• Retail meat cuts by the package                                                                             

• Bulk Bison (Quarters, Halves, and Wholes) –2023 Bulk Bison list is open.  Email or call us to be put on the waiting list.

• Costs to buy Bulk Bison:

  • $8.00/lb./Hanging Weight for a young animal (2.5 years old).

  • $6.50/lb./Hanging Weight for an older animal (10+ years old).

Retail Meat Cuts by the Package

Ordering is as simple as 1,2,3:

1.  Review our Bison Meat Price List below.
2.  Once you have decided what you would like to order, please email your order to   lhedlund@gmail.com or call us at    (971) 720-0462.    Include your contact information (phone number and email).
3.   We will respond within 24 hours to confirm and finalize your order and make a plan for you to pick it up.

 

Grass Fed and Finished Retail Meat Cuts Available for Purchase:

Ground Bison                                                 $13/lb.

Stew Meat                                                       $13/lb.

Organ Meat                                     Check for Availability

Stock Bones                                                    $2.50/lb.

 

Ranch Sales:

Orders of frozen, packaged bison meat can be picked up by appointment at our ranch which is located off of King’s Valley Highway (Highway 223) south of Dallas, Oregon.  The ranch address is: 16055 Gilliam Road, Dallas, Oregon 97338.  We have a locked front gate so please call or email us when you plan to visit so we can be here to meet you.

Sales in the Local Community:

We no longer sell our meat at local Farmers Markets.  Our bison meat can be purchased at Crush Wine Bar in Monmouth.  They make sliders with our grass fed and finished ground bison.   Buying our meat at Crush Wine Bar is a good way to try our meat before purchasing it from us directly.  

Payment:         

We accept checks, cash and credit/debit cards as payment.

Shipping:   

We do not ship our products.  We sell out to the local community between harvests.

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Bulk Bison:  Purchasing a Whole, Half or Quarter Bison

$8.00/lb. based on the hanging weight of the carcass for ground bison, steaks, roasts, stew meat, ribs, organ meat, and stock bones.  This meat comes from a young bison (2.5 years old).  The meat will be tender and flavorful.  This meat will be available in August and September 2023.

$6.50/lb. based on the hanging weight of an older animal for ground bison, stew meat, organ meat and stock bones.  This meat is available in late summer 2023.

 

Why Buy Bulk Bison?

We encourage people to purchase bison in the form of a whole, one half or one quarter portion.  There are many benefits to buying meat in bulk.

• Ease and Access:  One of the things we love about having a half of a bison in our freezer is the ease of deciding what to have for dinner.  By buying a bison in bulk, you have a huge choice of healthy meat options just a few feet away from your kitchen.
• Choice and Variety:  By purchasing in bulk, it provides you with a choice in how your meat is cut and processed.  You can decide on the thickness of your steaks and whether you want your roasts to be small, medium or large in size.  You can also choose to have a number of specialty items such as summer sausage and jerky made for you.  Additionally, soup bones and organ meats (can be used for dog food if you do not eat organ meats) are part of the bison carcass and are included in a bulk purchase.
• Lower Cost:  If you are interested in a variety of cuts, buying in bulk is the most economical option.

General Information About Buying Bison in Bulk:

Some people hesitate to buy bulk bison because they think it will be too much meat. A quarter of a bison will yield about 60-65 pounds of meat. In a 2 person household that enjoys bison, you’ll easily consume 1.5 pounds per week and your freezer will be empty in about 10 months.   If 60-65 pounds does seem like too much, consider splitting a quarter with family or friends.

If you are new to buying meat in bulk, it may be helpful to understand the process and how it affects the quantity and quality of the bison meat you will receive.

We use mobile slaughter for bulk meat which means that someone comes out to our ranch and harvests the animals on our ranch.  The slaughtering process is essentially immediate and the animal does not have the experience of stress or pain.  Once the bison is slaughtered, the hide, head, hooves and non-usable organs are removed. What remains is called the carcass, which is typically split down the middle into two halves.

