Buffalo and Conservation
Grazing Management: The sagebrush grassland requires minimal management beyond control of trespass cattle and managed moderate rotational grazing of the buffalo and horse herds.
Buffalo have always been an integral component of the native prairies. Buffalo grazing helps restore native grasses and improve soil quality. The hoof action breaks up the dead material and the crust of the ground, which allows the water to percolate into the ground to feed the grass roots. Buffalo are natural grazers that enjoy roaming the land, moving continuously over the landscape; they do not gather and “camp” in the sensitive pond and riparian areas like cattle. When they graze, buffalo don't eat below the crown of the grasses, allowing plants to regenerate, and their hooves and sizeable weight tills the soil, providing crevices for seeds to germinate.
When winter is over, bison begin to frolic, rolling on the ground and rubbing on trees and fences to shed their winter coats. Their winter coats act as efficient harvesters as seeds of natural grasses caught in the winter coat are re-deposited in the soil. Their sharp hooves break up the frozen ground in the spring, allowing water to percolate more easily, guaranteeing the grass roots will receive needed water from rains. In the fall, bison break down dead grass by rolling on the ground as well as breaking it with their hoofs. Once the grass is broken, it decomposes into the soil, and the seeds grow easily the next spring. Bison also use their hooves to work manure and urine back into the soil.
On cattle ranches, cow hooves create problems. Their flat round hooves pack the soil, killing grasses and establishing ruts. Rain has trouble percolating through the packed soil. Cattle also tend to bunch up in one area of the pasture, overgrazing the vegetation, leaving bare ground vulnerable to erosion and gullying. Buffalo create the opposite effect; leveling out uneven land as they break down rough areas, aerating and fertilizing the ground.
In these ways, the buffalo herd is playing a key role in the restoration of the tall grass prairie, keeping the biological circle healthy. Indeed, the buffalo on the Happy Heart Ranch are essential to the prairie ecology. The buffalo are true native prairie animals demonstrating their supreme adaptation to their natural habitat.
Bison raised on grass provide a very healthy meat product , with a high ratio of Omega-3 to Omega-6 fatty acids, providing health benefits that may contribute to decreased heart disease, cancer, learning disabilities, and a multitude of other diseases. Bison raised on natural grasses with varied species of shrubs, grasses and forbs in the wild have all that is necessary to achieve their potential.
