Following the Meat Back to its Source

I have been intrigued by buffalo for a long time.  Africa has lions, hippos and wildebeast, but in the United States we have our buffalo.  I thought it was time to see one of these majestic creatures.  And no, watching Dances with Wolves doesn't count.

Buffalo meat is becoming more popular due to its nutritional content.  Many cuts of meat are lower in calories, fat, and protein than beef, pork, chicken, turkey and lamb.  The final numbers vary depending on who you ask (see here and here).  While I have been able to find ground buffalo meat at local grocery stores, I discovered a much greater variety of cuts at the Sunset Ridge Buffalo Farm's stand at the Durham Farmer's Market. There, Jack and Sandy Pleasant sell their Roxboro-raised products.

I drove up to their farm to to get a view of where the buffaloes were raised.  Jack and Sandy started raising buffalo in 2001 and now have 100 head.   They sell most of their meat to customers at the Carrboro and Durham Farmer's Market, but do rely on some business from internet sales and Pow-wows.  All their animals feed on grass and do not receive antibiotics.

From the moment I started talking to Jack, it was clear that raising cows and raising buffalo require very different approaches.  Buffalo are more athletic and sophisticated than their bovine counterparts.  They can run up to 40 mph, jump six feet in the air, have an established pecking order, and are harder to handle.  They also learn quickly and Jack must find new ways to get them to cooperate.

One of three herds at the Sunset Ridge Buffalo Farm.

A mom and her calf in one of the breeding herds, Sunset Ridge Buffalo Farm.

The demand for buffalo meat is helping to expand the population of these once endangered species.  By the 1890's, there were no more than 1,000 left in the US.  Today, there are more than 200,000 individuals, mostly on private ranches (source). This is still a drop in the bucket compared to the 100 million head of cattle.  As Jack put it, there are more cows killed by lunchtime every day than the entire US population of buffalo. Buffalo production is increasing yet the higher upfront investments needed in purchasing a herd and the handling equipment to manage them are the main barriers to entry.

While buffalo meat has its health benefits compared to beef, buffalo appear to have lower impacts on the environment.  Compared to cattle, you can raise more buffalo on a piece of land by a ratio of 3:2 and they can survive on more marginal lands (source). With respect to greenhouse gases, buffalo are also responsible for emitting methane, a greenhouse gas, through enteric fermentation.  However, buffalo methane emissions were not estimated in EPA's 2009 US Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report so I couldn't make the comparison.

With the amount of wind farms growing, there will likely be large tracts of marginal land that could also receive buffalo herds.  For more on multiple use landscapes, check out a fellow Nich student's post on the  Masters of the Environment blog.