Where the Buffalo Roam

We saw the sign too late on the narrow road winding out of Rutland to make the turn, so we had to reverse direction – twice, because in the swirling snow we missed the sign altogether the second time.  But as we climbed the hill and saw the frosted pastures lying below us, we knew we were in the right place. After all, how often do you see a bison herd in Massachusetts?

There’s no describing these animals without using clichés – majestic, mighty, magnificent.  They foraged through the light snowfall, looking well-insulated against the cold in their thick coats. For the sake of our pictures, we wished we could get closer, but the heavy fencing was reassuring.  These beasts were really, really big.

Alta Vista Bison Farm in Rutland is one of a growing number of farms in the country raising bison for meat. Bison farmers have played an important role in increasing the number of bison in the United States today to an estimated 350,000, a major comeback from near-extinction in the late nineteenth century.  Of these, about two-thirds are part of privately-owned herds.

 The Mann Family bought their first bison after a trip West in 1968. The lovely family matriarch Nancy Mann, who was working behind the cash register at the farm store, explained that they had bought the animals as pets, but that was a mistake. Bison are wild animals and can’t be treated like domesticated cattle.  At weights that can top out at a full ton, an unhappy bison is a dangerous thing.  When it comes time to move the herd from one pasture to another, her son is in charge, he works alone, and he uses a tractor. “He thinks like a buffalo,” she explains. 

The herd is moved regularly in a rotational grazing system.  In the winter, they are fed on hay and silage grown on the farm.  The animals are fed no grain, unlike some farms which have applied the grain-fed industrial beef model to bison.  Proponents of grass-feeding argue that animals stay healthier eating what they would eat in the wild. There are significant environment benefits as well; pasturing prevents soil erosion, and no pesticides are used on natural pasture. Furthermore, grass-fed bison meat has significant health benefits for its human consumers.  Bison is low in fat and cholesterol and higher in protein than beef. 

The Mann family wants to make sure you know that.  Nutritional information is prominently displayed in brochures at the register and on their website.  The nutritional benefits of bison have been a major selling point for a public nervous at trying an unknown meat they fear will be gamey or tough. Nancy Mann made sure we had a copy of their cooking suggestions pamphlet, then emphasized that the chuck roast I was buying needed to be cooked slow and low to tenderize the meat. 

The Alta Vista Farm Store does not just offer meat.  The family’s interest in Native American culture manifests in recordings, pottery, baskets, and other items for sale.  The cultural reverence for the buffalo is also preserved through the act of using all of its parts: in addition to frozen meat and buffalo jerky, the store offers smoked bones for dogs, cleaned jaw bones and shoulder blades for artists, quirky interior decorators, and ten-year-old boys, warm hides, and even buttons made from round cross-sections of bone.

Bison treats - for pets and people.

 

I brought home a jawbone to draw and admire, as well as the chuck roast, some jerky, and some bison chili, made at the farm.  The jerky was nicely smoky and just a little sweet. The chili was rich and judiciously hot, with perfectly firm-but-tender beans, but a little lacking in meat. The chuck roast made up for that.  I cooked it as suggested, first browning the meat in some bacon fat, then cooking it in a very low oven for several hours in a mixture of beer, chicken stock and onions.  An hour before serving, I added potatoes and carrots.

The meat was surprising tender, not gamey at all – in fact, it could easily have been mistaken for good-quality, full-flavored beef.  But bison meat has advantages beef does not – lower cholesterol and fat, of course, but also the preservation of a species that was once reduced to near-extinction.  Not to mention the unique pleasure of seeing a herd of bison grazing in a pasture during a New England snowfall.

 

Want to know more?
The National Bison Association has all sorts of information on bison.
Visit Alta Vista’s website.
Find other game and exotic meat sources in New England.