Owner of bison herd aims to help rebuild stock of 'National Mammal'

Wednesday, February 27, 2019
In 2018, Darrell's bull, "McIntosh," above, welcomed a new, younger bull (No. 165, following him in the second picture) to the herd that now numbers 26. A younger bison lopes to the water tank. Meister's goal is to have no more than 15 adult animals. "If I can produce 15 calves a year, I'll be very happy," he said.
Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Gazette

CONNIE JO DISCOE

Regional Editor

McCOOK, Neb. — Darrell Meister's bison herd at Red Willow Lake now numbers 26, and in late 2018 and very early 2019, he installed a working system to facilitate vaccinating and tagging and sorting calves for sale.

Darrell Meister of McCook and Mililani, Hawaii, works a lever in the new bison herd working system he has installed with the help of Jake Miller of Livewire Fence Supply of rural Culbertson; Theron Jarecke of J Distributing LLC ag supply and welding, also of Culbertson; and Ryan Bradley of Bradley Machine and Pump Repair, McCook.
Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Gazette

Meister released his first seven bison into heavy-duty-fenced pastures just east of the lake and dam in April 2016.

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Meister is impressed with and promotes the health benefits of bison meat, and would like to see more families and McCook and area restaurants add bison meat to their regular menus.

Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Gazette

Meister's philosophy: “My goal has never been only to make money. I’ve also wanted to be part of the resurrection of the ‘National Mammal.’ There’s so much history associated with the bison and Native Americans and the prairie. They’ve all evolved together. Historically, you can’t have one without the other.”

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Over the past three years, Meister and his herd manager Randy Woitaszewski of McCook have watched a young herd bull mature into a massive, powerful, beautifully-color majestic animal. The herd has grown from one heifer, five cows and the young bull. Meister lost one cow to an injury in October 2016, and added two bred heifers in early 2017. The first crop of calves numbered seven.

The number of pasture and forage acres available will mean keeping the herd ideally at no more than 15 adult animals, Meister said. "If I can produce 15 calves a year, I'll be very happy," he said.

In January 2019, Meister completed a working corral and chute system to facilitate vaccinating and tagging, and sorting calves for sale. He said he appreciated the very hard work of Jake Miller of Livewire Fence Supply of rural Culbertson; Theron Jarecke of J Distributing LLC ag supply and welding, also of Culbertson; and Ryan Bradley of Bradley Machine and Pump Repair, McCook .

The winter day of the working process was cold-cold -6 degrees with a -15/20 wind chill factor. "It was brutal," Meister said, "but we needed to get this done."

Darrell started with a chute and head-catch system from Hi Hog of Canada, and then designed his on pen layout and "flow system" that will alleviate a lot of pressure and stress on the animals. "With the circle of pens and chutes, we can move any animal with relative ease," Meister said.

The system includes a loafing corral with three gates, salt and mineral, bale feeder and water tank. It's attached to a smaller tear drop-shaped pen that naturally funnels the animals into a lane leading to the chutes and ultimately into the head-catch.

Everything is bison-tall, bison-tough and super heavy duty.

All the people helping with a day's working process are outside the pens.

After working each individual animal, the calves go into one pen and cows and heifers into another. The calves can be moved through again to a loading chute no wider than a buyer's trailer.

Until the working system is actually put into use each time, all the pens are open daily to the animals for eating and drinking, so that they're familiar with them "before we start putting any pressure on them."

Meister plans minimal vaccinations, maybe two shots, and deworming pellets.

Meister said Horizon Bank of McCook has been gracious enough to provide financing for the bison working system, fairly confident it was "a first" for Steve Rasmussen and for the McCook bank.

Last year's calves are about eight months old, and, having weaned themselves, are ready for sale to other bison ranchers. Meister said he'll advertise in the National Bison Association publication, hoping to attract buyers within the same High Plains area the calves have been born and raised. "I'd like to see my calves kept in an area from the Front Range of Colorado to Grand Island, Nebraska, keeping them within the same environment they've been raised," Meister said.

Meister said he'll sell these calves and not retain them for the herd because it'll be 2 1/2 years before they breed and another 9 months before producing a calf. He supplements his herd with bred heifers, and a new bull purchased from the Crane Trust in December 2018.

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