PIONEERING SPIRIT LAKELAND’S FIRST BISON SMF UNIT HELPS BRING THE HERD HOME

Each year, a key part of being a member of the Student-Managed Farm – Powered by New Holland (SMF) team at Lakeland College revolves around succession, with students taking the reins from the previous SMF unit and leaving something for next year’s unit to build on.

New Herd On Campus

Theidea of starting a bison herd at Lakeland College began in 2020 thanks to Armin and Rita Mueller, owners of Canadian Rangeland Bison and Elk.

They wanted to invest in the future of the bison industry, so they donated $4 million to Lakeland to purchase land and establish a bison herd at the college.

Lakeland acquired that land – eight quarters located 20 minutes south of Vermilion – in January 2023 and work began to bring the herd home.

“There were some challenges,” said Mike Pyra, a second-year animal science technology (AST) student in charge of animal care, animal health and reproduction on the bison SMF. “It’s not easy to bring 200 head of bison all the way here. It doesn’t happen overnight, but it’s good to have them home.”

The first group of bison arrived on Jan. 30 and the entire SMF unit, as well as a handful of other AST students, gathered on the new land to watch the herd arrive.

“It was awesome, I was in awe,” says Pyra. “It was really cold but you didn’t notice it because everyone was so excited to see the bison finally arrive.”

“It was so amazing to see the bison finally get their feet on college property,” Schmalzbauer adds. “I’ve been waiting from day one to see that happen and it finally did. It just brought so much warmth and joy to my heart.”

It was so amazing to see the bison finally get their feet on college property. I’ve been waiting from day one to see that happen and it finally did. It just brought so much warmth and joy to my heart."

- Ben Schmalzbauer