We get a lot of people asking why we decided to raise bison on the farm. Short answer? They help us build healthy soil. Not only is bison a delicious healthy protein, but more importantly, we needed a large grazing animal to help transition the pastures from annual rye grass production to perennial systems. For the forty years before we started farming, the land we work with was tilled each year and relied heavily on chemical pesticidesand fertilizers to grow commercial grass seed. When we started working with a new part of the property we would often find the soil to be sterile. After years of “mining” the land, the soil was essentially acidic dirt; very few microbes, fungai, nitrogen, phosphorus and minimal nutrients needed to grow healthy pastures.
The bison play a key role in replacing nutrients by pooping and peeing on the pastures. The herd mows the grass, allowing our no till plantings to grow. The bison’s cloven hooves help aerate the soil while promoting seed to soil contact. We have found that after we start working with a pasture it takes about five years for us to see healthy growth, biodiversity and perennial systems in place. The bison play a key role in this.
When managed efficiently by mimicking migration patterns of bison through rotational grazing, large ruminants like bison can help develop grasslands and prairies and improve the health of the land. By enabling us to establish healthy grasslands we keep our ground covered at all times with plant material. The bison help grow grass that uses carbon as fuel, the plants grow deep roots that efficiently pull the carbon deep into the soil. In a healthy grassland, with a diverse blend of region-specific native grasses, root systems can be up to ten feet deep. These grasslands can also make the land more resilient to extreme events like flooding, by having strong root systems underground.
As we look towards the future of food it is essential to acknowledge the benefits of properly managed grasslands, their contribution to our ecosystem and the animals that keep this cycle in motion. In our operation, animal impact is an essential part of the equation when we talk about building healthy soil. We are all dependent on soil for food production and we need to cultivate soil health like our lives depend on it.
