We’re done with shipping our holiday www.BisonFarmGiftShop.com orders to your door and now I’m updating websites. It’s nice to “clean house” even if it’s just on a website!

Makes me ready for a new project- after we get end-of-year paperwork done for the accountant.

Happy Near Year from the Bison Farm office! Hope it’s a good year for you too.

  We have had no moisture for over two months, so everyone is very happy it started raining last night and is continuing today. I still have a rain gauge out and see we’ve gotten two inches of rain overnight. Everything from pastures to newly planted wheat fields really needed this.

 Frost finally hit my garden last weekend too, so the vines and tomato plants are history. With a delayed frost, we’ve enjoyed fall tree leaves and warm weather a couple of weeks longer than usual.

 Both people and animals have enjoyed this year’s long fall weather!

Because we’re no longer offering frozen bison meat online, I’ve been looking for a new source to recommend to you, and also on my bison website.

 I’ve met Mary and Lee Graese of Northstar Bison at past bison conferences, so they came to mind when I was looking for a replacement producer for our meat customers. 

 Located in northern Wisconsin, they started their herd with two bison in 1994. Now, not only do they have a herd of over 600 animals on 1200 acres, they have their own processing plant so they really do care for the meat source from start to finish.

 Besides processing and shipping fresh and frozen product weekly, they offer cooked products that are nitrite and MSG free. Their meat offerings include bison, beef, pork, lamb, pastured poultry, and elk.

 Their whole family (pictured below with buffalo bottle baby Anna) is involved in the business. Learn more about them in their website at www.northstarbison.com.

 Besides providing top notch packing and shipping of their meat, they will give you great customer service – because they care about their animals, their products, and their customers.

 Please order through this website link for your supply of meat and for your holiday orders too. They are ready to add you to their list of happy customers!

 And I also have a meat link on my www.BisonFarm.com website into theirs, so you can easily find them anytime through me in the future.

Taking over our Buffalo Jerky!

 Last week I mentioned that Andrew Sellers would be taking over the buffalo jerky sales that Smoky Hill Bison has handled in the past.

 We’ve spent time going over everything from processing jerky to websites, and Andrew is working hard to get his new labels and website up to handle your orders for the holiday season.

 A little bit about Andrew

When Andrew was younger, his favorite entree at a local restaurant was the buffalo burger, and it left a lasting impression. 

Andrew became interested in being involved with the bison industry after learning about the health and environmental benefits of eating bison meat. And he’s just fascinated by the history of the symbolic animal and our prairie heritage too. 

He’s been in touch with many people involved in the bison industry and noticed a sense of community and a passion for the animal that everyone involved seems to have.  He looks forward to contributing to this community and promoting the many benefits of eating bison.  

 I’ll email you Andrew’s new website when it’s ready. Being a “20-something” he’s into social marketing and has a great marketing plan. I’m sure you’ll enjoy ordering jerky from him!

I traded vehicles recently. I tend to drive one close to a decade as I hate the hassle of trading, so it’s a big deal when I switch.

My old 1999 Windstar van, that has hauled books to trade shows, to 50 lb. bags of range cubes for the buffalo- was traded for a 2008 Ford Edge.

Not only had the old van been driven countless miles on highways and country roads, it’s seen many miles in the pasture too.

If I needed to go into the pasture, the pickup wasn’t handy and I didn’t want to get the tractor out of the shop (or walk) – heck, I’d just drive the van.

And it showed that I used it for purposes other than intended…

Like the time I used it to “guide” a temporarily blinded bull back up the driveway, through the parking lot, around the Visitor Center building, through a gate I opened up for him (that took a while for him to find since he was only being guided by the van’s little honks), across a paddock and into a pen, while keeping other buffalo from getting out of the pen…

The van earned it’s “buffalaro” award for that feat- with only a slight loooong scratch along the right side of the car where the bull hit the van with his horn.

Oh and when we’d be in the pasture, cow Clara loved to chew on the back windshield wiper…Or the herd would gather around the van because it smelled like a giant range cube treat… And sitting in the van with bincolulars watching a baby calf being born…

I know it’s only a vehicle, but they always have good memories to remember them by.

In time the Ford Edge will have it’s stories too. And yes, it’s already “pasture broke”.

I love the weather this time of the year. The temperature is just plain pleasant and mild with a slight breeze. The nights have cooled down so a blanket on the bed feels good at night- plus I can turn the air conditioner off.

