Our Practices
A Prairie Brought Back to Life
In July 2020 we found a most unlikely prospect. Our ranch was an old homesteaded property dating back over 150 years, it was unbelievably run down, overworked, overgrazed, underappreciated ranch property littered with junk, over 100 scrap vehicles, dilapidated buildings and scrap farm equipment strewn about everywhere. Half of the ranch was completely inaccessible owing to a river that runs through the middle of the ranch, where the only river crossing had been washed away over 15 years earlier. The ranch is nestled in a valley with both sides of a 2.5 mile river running through the property, there is 2,500 acres of hard to access state land on two sides, and our property line extends over the surrounding hills so there are very few visible neighbors. I immediately recognized that the property met almost all of the criteria we had for a bison ranch property...albeit a "fixer upper ranch" to the 100th degree! With two years of very hard work we cleaned up the ranch, repaired infrastructure, installed 14.5 miles of new fencing and removed 8.5 miles of old fencing. We have improved off stream water access for the bison, drilled two wells and rebuilt 4 washed out reservoirs on the property.
We utilize regenerative agricultural practices in order to improve the health of our native prairie grasses, increase soil biodiversity and sequester carbon into the earth. After seeding, then bail grazing the worst areas and having the bison do the work with their hooves, dung and urine it is incredible to see how the land has been rejuvenated by the bison. Once barren worn out areas are now thriving with native grasses and forbs. Now in our fourth year at the ranch, we have seen more diverse wildlife on the ranch than ever before. Interestingly, only two weeks after the bison were released onto the property we observed one grizzly and three black bears in a 24 hour period. The previous owner had not seen a single bear on the property in over 15 years! Since then we have observed healthy wildlife populations of many different native species and have documented annual visits from both black bear and grizzly bears.
Resources
We offer amazing grass fed pasture raised bison meat to our customers. We ship grassfed bison meat around the country from our Montana Bison Ranch. We also deliver to your door from the Gallatin Valley to Cascade County and most places in between. At Big Sky Bison Ranch in Montana our bison have been reintroduced to the exact same land their ancient ancestors once roamed and grazed on. Our bison drink the fresh water from our river, and springs, they eat the native prairie grasses that thrive in our pastures and bask in the sun. Those are the only ingredients for the best tasting, cleanest highest quality bison meat available anywhere. Big Sky Bison offers delicious grass fed bison meat products, hides, skulls and healthy natural pet treats. In an effort to honor this magnificent animal we try to use every part of the bison. When our customers buy our bison products, they are tasting North America’s original protein, and are directly participating in the preservation of this magnificent species
