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USDA-backed SDSU project aims to enhance bison ranching operations

bison ranching

Researchers in South Dakota State University's Department of Natural Resource Management, led by assistant professor and Extension Bison Specialist Jeff Martin, are working to support bison ranchers on the Great Plains. 


Jeff Martin has been around bison nearly his entire life. He grew up on a bison ranch in Wisconsin, worked for a large bison ranch in western South Dakota, and studied dozens of bison herds across North America. Over the last few decades, Martin has acquired a nearly unmatched level of experience working with the United States' national mammal.

Now Martin, assistant professor of bison biology and management in South Dakota State University's Department of Natural Resource Management, is considered the nation's leading Extension bison specialist, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture has awarded him a $1.997 million research project that will support bison producers in South Dakota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Montana, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Texas.

Jeff Martin2
Jeff Martin 

"I’m excited to lead this team to advance knowledge about bison and their grazing ecology. We will coordinate with bison producers to implement actionable management practices that contribute to enhanced sustainability," Martin said. “Dr. Leffler and Dr. Perkins will lead efforts to understand how the soil and plants change with bison grazing while Dr. Short will generate educational resources to address bison producer needs.” 

The project will work to implement innovative conservation practices into ranching operations that may help improve grassland productivity. Over a three-year period, the research team will conduct an experiment on winter bale grazing systems for bison. These systems have been successfully used by cattle ranchers, and the researchers, led by Martin, have collected enough preliminary data to begin to show the systems can also benefit bison producers on the Great Plains.

"Anecdotally, some bison managers have been using bale grazing for many years without measuring the positive and negative outcomes," Martin said. "Our team is well positioned to do just that. Our goal is to improve soil microbial health, soil organic matter, dung beetle habitat, and body condition of bison over winter."

For cattle ranchers, winter bale grazing has proven to save time and money while also providing considerable benefits to their rangeland. The system is implemented prior to the first snowfall as bales are arranged in a grid pattern on the rangeland. With cattle, electric cross-fencing is used to progressively move the herd around the grid throughout the winter. However, this approach seldom works with bison as they want to both play with the unrolled bales and may break through electric fences to access the next bales. As the bison move to eat, their urine and manure enrich the soil and feed microbes, which slowly release nutrients back into the field, stimulating plant growth.

In a 2023 USDA-produced newsletter, a South Dakota rancher said he saw nearly one-third higher hay production after using a winter bale grazing system. Other South Dakota ranchers mentioned the fuel savings and time benefits that come with winter bale grazing.

During the experiment, Martin and his team will assess the environmental impact of bale grazing on the soil and wildlife habitat while monitoring bison health. The results of this work will help promote sustainable bison ranching practices in the region.

"We will also implement several workshop training modules for producers and various nationwide train-the-trainer workshops for USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service and land-grant university Extension agents to become better acquainted with bison biology and ecology as well as bison management practices such as winter bale grazing," Martin added.

SDSU has partnered with the National Bison Association, Tanka Fund and a private producer on this project, funded under the Conservation Innovation Grants from USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service.

The project is part of a larger, $90 million investment from the federal government to development new tools, approaches, practices and technologies to further natural resource conservation on private lands.