 The buffalo love this weather too. It’s relaxing time of year when its not too hot or too cold for their brown coats.

The bison calves’ gold coat has turned brown like their old family members, plus they are a a good foot and a half taller. And to think they could walk under their mammas when they are first born in the spring. Now they have to lean down to suck milk from the cow’s udder.

The calves are still having a “milk” breakfast, and an occasional snack, but mainly eating grass now. The cows are siding away from the calves, so they are starting to wean the calves to be on their own. And who can blame them when you look at those sharp little horns on the calves’ head?

 Yep, life is changing on the prairie for the buffalo as we switch into October. 

We’ve had three days of rain and storms, but it brought wonderfully cool weather to the area. I left the house to take my morning walk, but turned around for a jacket. I love this type of cool crisp fall weather…

Did you miss me and my emails?! 

 We’ve been enjoying the scenery, wildlife – and cool weather –  in Alaska and Canada the last half of August. We differently weren’t in Kansas anymore!

 We flew into Anchorage, took a train down to Seward to board a cruise ship. Stops included Juneau, Skagway, Icy Strait Point and Ketchikan where we got off the ship to explore the towns and surrounding areas. (Look at the links to follow our trip.)

 It was fun to compare the difference in everything. Evergreens filled the landscape down to the water’s edge of the sea. The spray of the whale’s blowholes could be seen in the distance before they flipped their tail in the air for their next dive into the ocean. We saw eagles, seals and all kinds of sea birds that we weren’t familiar – with along with glaciers and icebergs.

 The salmon were swimming back to their origin to spawn now. We toured a fish hatchery to see the stages of their life. It was interesting that they hatch in fresh water streams, can swim out to a thousand miles into the salt waters of the ocean, and when mature (age three to nine depending on the variety of salmon) they will swim back to their original stream to spawn and finish their life cycle. They have better navigation than us even when we use GPS!

 Because of my love of flowers, Butchart Gardens on Vancouver Island was my big highlight. It was fifty-five acres of blooming wonder!

 Weather was 55-60 degrees, partly cloudy with occasional light rain on our trip. I’ve worn shorts all summer, so it was different to wear jeans and a jacket in August. The heat and humidity really hit us when stepping off the plane in Kansas on our return.

 Now we’re back in Kansas and I’m enjoying the routine of home and work again. It’s always good to get away to see and explore new things- so you appreciate what you have back home.

It’s mid August! Where has the summer gone?!

 Students start school next week in many of our Kansas towns. And I’d say most kids (and parents) are ready to get back into the routine of classes, seeing friends, etc.

 Although we’re still having hot August weather, the evenings are cooling down as the sun dips below the horizon. The cicadas are humming full blast in the trees giving the call to late summer too. I think everyone is ready to switch gears, and is looking forward to some nice fall weather.

 Gift Shop Merchandise Sale

 I have one more project to finish this month before we take a break for the staff’s vacation time.

 Since we retired from agritourism after last season, I have some merchandise to sell from our gift shop that I want to move on to another gift shop or a pumpkin/maze farm.

 I’ve made lists of the Kansas, buffalo, and fall items for sale and I’m going to email these lists to gift shop owners I find through the internet.

 All top quality, but just a few of any certain item- so they would give a shop a nice selection without them having to buy minimums from several manufactures. AND I’m selling them at half retail price!

 If you’re interested or know someone else that would be, please email me through our contact page right away. I’d like to get these items shipped out by Aug. 18th.

 Last Saturday morning we spent time in the pasture watching the herd. The day hadn’t heated up yet so it was nice to sit on the tailgate of the pickup and watch as the cows sniffed through the tall grass looking for the range cubes that had been thrown out for them to find and enjoy.

The calves are starting to lose their baby wool coat and turn brown, a few spots at a time. They look rather unkept and splotchy right now, but by the end of September the calves will have sleek brown hair just like their mammas.

Ever learning from their mother’s, it was fun to watch the calves sniff the cubes, and maybe lick one. They aren’t quite at the stage of picking up and chewing one yet, but they know the older animals do it and get excited when they see them spread out – so they are learning it must be a good thing.

Because range cubes are a treat rather than a daily food, it’s a good way to train the buffalo to come when called. It might be for a roundup, or – if heaven forbid a gate or fence is down - you have a way to bring them back home to the pasture.

Think of it as the buffalo’s chocolate…