A Loving Family Transition
Bison farmer Bobbi Lester cares for the land with just as much passion and love as her father. As a little girl, he taught her the ropes of bison farming—often taking her with him to regional and national bison conferences. When Bobbi Lester’s father, Robert Collins, lost his battle to cancer in 2012, Bobbi, along with her husband Allen, stepped right up to continue farming it the way he would have wanted—as a family.
Bobbi recalls how her dad started with just three heifers and a bull on 88 acres and grew it into the herd of 65 bison. “He originally planned to breed the bison to preserve the population because of its decline 30 years ago. The farm later expanded to provide on-farm meat sales when people became more health conscious and bison meat became in demand.”
Farming with Bison has taught them some lessons. As herd animals, they make an impact wherever they go. Her dad, Collins, began working with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in 2008 to discuss practices that would help him address some of these concerns and achieve the operation’s goals. Her dad’s commitment to the health of the animals and sustainability of the operation has improved the way the farm is managed. It benefited Collins and now Bobbi and her husband. Utilizing the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, financial and technical assistance was provided for regrading and reseeding some swales with Critical Area Planting, fencing the bison out of these areas, pasture reseeding, forage management, prescribed grazing, and some watering facilities.
Her dad worked with NRCS up until his passing. Bobbi recognizes the benefits that NRCS has with the land. “Before NRCS, we had water troughs and bathtubs of water for the bison. My dad and oldest sister Wanda would have to carry out hot buckets of water to unfreeze the water. Now we have the heaters. And then in summer, had algae growth. Had to remove that to get them where they were drinkable. That’s no longer the case.”
Bobbi and Allen continue to work with NRCS—implementing practices that are necessary as their needs change. “Our watering facility is imperative because Bison come up as a herd to get water. If the last Bison that comes up with herd to drink doesn’t have water available, he doesn’t get a drink because then the herd moves on together.”
“It was great to learn the proper way to rotationally graze in order to extend the life of their pasture,” says Bobbi. “You would think that when grass is gone, you rotate animals, but NRCS soil conservationist Bobby Gorski told us about grazing only to a certain height on the pastures to avoid ruining the area.” Good pasture management is everything. Over graze and your fields won’t grow back.”
Because of their reseeding practice, the Lesters have more hay which significantly reduced the amount of feed and grain they had to purchase. “It was life changing. The reseeding practice allows us to get more hay. We can keep them in the pasture all year and supplement their feeding with hay once it starts snowing.”
Bobbi and her family are reminded daily of the critical steps that her Dad took to ensure the sustainability of the farm. This is evident today in the manner in which they operate this farm that has been handed down to them. Her Dad’s efforts contributed to its success today and impacted Bobbi in such a way that she recognizes the importance of conservation and its contributions to the land they manage.
