Beefalo Bison Cattelo

[Warren Allison]

Buffalo cows are half the price of beef cows.

I dunno...haven't priced either one since 2012 or so. But, since I first saw bison around here in the 80's, this has NOT been the case. Cattle prices fluctuate, but pure bison with no cattle DNA has always been expensive. The only known herd today with no cattle DNA is the Yellowstone herd, and their surplus culls bring top dollar. In the 70's, 80's,. 90's, and 2000's , I have paid $300 for a cow-calf commercial pair, and $1800 for a commercial pair. Pure bison aren't subject to the markets like cattle are. I suppose you might catch a season when cows are high, and might bring more than a bison cull from a herd that wasn't certified cattle-DNA -free.

 

[MurraysMutts]

Very nice!
Sale is today in perkins. Supposed to have over 100 head of all classes. Unfortunately I have to be an adult and go work today

 

[callmefence]

I dunno...haven't priced either one since 2012 or so. But, since I first saw bison around here in the 80's, this has NOT been the case. Cattle prices fluctuate, but pure bison with no cattle DNA has always been expensive. The only known herd today with no cattle DNA is the Yellowstone herd, and their surplus culls bring top dollar. In the 70's, 80's,. 90's, and 2000's , I have paid $300 for a cow-calf commercial pair, and $1800 for a commercial pair. Pure bison aren't subject to the markets like cattle are. I suppose you might catch a season when cows are high, and mighty bring more than a bison cull from a herd that wasn't certified cattle-DNA -free.

Fair enough.
What I see is what goes through the exotic auctions. Cows always in the 500.00 range sometimes less, rarely more. Big shooter bulls can bring a chunk.

 

[Nutmegger]

This infertile bull is 3 1/2 yrs old and is the product of a bison bull and an angus cow. The top of the trailer is 7' high. He was what you would call an 'unplanned pregnancy'.

 

[MurraysMutts]

View attachment 821
This infertile bull is 3 1/2 yrs old and is the product of a bison bull and an angus cow. The top of the trailer is 7' high. He was what you would call an 'unplanned pregnancy'.

Thanks for the cool picture!
How was his temperament? Cant help but wonder if being infertile helped with docility.
The first cross from what I've gathered is the biggest infertility issue. I wonder if heifers born of the first cross are the same way.

 

[Ky hills]

If anybody is looking for some bison I see some advertised not too far from me on CL. Ad says calves born in May $1500 per head.

 

[Muddy]

Not hardly.. Bison calves weigh 30-40 lbs at birth...some may go up to 50. Might have a problem if you bred a mini Zebu heifer to a bison bull, I dunno. Calving ease was one of the plusses given for the hybrids. I had a neighbor in the 80s that bred them. He had Charolais, Simmental, Gert and Brangus cows. All of their bison calves at birth, were smaller than their normal claves, especially the Char and Simm babies. The 2nd year, he paid the dairy next to him to AI some of their Holsteins. He used these to breed back to his Brangus bulls, to get the 3/4 cattle/ 1/4 bisons,. that he'd breed to the 1/2 cattle 1/2 bisons from his cows, to to get the 5/8x 3/8th blend that you register as Beefalo. The bucking bull breeder I talked about on the "Breed What You Love" thread, bred some of his 3-way LH/Bra/Chi cross cows to a bison bull (AI) ,.and then bred those back to his bucking bulls or cows to get the 3/4 x 1/4 cross to breed to the 50/50 crosses. These cows were all as big, nearly, as a full-blooded Chianina, though, so no problem with the 35-40 lb bison calves. If I had pure bison cows ( which are scarce, and VERY expensive, if they are tested to prove no cattle DNA) I'd pasture breed them to a bison bull, because they'd bring so much more than a beefalo.

I don't say anything about birthweights. There were some health issues involving in beef cows x bison bull.....that has nothing to do with the birthweight of the hybrid calves. Too much fluids in the womb or something like that resulting into the death of beef cow and calf....bison cows didn't have that issue. That is why the early experiments with Beefalo has failed because they're using bison bulls on beef cows instead of the other way.

 

[Nutmegger]

Thanks for the cool picture!
How was his temperament? Cant help but wonder if being infertile helped with docility.
The first cross from what I've gathered is the biggest infertility issue. I wonder if heifers born of the first cross are the same way.

He definitely has a wild streak, but not like his sire. We're running him with the bulls for the winter. He doesn't know that he's infertile, so he gets intolerable around cycling cows. He has a half-sister that was open at preg check time but appeared to be bulling. Maybe she'll breed next year. Hibrids are not our goal. They're just a curiosity we keep around until there's room in the freezer.