Buffalo ranching is growing so fast that there is not a market for all the meat. The biggest beneficiary of the purchases likely will be billionaire Ted Turner, the industry's largest producer and its most prominent proponent. The bison industry is a victim of its own success. At the turn of the century, there were fewer than 1,500 bison. Now, there are an estimated 250,000 nationwide, and the number is growing as much as 20 percent a year, according to industry insiders.
Ranchers are so eager to increase their herds that virtually every female calf is kept for breeding.
Only males are slaughtered. Turner, vice chairman of Time Warner Inc., raises 17,000 bison on ranches totaling 1.4 million acres in Montana, Nebraska and New Mexico. Bison steaks, roasts and similar cuts are popular in Europe and also sell well in restaurants in parts of this country. But the ground meat, which is expensive and too lean for some tastes, has been stacking up in processors' warehouses. The bison meat is being given to federal nutrition programs for Indians and migrant workers.