Bison are an increasingly important part of the meat industry. At restaurants, I am seeing more and more bison products on the menu. For small producers who are getting started with raising livestock, bison may be a good choice. They are disease resistant, and they will calve without assistance. A survey conducted by NAHMS/USDA indicated that some of the top priorities for bison ranchers are environmental stewardship, parasite resistance and grazing management. Another favorable characteristic is a very low level of lameness. This may be due to the lack of genetic selection for growth and meat traits.

Handling at the meat plant has problems. A recent survey of three US bison plants by David Velazco, PhD, Ann Hess, PhD, Lily Edwards-Callaway, PhD, and Mahesh Nair, PhD, from Colorado State University indicated that 97% of the bison had at least one bruise; most of the animals had multiple bruises. Head butting in the stun box occurred in one-third of the animals. This behavior is associated with stress and blood spots on the meat. There also were more bruises in heavier animals and many of the bruises were on the spine.

Two interesting findings emerged from this study. The distance the animals traveled to the plant was not related to the amount of bruising. This would indicate most of the bruises were occurring at the slaughter plant. Vocalization scoring is an effective method for assessing stress and handling problems in cattle, but it does not work for bison.

Handling guidelines

There are some simple methods for improving bison handling and reducing stress-related behavior such as head bumping in the stun box. The stun box must have a non-slip floor. Do not allow bison to wait in the stun box. They should be shot immediately after entering. There are important behavioral differences between bison and cattle. Cattle will stand quietly in a single file chute. Bison are more likely to become agitated if they have to wait.

A good method for handling bison at a slaughter plant is to bring two animals into the single-file chute at a time. The first animal moves immediately into the box, is shot, and then rolled out. The second animal can then be immediately put in the box and shot. The principle is to eliminate the bison from waiting in the stun box or the single file chute. The next two bison should not be brought up until the stun box is empty.

Electric prod use was not a major cause of handling problems at the three plants. It was used on only 10% of the animals.

It is very important to improve handling practices. The bison industry is growing. According to the US Department of Agriculture, over 60,000 bison are processed in the United States each year. As part of their survey, the Colorado State researchers asked attendees at the most recent National Bison Association meeting to fill out a survey. Attendees at this meeting were both bison producers and people interested in bison. They were asked what attributes of bison provided added value to consumers. The top answers were animal welfare and healthy eating. Consumers expect good animal welfare and bison handling needs to be improved.