RAVENNA, Neb. -- One hundred years ago when bison roamed the prairies, their meat was the standard bill of fare for homesteaders.
Overenthusiastic hunters who shot the animals for their skins brought the big shaggy beasts almost to extinction, and buffalo meat faded from most people's diets.
But that may change. Max Barnett, the president of Beefalo Ltd., said he believes the beefalo -- a cross between bison and domestic cattle - will become a major source of meat in the United States.
'I have not yet talked to a beefalo breeder that doesn't think it's the greatest animal in the world,' Barnett said. 'One hundred years from now, it's going to be a very important breed.
'A purebred beefalo has three-eighths bison blood and five-eighths domestic cattle blood,' he said. 'The five-eighths can be from any breed of domestic cattle.'
The beefalo breed was developed by Californian D.C. Basolo, Jr. and announced in a July 1973, magazine article.
In December 1973, Barnett began working for Basolo, and acted as Basolo's national sales manager for five years.
'The man is a genius,' Barnett said. 'He developed the first and only fertile hybrid in the history of the world.'
Beefalo Ltd. is a new company, formed by Barnett because he feels there is a great need for a national marketing program for beefalo.
The Ravenna beefalo ranch is still under construction, but Barnett said it has a big future.
'There are about 280 pureblood beefalo in the world, and all of them are in the U.S.,' he said. 'We will end up with over two-thirds of them on this ranch. We believe this ranch will become the world headquarters of the breed.'
Barnett said that during the first year of operation, he expects up to 6,000 visitors to tour the east central Nebraska ranch, which also serves as Beefalo Ltd. headquarters.
Barnett said the real benefit of raising beefalo instead of domestic cattle is in the animal's feeding rations.
'In the hybridization process, the beefalo has inherited the buffalo's digestive system,' he said. 'It allows the animal to go to market without expensive grains.
'The beefalo is basically a forager. They don't really do very well when they are fed grains.'
To the casual observer, beefalo look very similar to domestic cattle.
'You've probably driven by herds and herds of beefalo and never known it,' Barnett said. 'They look very similar to beef cattle.'
'Inside is where the features are. They have an extra rib -- the beefalo is a longer animal than the domestic cattle -- and they've inherited the buffalo's digestive system,' he said.
The beefalo is a much hardier animal than domestic cattle, Barnett said. 'They tend to be able to withstand stress much better than domestic cattle.'
Barnett said an important difference between beefalo and domestic cattle is the quality of meat the beefalo produces.
'Beefalo have double the protein of regular beef,' he said. 'They also have 20 percent less interior fat and very, very little exterior fat.
'And they have one-third less calories because they have less fat. Cholesterol is almost non-existent.'
Barnett said beefalo meat tastes similar to, but not exactly like, regular beef.
'It has a rich, beefy flavor, but you don't taste the fat that you taste in regular beef,' he said. 'It tends to taste more like beef than buffalo.
'People who've eaten beefalo will not eat beef if they can get beefalo.'
