August 18, 2017
CapitalPress.com
7
Bison meat niche grows across the West
As industry
increases, Northwest
producers want in
By ALIYA HALL
Capital Press
The bison meat industry has
been steadily growing as con-
sumer demand has increased
and producers all over the
country have shown interest in
expanding or starting herds.
“More and more people are
discovering that (bison) is sus-
tainably raised and it’s pretty
darn delicious,” Dave Carter,
executive director of the Na-
tional Bison Association, said.
“We’re at the point now where
demand has exceeded supply.”
According to the associa-
tion, the bison business grew
from $340 million to $350 mil-
lion in sales over the last year.
Carter attributed the in-
crease to rising prices. Accord-
ing to the monthly bison report
from the USDA, young bison
Aliya Hall/Capital Press
Bison graze at Green Fields Bison Ranch near Dallas, Ore. Lori and Rick Hedlund have been market-
ing and selling their bison meat for two years.
bull carcasses are sold at an
average of $4.83 a pound, and
grass fed filet mignon is sold at
an average of $44 a pound.
Although most bison pro-
duction is in the Midwest, 14
Oregon ranches are registered
with the Northwest Bison As-
sociation. Washington has nine
members and Idaho has five.
One Oregon ranch, Green
Fields Bison Ranch near Dal-
las, is getting more involved.
Lori and Rick Hedlund are
going into their fifth year of op-
erating Green Fields and their
second year of marketing bison
meat. At the moment they have
60 head of bison.
Lori Hedlund said that while
getting the infrastructure set up
has been a challenge, they have
learned a lot from their experi-
ence — and their animals.
“They are amazing crea-
tures, though — it’s a real
privilege,” she said. “We’ve
learned from them and the
way they live; they’ll run, eat
(and) rest, and that lifestyle
is probably a pretty healthy
one.”
While the Hedlunds have
noticed a decline of bison
producers in their area, they
believe it’s due to retirement
because the industry is “very
time-consuming,” Lori Hed-
lund said.
Overall, more producers
have been getting involved in
the Northwest bison industry,
said Alan Douglass, Region 1
director of the National Bison
Association and president of
the Western Bison Associa-
tion.
“We’re starting to see
more activity and interest, but
on a smaller level,” he said.
Producers who want a larger
herd are more likely to move
to an environment more con-
ducive for the bigger herds of
animals.
Originally from South Da-
kota, Rick Hedlund said the
bison there thrive because it’s
their natural habitat; he com-
pared it to raising a deer in
the forest. Raising them in the
Willamette Valley, however, is
more challenging — especial-
ly in the winter because of the
mud.
“We don’t have that real
sod-forming grass, or frozen
ground,” Rick Hedlund said.
“The Midwest doesn’t get
torn up as bad. If those million
bison were out here in West-
ern Oregon, they would have
ripped this place up.”
Historically, bison didn’t
migrate toward the West
Coast, and that creates a dis-
advantage for bison ranch-
ers, Douglass said. With the
warmer climates near the
coast, the animals will be
much smaller than in the
Midwest or by the Canadi-
an border where it’s colder
and they need to be more
robust.
However, Green Fields is
taking advantage of the local
market. While not certified
organic, the Hedlunds use
organic practices. They also
pride themselves on grass-fin-
ishing their bison.
Dry bean industry excited about new yellow variety: Patron
By SEAN ELLIS
Capital Press
Courtesy of Don Tolmie
Patron, a new yellow bean
variety, grows in a field near
Caldwell, Idaho, on Aug. 9. Ida-
ho bean industry leaders say
Patron is the first yellow variety
with “off-the-charts” resistance
to bean common mosaic virus.
sure Valley Seed Co.
Patron is the only yellow
bean variety with “off-the-
charts” resistance to bean
common mosaic virus, Tol-
mie said.
“I’ve got pretty high hopes
that this Patron will become
a pretty universal dry bean in
the state of Idaho,” he said.
Idaho’s dry bean industry
pushed for the new bean be-
Wolves kill another
calf in NE Oregon
Capital Press
GUN SHOW
“It’s an earlier variety than
the standard yellow varieties
we’ve had,” he said. “It yields
well for a shorter season vari-
ety and the color seems to be
good. I’m glad they released
it.”
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going to be a pretty good bean.”
John Dean, president of
Idaho Seed Bean Co., which
grew a few Patron seed plots
for OSU two years ago, said it
appears to grow well in south-
central Idaho.
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Courtesy of Todd Nash
The carcass of a calf was found
Aug. 16 in a private pasture
rented by Todd Nash of Wallowa
County, Ore. State Department of
Fish and Wildlife officials will cull
two more members of the Harl
Butte Wolfpack in an effort to stop
the attacks.
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ROP-33-3-1/#13
have called for the entire pack
to be killed. He said the pack
goes after cattle every day and
has not changed its behavior.
33-3/#4N
Members of the Harl Butte
wolfpack killed another calf
Aug. 16 in northeast Oregon,
prompting state Department
of Fish and Wildlife managers
to decide to remove two more
wolves in an attempt to stop the
depredations.
Wallowa County ranch-
er Todd Nash said a calf was
grazing on a private pasture he
leases when the latest attack
occurred.
He said the Oregon De-
partment of Fish and Wildlife
investigated. Department offi-
cials said the attack was con-
firmed as a wolf kill and man-
agers will shoot two more pack
members.
The department shot two of
the pack’s adult wolves after a
series of attacks on cattle earlier
this year.
Nash and other ranchers
riety,” he said.
Myers also said Patron is
an earlier season variety com-
pared with other yellows.
Tolmie, who has grown
Patron for OSU, said the new
variety still has to prove itself,
but so far it has performed
well in southwestern Idaho.
It’s still a little early to
make hard claims about how
well the bean grows, “but
we’ve had some pretty good
luck with it agronomically,”
Tolmie said.
“It’s got to get into the
market and circulate so peo-
ple can make sure it fits the
needs they require,” he said.
“But right now we’re pretty
optimistic.”
Caldwell farmer Lynn
Whitteg started growing Pa-
tron for Treasure Valley Seed
Co. this year. He echoed Tol-
mie’s comments about being
too early to say for certain
how it performs.
But, he said, “I think (it’s)
33-1/#7
CALDWELL, Idaho —
Dry bean industry leaders be-
lieve a newly released yellow
bean variety could eventually
become a common sight in
many fields across the state
once it proves itself.
The bean, called Patron,
was developed by Oregon
State University bean breed-
er Jim Myers at the urging of
the Idaho Bean Commission,
which helped fund the proj-
ect.
Idaho is the nation’s leader
in dry bean seed production.
About 70 percent of the beans
grown in the state are for seed.
Currently, only about
2 percent of the dry beans
grown in Idaho are yellow
varieties, but that could
change with the introduction
of Patron, said IBC board
member Don Tolmie, pro-
duction manager for Trea-
cause of the growing popu-
larity of yellow beans in the
U.S. But the industry also
hopes to sell yellow bean
seed in Latin America, where
yellows, also called peruano
beans, are popular and fetch
a premium.
The yellow bean varieties
grown in Mexico and other
Latin American nations have
no mosaic virus resistance,
Myers said.
“Compared to the tradi-
tional Mexican varieties, this
is a quantum leap,” he said.
OSU has issued an invita-
tion for bean dealers in Idaho
to negotiate for an exclusive
license to produce the new
variety.
Myers said the bean has
resistance to all pathogens of
mosaic virus and was devel-
oped to grow well in this part
of the country.
“It’s very well adapted to
this region (and) the yield’s
been excellent with this va-
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