Bison are roaming around Virginia farm and they are providing a leaner, sweeter meat for consumers.
Bison were almost hunted to extinction in the 1800s because of their meat and hides, but they have been slowly rebuilding numbers, both in the wild and at farms.
One of those farms is Melrose Bison in Campbell County, Virginia. Mark Morris has been building his herd for 20 years and he said that it didn’t take much time to discover bison are true wild animals.
“The main thing is keeping them very calm, because they are incredible athletes. They can go 0 to 40 miles per hour in an instant,” he said. “A full grown bull can clear a 6 foot fence in one step. I describe them as a deer on steroids.”
All of Morris’ equipment is heavy duty because a mature bison can weigh up to one ton.
Morris says bison is a good niche market, he sells direct to consumer, to local restaurants and at farmers’ markets.
“I’ve got regular customers that buy every week and that’s the main meat they buy, they continually rave about it,” he said. “And I can understand why, it’s a fantastic meat.”