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12/6/22, 9:39 AM Bison World Magazine -National Bison Association
IONAL
BISON
ASSOCIATION
FALL
2021
https://bisoncentral.com/publication/bison-world-magazine/ 1/4
12/6/22, 9:39 AM Bison World Magazine -National Bison Association
FEATURES
81 What's on Your Cave
Wall?
By
Connor Elliott,
DVM
, Chair-
man, North American
Bison
Registry
15
1 Bourguignon Bison
Short Ribs Recipe
17
1
2022
NBA Winter Con-
ference Returns
to
Denver
By
Jim Matheson ,
NBA
Assistant
Director
DEPARTMENTS
5 I From
the
President
Dannis Baggett,
NBA
President
5 I From
the
Executive Director
Dave
Carter,
NBA
Executive
Director
6 I Committees, Board and
Staff Contacts
7 I State and Regional Listing
12
I From
the
Field:
The
Mighty
Rain Gauge
By
Karen
Conley
20
I
Managing
The Young Guns
Bulls Through a Mycoplas-
ma
Outbreak
By
Kevin
Leier,
Heartland
Bison
Ranch
,
NBA
Region
3 Director
28
1 Excellence in Action-
Bi
son
Economics Tool,
A Walkthrough on Using
the
Web Tool
By
Jeff Martin,
Ph.D
.,
Hector Menen-
dez,
and
Jameson
Brennan
30 I NBA
Member
Input:
Bison Conservation in
Our
Age - A Producer's
Perspective
Ken
Klemm,
The
Buffalo
Guys
33
I Advertiser's Index
Cover
Photo:
Karen
Conley
-
Photo
from
the
Kansas
Buffalo
Association's
Fall
Buffalo
Auc
-
tion
in
Salina,
KS
Bison
World
(ISSN
1056-2400)
is
published quarterly
by
the
National
Bison
Association,
8690
Wolff
Ct
.
#200
,
Westmin
ter,
CO
80031.
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class
postage
paid
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!master:
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address
changes
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World,
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8003
1.
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off
act
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in
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are
the
re
s
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alone
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ational
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Association.
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The National
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bison/buffalo,
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educate,
and
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1s
a
dynamic
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growing
organization
that
is
receptive
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all
new
ideas
and
welcomes
anyone
w
ith
interest
in
I.he
preservation, promotion and production of
the
Gre-Jt
American
Bison
.
4 BISON WORLD
FALL
2021
https://bisoncentral.com/publication/bison-world-magazine/
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2/4
12/6/22, 9:39 AM Bison World Magazine -National Bison Association
Bison Economics Tool:
A walkthrough on
using
the
web
tool
SOUTH
DAKOTA
STATE
UNIVERSITY
•
By
Jeff
Ma
r
tin
, Ph.D., Hector Menendez, and Jameson Brennan
Jeff Martin,
Ph.D
.
The bison market has
been a vital part
of
the
sustained production and con-
servation
of
the species. This
same market has been largely
dependent on slaughtered bison
meat prices since the 1960s. The primary repmiing service
for bison market data
is
the
U.S
. Department
of
Agriculture-
Agricultural Marketing Service (USDA AMS) office, pro-
viding online monthly summaries since November 2012.
HOW
TO
USE
THE
WEB
TOOL
Begin with launching the tool
at
the
link provided
(https://agland.sdstate.edu/Bison_Price/).
On
the
left
hand
-side
of
the screen, the web tool has graphic user
interface allowing users to click
on
boxes to select/dese-
lect animal classes producing simple graphical plots
(Figure 1). According to USDA AMS reporting stan-
dards, ''Aged" animals are considered
more
than
30
months
old (2.5 years old) and "Young" animals are
considered less than 30
months
old. The default data
range defaults to display the entire available
monthly
dataset; however, a more-specific date range
of
interest
can be selected and displayed.
Class
of
Bison
to
Plot:
!!".ii
Aged
Bulls
l!".,I
Aged
Cows
!!".ii
Young
Bulls
!!".ii
Young
Heifers
!!".ii
Total
S
elect
date
range:
2012-1
lo
2021.(
Animal Class Selection
FIGURE
1. Bison Economics Tool
"Class
of
Bison to Plot" checkbox
options.
28
BISON WO
RLD
FA
LL
20
21
https://bisoncentral.com/publication/bison-world-magazine/
Leveraging these data
is
essential to enhance bison produc-
tion and conservation sustainability.
