Bison

The Lakeland College Bison SMF is the college’s newest and most exciting addition to the Student Managed Farm program. In the Bison SMF, students are responsible for running a bison cow-calf operation, with approximately 200 head of bison for them to work with. Some duties include weaning calves from cows, diagnosing and treating sickly animals, coming up with a grazing plan, selling and buying animals and more! The group also takes field trips to conventions and other bison operations to meet and learn from professional industry members to gain a greater understanding and appreciation of the bison industry. Thanks to an incredibly generous donation from Rita and Armin Meuller at Rangeland Bison, students can get up close and personal with North America’s largest land animal while also learning how to run a successful bison operation. Bison operations can be quite similar to beef operations and yet can also differ greatly. The most notable difference is that bison are much lower maintenance than cattle. Bison are incredibly tenacious and require no assistance calving. They can get through the sheer cold of Canadian winters easily thanks to their fluffy coat and their superpower of seasonality dropping their energy intake requirements. Bison are also resilient to a variety of diseases, though they are not immune. The bison market is also a quickly growing market, as bison is having an ever-growing presence in the livestock markets. If you are interested in the industry or just curious about North America’s largest land animal, any member of the Lakeland College Bison SMF would be more than happy to talk to you.