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Laura Cumberland and Gordon Fevang, of Blue Star Bison Ventures, raise Woodland, Plains and Woodland-Plains cross bison near High Prairie. They say there is a lot of demand for their meat products, which includes hamburger, stew meat, farmer sausage and steaks.
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Mac Olsen
For Spotlight
Laura Cumberland and Gordon Fevang are very busy with their new business, Blue Star Bison Ventures, near High Prairie.
They are filling a market niche, offering products leaner than most cuts of meat.
“Bison is leaner than chicken, beef, salmon and pork,” says Cumberland. “It’s lower in cholesterol and higher in protein.”
They sell hamburger, stew meat, farmer sausage, steaks (minute, rib, t-bone, and sirloin) and roasts (cross rib, sirloin, hip and blade), as well as bison tongue, liver and heart.
Cumberland and her parents, Fred and Kathleen Whymark, who own Hole In The Wall Bison, have over 400 head between them. They raise Woodland, Plains and Woodland-Plains cross bison.
Plains bison are smaller and the Woodland bison are bigger, but the cross bison offer the best quality of meats and sizes, says Cumberland.
Their animals are aged from 18-36 months to maximize the tenderness of the meat.
Due to concerns about mad cow disease in the livestock industry, Cumberland and Fevang have chosen to not grain feed their bison, nor do they give them growth hormones, steroids or antibiotics.
Instead, their bison live on open ranges and feed on grass, as well as natural hay in the winter, which is a mixture of alfalfa, timothy and brome.
Fevang says there is a big demand not only for their products, but also for breeding stock, especially in the U.S., which has driven up the prices for them.
When they sell their bison by the piece, they take them to government inspection facilities for processing. They also sell them on the hoof for the market or for breeding stock, usually in large numbers only.
Cumberland and Fevang plan to offer other products, including smokies, jerky, summer sausage, garlic sausage and pepperoni. Cumberland is also working on a bison cookbook, with 20 recipes already.
They will eventually set up a website with pricing and contact information. However, for now, they can be reached at 780-524-2671.
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