To
assist the bison management system
in
realizing
benefits
of
these USDA
AMS
market data, the Center
of
Excellence for Bison Studies (Bison COE) at South Dakota
State University (SDSU) has developed the SDSU Bison
Economics Tool, which
is
a user-friendly, visual webtool
(https:/ /agland.sdstate.edu/Bison_Price/). Below
is
a
walkthrough on how to use the tool.
NAVIGATING
THE
TOOL
TABS
The homepage
of
the web tool will appear like Figure
2,
with fom tool tabs for you to choose from, including
"Number
of
Head Slaughtered'; "Bison Carcass Price';
"Bison Carcass Weight'; and ''Additional Information."
FIGURE
2.
Sample homepage
of
the webtool with Tool
Tabs shown at
the
bottom.
SDSU Bison Economics
Tool
Number
of
Head Slaughtered
SOU
TH
DAKOTA
STA-YE
u,o
vcurr
v lint:tm o
r,1
Tracking the number
of
head slaughtered
is
a useful
metric for considering when to
send
your animals to mar-
ket; whether the market appears over-supplied, or in-
demand compared to recent months (Figure 3). Keep
in
mind that there are yearly cycles for processors and pack-
ing plants that may
be
associated with typical "busy"
cycles, like December through March, and that large
mar
-
ket disruptions (
e.g.
, COVID-
19,
drought) may alter these
typical market cycles.
3/4
12/6/22, 9:39 AM Bison World Magazine -National Bison Association
FIGURE
3. Sample "Number
of
Head Slaughtered" output.
"
"'
a,
:i::
3000
-
.._
2000·
0
....
a,
.0
E
~
1000·
Num er o
Hea
2014
20
16
201B
Date
Bison Carcass Price
Class
- Y
ou
n
g8u
lt.1i,
-Youn9
H@
if
e
rs
2020
2021
Tracking the
min
i
mum
, average
and
maximum car-
cass prices for each animal class are
important
for under-
standing the range
of
v
al
u
es
that y
our
bison may be
worth
(Figure 4). Note that young bulls often attain a higher
carcass price
than
young
heifers. Carcass prices are
por
-
trayed as Cwt. (hundredweight), which
is
equivalent
to
dollars
per
100 pounds. Converting to dollars per
pound
($/lbs.), divide the value by 100; for exampl
e,
$477.56/cwt
divided by 100
eq
uals $4.78/lbs. Understanding expected
market cycles and price
is
likely to help producers to iden-
tify alternative strategies
to
in1prove profitability.
FIGURE
4. Sample "Bison Carcass Price" output.
550·
~500
u
~
450
-
l!l
·c
400
·
0..
350
·
2014
Carcass Price ($/CWT)
2016
2018
2020
Da
te
Bi
s
on
Carcass Weight
Class
- Yo
un'il
B
ull:.
2022
Tracking average carcass weight is useful to u
nder
-
stand
how
the rest
of
the industry compares
to
y
our
specific
production
(Figure 5). It
is
important
to
keep in
mind
that y
our
local average carcass weight will be
dependent
on
y
our
geographic location. Most
of
the
bison are
produced
in
the
northern
a
nd
ce
ntral
Great
Plains and
northern
Rocky Mountains, which
is
often
produces
larger animals
than
the sou
thern
Great Plains
or
other
regions.
https://bisoncentral.com/publication/bison-world-magazine/
FIGURE
5.
Sample "Bison Carcass Weight" output.
800-
ui
:3
700-
.:c
600·
"'
·
;;;
5 500 ·
2016
IN SUMMARY
Ca
rcass
We
i
ght
Class
-Aged Cows
-
Young
Bu
lls
-Youog He i
fe
rs
2018 2020 2022
Date
The SDSU Bison Economic Tool provides bison pro-
ducers
and
processors with up-to-date monthly bison
market information from
the
USDA AMS. The rapid
and
user-friendly visualization capabilities enhance
commu
-
nication
and
evaluation
of
how the
industry
is performing
compared
to
previous months and years.
If y
ou
have questions about this tool or data, please
contact Dr. Jamie Brennan (jameson.bre
nnan
@sdstate.
edu)
to
request a CSV version
of
the data,
or
Dr
. Jeff
Martin Qeffma.rtin@sdstate.edu)
fo
r feedback or ideas to
improve the
tool
Note- this is a slightly modified article
from: Martin, J. M., H. Menendez III, and J. Brennan.
2021. Bison Economics Tool. Sou
th
Dakota State
University Extension 1- 3. https:/ /extension.sdstate.edu/
bison-economics-tool. Homepage shown below. •
Bison Economics Tool
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4/4