When the carcass arrives at the meat processor both halves are weighed.  This is referred to as the “hanging weight”.  With bison the hanging weight of the carcass is usually around 56% of the live weight.   After arriving at the processor, the carcass will be hung in a cooler for 7 to 10 days for dry aging.  This improves tenderness, enhances flavor and also further reduces weight due to evaporation.  Because a bison carcass has a thinner fat coat it doesn’t need to hang as long as a beef carcass.

After aging, each side is made into individual retail cuts. If you are getting a quarter you will get half of the mixed assortment of cuts from the front and rear of the animal.  The weight of meat after the carcass is butchered is called the “boxed” or “take home” or the “carcass yield” weight.  The boxed weight will be less than the hanging weight.  With bison, the yield of meat from the carcass is generally around 60% of the hanging weight.  This percentage can vary based on whether or not you choose to have bone-in versus boneless meat, the amount of fat trimmed on the meat cuts and other specifics regarding butchering.  Currently, we are using The Meating Place in Hillsboro to process bulk meat.  When the time comes, you will put your cutting order onto their website and let them know how you want your meat cut up: desired thickness of steaks, size of roasts, any special orders of sausage or jerky, etc. (if you are buying meat from a younger animal).   We are always available to answer any questions you may have.

All of this is interesting, but you still want to have an idea of the basics:  How much meat will I take home, what kind of cuts will there be and what will this all cost?

Traditionally, when you buy meat in this way the price is set based on the hanging weight.  So here is an example:  A two and a half year old bison weighing 715 pounds is chosen for harvest.   Once slaughtered, the carcass hanging weight on this animal will be approximately 400 pounds (715  lbs. x 56%).  A quarter share of this carcass would weigh 100 pounds.   Once the bison is butchered, there will be about 60 pounds of meat in a quarter share (100 pounds of carcass x 60%).    The price for the quarter of bison is $8.00 per pound of hanging weight x 100 pounds or $800.  We pay to have a mobile slaughter professional come to our ranch and harvest the animals.  The customer pays the cut and wrap fee to the processor.  The current processor we use charges $0.85/lb./hanging weight for butcher wrap.   The cut and wrap fee for a quarter would be: $85 (100 pounds hanging weight x  $0.85/lb.).  The total cost for the quarter of bison meat in this example would be $885 ($800 + $85).   The cost for a half or a whole bison is also $8.00/lb. of hanging weight plus the cut and wrap fee.  

Young bison carcasses normally breakdown as follows:  about 17% of the meat cut from the carcass will be steaks, 55% will be ground bison, 25% will be roasts (which can be made into jerky, sausage, or made into ground meat or stew meat if roasts are not desired), and 3% will be other cuts (short ribs and oxtail).   If you would like a variety of cuts, buying a younger animal in bulk is definitely the most economical option.

In addition to meat, customers buying bulk also receive proportional amounts of stock bones and organ meat  (if desired) at no additional cost for the meat.  The customer will need to pay to have these products cut and wrapped.  Bones are great for making stock and soups and organ meats are some of the most nutrient dense parts of the animal.  Customers buying a quarter can receive some liver and customers buying a half can receive some liver and heart.   Those customers buying a whole bison can also receive the tongue and the rocky mountain oysters (if available) in addition to liver and heart and kidneys .  

One last detail – you should figure on having access to 1 cubic feet of freezer space for every 35-40 pounds of frozen bison meat.  For a quarter bison 2.5 cubic feet should generally be adequate space for the meat and stock bones.

We ask our customers to put a deposit down at the time of ordering bulk meat.  The deposit for a quarter is $300, $600 for a half bison, and $1200 for a whole bison.  Once the hanging weight is obtained the exact amount of the remaining balance will be known and should be paid to us before picking up your meat from the meat processor.

We encourage our customers to put their name on the Bulk Bison list if they are interested in purchasing a quarter, half or whole bison.  We have limited supplies.  Send us an email or call us if you would like to put your name on our list.  We will begin contacting customers on the Bulk Bison list in March to confirm your order and ask for a deposit.

There are still some things to think about – who to invite for dinner, your favorite recipe or something new…but I think we’ve covered the basics and it’s all enjoyment from here on!