ANNUAL UPDATE ~ Dec. 31st, 2012
2012 Wow!!! The year flew past!!! We had some agriculture challenges, and in a word
Mother Nature! (1) a Drought - geeze, Colorado needs a break big time! (2) Tornado -
seriously, that was a mess! Everyone was ok, as were all the buffalo (even the calves)
but there were some poor baby deer that were pummeled to death and even some adult
antelope did not make it. Of course the clean up took rolling up our sleeves & then we
began to get the windows & screens replaced/repaired, the log house all sanded & then
restained, the metal house roof replaced, the metal workshop roof & 2 sides replaced,
and the metal barn roof & 2 sides replaced! There were many other small & on-going repairs,
but those were the highlights!
Then with the drought there becomes the challenge in finding hay (especially good grass hay).
We won't go into details except to say there are MANY dishonest people out there that will
TRY to take advantage of you.
All the calves were sold to one of our repeat buyers! And all the buffalo are a little older
but the herd is doing well!
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ANNUAL UPDATE ~ Dec. 31st, 2011
2011 was interesting! But hey, who wants a dull ranch life!
We choose to keep some of our heifer calves as replacements for our aging cow herd, and we
will likely keep a few each year for a couple more years. Our cows are producing nicely,
but we figure why wait. Plus we love our heifer calves!
The we had a BIG SCARE!!! On a lazy afternoon, we had a neighbor (who lives about 3 miles
as the crow flies, but about 9 miles if you have to drive there), knock at the door and say:
THERE IS A FIRE right behind your house!!!
Okay - lazy day is officially over! Dave sprung into crazy action towards the fire on the
4-wheeler, with a shovel; and I called about a half dozen nearby folks for help (also called
the fire department which is about 23-24 miles from us)...
Luckily our neighbors understand being remote and relying on a volunteer fire department, and
within very little time we had about 6-8 people here helping (even our neighbors to the North,
the Burns with their home made fire truck). Whew!!! The fire was put out and then smoldered
for about 2-3 days, but Oh My God - it was scary!
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ANNUAL UPDATE ~ Dec. 31st, 2009
2009 was a good year with good grass and happy, healthy buffalo. The pastures are in
great shape (of course we would always like a few less weeds). And even for winter,
there is still plenty of grass in the pastures for the buffalo to graze.
All calves sold quickly and shipped to their new owners farms and ranches. And, the
buffalo market continues to show some gain in interest and a much needed gain in calf
pricing. Actually this year we could have sold many more calves (if we had them ), as
there seems to be a demand for buffalo calves.
It has been more than 2 years since we stopped selling buffalo meat, but we still get
calls and emails from people looking for a true 100% grassfed buffalo meat company.
(Well, Good Luck with that!)
We only had one private buffalo tour this past year, but we will host an International
Group early in 2010.
Thanks to our repeat buffalo calf customers! Onward to 2010 (sounds so futuristic)
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ANNUAL UPDATE ~ Dec. 31st, 2008
2008 was a different year, without the hussle bussle of meat orders, shipping & delivery.
We fielded many calls and emails about why we are no longer selling grassfed buffalo meat;
but we do miss many of our customers (which felt more like friends).
Our buffalo breeding stock herd is great and as the herd resides on our own ranch, tasks
are closer, easier and we even have less tasks. (Smile)
There seems to be more interest in buffalo breeding stock and buffalo calves; and so we
easily sold all the annual calves (which looked wonderful). Of course we are not the biggest
buffalo ranch, with the greatest number of buffalo, but we have outstanding buffalo calves
and we pride outselves in helping others get started with buffalo ranching.
We have enjoyed the calm of 2008, with more time for our kids, grandkids, friends, family
and of course our bloodhounds (Hunter & Sassy). We even have had time for some travel.
We look forward to 2009!
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IMPORTANT NEWS ANNOUNCEMENT ~ Dec. 1st, 2007
After ten years of raising 100% Grassfed Buffalo Meat and serving not just our local
Colorado customers, but customers throughout the US... sadly we announcement we
have lost a land lease (nearly 2,000 acres) to development and unfortunately land
prices in our area (Elbert County) have sky-rocketed due to "urban sprawl". Not
long ago agricultural land was about $400 an acre, now it is about $2500 per acre
(which is not workable for an agricultural business).
Without the adequate land, it is impossible to raise 100% grassfed buffalo... so with
heavy heart we announce the closing our our 100% grasfed buffalo meat business.
We take tremendous pride that we were America's #1 source for grassfed buffalo meat
for over 10 years, and that we earned that right and place as a small family farm-ranch
and were truly 100% grassfed.
While many buffalo producers are content to raise "feed-lot buffalo", our committment
was and still is to 100% grassfed buffalo rasied out on pasture eating only grass.
We appologize that we have no referrals for 100% grassfed buffalo; but urge you when
looking for 100% grassfed to ask these important and qualifying grassfed questions:
1 - do your animals "graze in pastures" or are they fed hay in pens?
2 - do you feed "anything else besides grass" to your animals?
3 - do you purchase any animals; and if so "how do you ensure they are 100% grassfed"?
4 - do you "finish your animals on anything before harvesting" your animals for meat?
We offer our genuine heart-felt appreciation to all our customers for supporting us
these past 10 years.
David & Marlene Groves
Buffalo Groves, Inc.
ps - The land we leased was offered to us to purchase for approximately 1.5 million dollars.
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Noteable Info
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2007
Buffalo Groves Inc
BRONZE AWARD
Heifer Calves
Buffalo Association
(wow - we rarely show) |
2007
Buffalo Groves Inc
RECEIVES
Rocky Mtn. Buffalo
Ranch Host Award |
2006
Buffalo Groves Inc
WINS
Colorado Proud
Lifetime Achievement
Award |
2006
Buffalo Groves Inc
Peach Teriyaki Tri Tip
WINS
Colorado Recipe Contest |
2005
Buffalo Groves Inc
FEATURED (AGAIN)
On the Food Network |
2004
Buffalo Groves Inc
AWARDED
USDA Grant
For Bison Nutrition |
2004
Buffalo Groves Inc
SILVER AWARD
Heifer Calves
Buffalo Association
(wow - we rarely show) |
2003
Buffalo Groves Inc
HOLDS OUR 1ST
BUFFALO RANCHING
SEMINAR
(helping many new folks) |
2002
Buffalo Groves Inc
AWARDED
Kiowa Soil Conservation
Award |
2001
Buffalo Groves Inc
WINNER
USDA Conservationist
Of The Year Award |
