ANDREA DOMASKIN Associated Press writer | Posted: Thursday, January 1, 2004 12:00 am
BISMARCK, N.D. - Ken Throlson's phone rings more often these days.
Throlson owns KenMar Buffalo Ranch near New Rockford and sells buffalo meat. He said prospective customers started contacting him shortly after a cow in Washington state was diagnosed with mad cow disease last week.
"I've had numerous calls since," he said.
The calls have been coming from out of state, he said, and friends and neighbors have been asking him about buffalo meat.
The National Bison Association in Colorado has seen an increase in phone calls and visits to its Web site since the announcement last week, said Dave Carter, its director.
Mad cow disease has never been found in buffalo, said Paul Thomas, director of the North Dakota Buffalo Association. Buffalo feed generally has no hormones, antibiotics or animal products, he said.
Thomas also said buffalo are often slaughtered at small plants, which can make tracking the meat easier. And a national buffalo identification system, similar to a planned national livestock identification system, is already being used by some producers, he said.
"I'm not saying American beef isn't safe, because I believe it is," Thomas said. "But if the American people are concerned about beef right now and they're looking for an alternative red meat, buffalo is there."
One of the first tests of the region's post-mad cow buffalo market is a sale scheduled in McLaughlin, S.D. on Saturday.
Tom Hepper, of Mobridge, S.D., will be selling nearly 900 buffalo. He says the sale will not be a complete picture of the market because he is the only seller, but it will give some indication.
"It will be a test, for sure," he said.
He said he expects to get up to $300 per calf.
Hepper believes the mad cow case will help the buffalo market, but he said it might take months.
The North American Bison Cooperative has about 300 members in the United States and Canada and plants in several states, including a plant in New Rockford.
"By definition we believe it would be favorable to the industry because we are not beef," said Rusty Seedig, the co-op's vice president. "But we haven't seen any customer impact that we can identify yet."
North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson said it is too early to know the full impact of the mad cow scare, and he expects the cattle market to rebound.
"(The bison industry) is very, very small compared to the cattle industry," Johnson said.