <br><br>The commercial bison slaughter last year was a record

Friday, March 12th 2004, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) _ The convergence of high-protein diets and the demand for healthier foods is making it a good time to be a bison producer.

The commercial bison slaughter last year was a record 34,444 animals, according to Department of Agriculture figures. Though that remains tiny compared to the cattle slaughter of 35.7 million animals last year, it's up 36 percent.

Buffalo, a red meat alternative, has less fat and fewer calories than beef. Bison are also marketed as being raised naturally, without growth hormones or antibiotics.

"I happen to be a meat lover. We tried vegetarian diets, but I have to have meat," said David Patterson, a Georgia resident who has been buying buffalo meat for three years. He buys a quarter of a bison at a time from a Kansas buffalo farm.

Patterson said he and his wife were searching for healthier foods when they tried bison meat, and have been hooked since finding out that bison meat was high in protein, low in fat and high in heart-healthy Omega-3 fatty acids.

Many consumers are getting their first taste of buffalo thanks to the growth of media pioneer Ted Turner's restaurant chain, Ted's Montana Grill. In the two years since the chain was launched, 19 restaurants have opened in Ohio, Georgia, Tennessee, Colorado, Kentucky and North Carolina. Another 18 are slated to open this year.

"We recognize we are still trying to get most people to take their first bite of the product," said Dave Carter, executive director of the National Bison Association. "Ted's Montana Grill not only creates a lot of visibility ... but staff are trained on how to prepare the product and how to present it so people taking their first bite are enjoying it."

Another boost came last year from the Agriculture Department's $10 million purchase of buffalo meat for school lunch and government nutrition programs.

Also helping bison sales were record high beef prices, which suddenly made bison meat seem not quite so expensive, said Richard Duff, who raises about 450 bison near Scott City.

Linda Hubalek, a bison producer in Lindsborg, Kan., said she was selling bison burger for $3.99 a pound and her top steaks were going for $19.99 a pound. At the grocery store not far away, beef prices were around $1.59 to $1.99 a pound, and the top cut, a filet, was selling for $13.99 a pound.

Demand for bison meat is on track for another record-breaking year as more consumers turn to bison as an alternative to beef in the wake of the discovery late last year of mad cow disease in a U.S. dairy cow, Carter said.

Starting in June, consumers can look for a new USDA label on bison products assuring them the animal was fed and raised naturally. The system will use an audit trail of paperwork and animal identification.

"For years it has been the industry standard, but we know now that consumers want a little more assurance," Carter said.

Hubalek and her husband, Verne, own Smoky Hill Bison Co. They sell meat from grass-fed buffalo direct from their farm to homes across the nation and also operate a visitors center at the ranch.

The Hubaleks' customers think Kansas "is a natural place to be finding buffalo meat. Kansas is 'where the buffalo roam' _ the song helps us out."

Actually, Montana is the nation's top buffalo producing state with 38,000 head. Estimates put the commercial U.S. buffalo herd at 270,000 animals, Carter said.

The nation's buffalo herds are concentrated in the northern tier states and the High Plains, with the biggest herds in Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado and Kansas.

Kathy Jeffries, an Illinois environmental activist, bought 70 pounds of bison meat from Smoky Hill Bison in Kansas after searching the Internet for buffalo raised naturally by family farmers. Jeffries said she wanted a cleaner, grass-fed meat alternative.

"You are what you eat," she said.