This week on the hemp podcast, we talk to Herb Grove, hemp farmer and bison rancher from Centre County, Pennsylvania.
Grove’s family has been farming the land around Brush Mountain for generations, but Grove didn't get into raising bison until 2011.
“We started out with two cows, two yearlings and two calves,” Grove said. “That was our first six animals and we had no clue what we were getting into.”
After getting into it without any information whatsoever, Grove said, he joined the EBA — the Eastern Bison Association, and started networking with a lot of local bison farmers. He “fell in love with the people and what the purpose was, and from that point on it’s just kind of history,” he said.
Grove now has one the larger bison herds east of the Mississippi with over 220 head, he said.
Grove got his start growing hemp in 2019 when he contracted with Groff North America in Red Lion, York County, to grow about 150 acres of fiber hemp. He also tried his hand at growing hemp for grain, which he took to Susquehanna Mills in Muncy to press for oil.
“At that point we had the byproduct of the seeds after the oil’s out of it, and what better opportunity to do then start feeding it to your animals,” he said.
The bison didn't like the seed cake on it’s own, so Grove grinds it up and puts in the ration. He teamed up with Penn State to do feeding trials to study the effects of hemp on the herd.
“Unfortunately, because it's not legal to sell a finished animal for protein being fed on hemp, we can continue to feed hemp up until the last three months. And then we have to pull the hemp out of the feed rations at this point and supplement a different protein,” Grove said.
The first time he took hemp-fed animals to his local processor, “the state got wind of it, you know, they showed up, locked their carcass up in the cooler.”
Grove said the differences in the hemp-fed bison are noticeable. Their coats look shinier, the animals look healthier. And he said he can even tell the difference in the taste of the meat.
Grove is now working with the Hemp Fed Coalition to change the policies around using hemp as a livestock feed.
More information on Brush Mountain Bison https://www.facebook.com/brushmountainbison
Buck Wild Bison https://buckwildbison.com/
Hemp Feed Coalition https://hempfeedcoalition.org/
Eastern Bison Association https://www.ebabison.org/
Susquehanna Millshttps://susquehannamills.com/
Healthy Oil Seeds https://healthyoilseeds.com/
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