SWAN RIVER, Man. – The irony is not lost on Ray Salmon, a bison/equine specialist with Manitoba Agriculture.
The coming of the railroad to Western Canada helped spell the demise of the region’s bison. Now, the bison are making a comeback and rail lines are disappearing.
“Kind of interesting how history comes around,” he quipped at a recent bison producer meeting in Swan River, Man.
Salmon was in Swan River to provide bison producers with information about herd management.
Nutrition, health, genetics and attention to pasture and water are all important, he told producers. Common sense also has its place.
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“All of these factors tie together and it affects whether you’re going to make a buck or not make a buck.”
One of the more timely topics at the Swan River session was herd nutrition for the winter months.
Salmon said bison “lard up” during the summer and “starve down” during the winter.
As long as bred cows enter the winter in good condition, they can comfortably lose 10 to 12 percent of their body weight between November and April. The weight loss can reduce calving problems due to overfat cows.
“They’re still healthy, rigorous and have lots of jump to them, but they lose a little bit of the bloom,” Salmon said.
A bison’s metabolic rate tapers in the winter and it requires less food.
Research compiled by Saskatchewan Agriculture found the daily dry matter intake of cows is around 2.2 to 2.8 percent of body weight during the summer. In the winter, that drops to 1.4 to two percent.
Although bison are well adapted for cold prairie weather, they cannot be neglected.
“We’re not talking fresh snow, rabbit tracks and the promise of green grass next summer,” said Salmon. “That won’t work either.”
Not fat, not thin
Alberta Agriculture bison production specialist Gerald Hauer said moderation is the key when overwintering bison cows.
“You don’t want them too fat in the spring,” Hauer said in a telephone interview from the Bison Centre of Excellence in Leduc, Alta.
“You also don’t want them too thin or they’re going to have a hard time conceiving that year.”
On the topic of herd health, Salmon focused on preventive medicine. Good nutrition, a seven- or eight-way clostridium vaccination, a deworming program and a stress-free environment all are part of a sound health program, he said.
“You can’t raise bison out of a vaccine bottle.”
There are 180 bison producers in Manitoba with at least 30 more looking to enter the industry. One of the challenges for newcomers is deciding what breeding stock to buy.
Salmon says producers should remember the bison industry is a meat industry. He listed fertility, fleshing ability, carcass quality and longevity as criteria to look at when buying.
When shopping around, ask the sellers about an animal’s genetic background and for herd data on weaning weights and carcass quality.
Ask producers who sell breeding stock for the names of people who have bought from them previously.
“Don’t be afraid to ask questions. It doesn’t cost you money to ask those questions until you sign on the dotted line,” Salmon said.
When it comes to pasture, the people raising bison need to think of themselves as grass producers first and bison producers second.
That means understanding stocking rates and grazing techniques.
For first-time bison owners, a recommended practice is to use a stocking rate that matches the domestic cattle stocking rates in the area, Salmon said.
Provincial agronomists and agricultural representatives can provide those rates.
Dave Giesbrecht took that approach when he ventured into bison ranching a decade ago.
Giesbrecht, a producer from Teulon, Man., and president of the Manitoba Bison Association, soon learned that his land could accommodate more bison than it could cattle.
He increased his stocking rate by dividing his land into paddocks for rotational grazing, something he said the bison appreciate.
“They’re roaming animals, so they look forward to new pastures.”
Each situation unique
The quality of pasture varies across the Prairies so there is no stocking rate that can be applied to every ranch.
The same applies to grazing techniques. Some producers use more intensive management, such as rotational grazing.
Others let their livestock roam on open ranges. It depends on the quality of land available – and the amount.
An immediate concern for producers is taking stock of their winter feed supplies.
Stockpiled grazing is one way producers can trim their winter feed costs. Pasture is set aside during the summer for the bison to graze in winter.
On a well-managed pasture, pregnant female bison should be able to get adequate nutrients from grazing through the first two thirds of their pregnancy, according to Jack Norland of North Dakota State University’s department of animal range sciences.
Bison are well-suited for cold and snow and are able to use lower quality forages than cattle, Norland said.
Protein supplement should be considered further into pregnancy.
Snow and cold should not be a problem with winter grazing unless the snow becomes too deep or is crusted on top or icy on the bottom.
Another approach is swath grazing, where hay is swathed in the summer and left in windrows for the bison to eat in winter.
Producers need to plan well in advance for swath and stockpile grazing. That means looking ahead to the coming year and devising a strategy.
“The animals will do a good job of looking after themselves if you provide the resources for them to do that,” Hauer said.
