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Oct. 20, 2002
Concerns about disease affect prices and demand for N.D. elk
By Stephen J. Lee, Gran Forks Herald Staff Writer
“Anyone looking for elk meat who is suspicious of wild elk meat, here (in North Dakota) you know it's guaranteed safe meat. I think it will help some of these elk farmers.”
Ronnie Braaten,Golden Valley Elk Ranch
PORTLAND, N.D. - The bulls are bugling here on the banks of the Goose River at the Golden Valley Elk Ranch.
It's breeding season, and ranch owners Corey Hanson and Ronnie Braaten hope the lucky bull chosen to be hanging with 20 cows will sire 20 calves to be born next spring.
Other bulls fenced away from the action can't stop letting everyone know of their displeasure by their wild, whistling bugles.
But the business of raising elk has become less lucrative in recent months, since concerns about chronic wasting disease have made the news after an infected elk died of the fatal brain disorder near Aitkin, Minn.
Braaten and Hanson have raised elk here on Hanson's farm west of Portland since 1995. They've run as many as 80 head and now have 50. They have invested lots of money into pens and equipment for handling the majestic animals.
Five years ago, they expanded their elk business to a site west of Edinburgh, N.D. There, in a coulee of the Park River, they built a large hunting lodge, fenced in 300
leased acres and sold hunting trips to Californians, New Yorkers and mostly Wisconsinites willing to pay several thousands of dollars to shoot a bull elk in the semi-wild.
“But we're going to end up selling that because of this issue,” Braaten said. “We backed out of all our hunts this year.”
Even though CWD has never been found in North Dakota, after years of testing for it, concerns about CWD means hunters may not be able to take home any trophy head. And although CWD hasn't been found, and each dead animal can be tested for CWD, news of the disease spreading elsewhere makes some skittish about eating elk meat, Braaten said.
Tuesday, Gov. John Hoeven issued an executive order outlawing the transport of elk and deer carcasses from certain areas where CWD has been found. The order mostly will affect North Dakota hunters who bag a deer or elk in Colorado, South Dakota or other states where CWD has been detected. The heads of the game and other parts of the spinal column where the CWD proteins are thought to reside cannot be brought in to North Dakota.
Since the one domestic elk near Aitkin was found with CWD earlier this year, lots of testing has not turned up any more incidents in Minnesota.
Mike Horken, who with two partners, owns a herd of 49 elk near East Grand Forks, said elk growers are being proactive to protect the industry and consumers.
“We are just doing what they are asking us to do,” he said. “Any animal that dies or that we butcher, we are sending in samples, even though it's not mandatory yet.”
He had an elk butchered in August for meat and sent in the tissue samples of the brain stem and spinal cord to state officials for testing for CWD. “It came back negative,” Horken said.
“One thing they are working on is a live animal test for CWD,” Horken said. “But that's a year away. But then, we could test our animals, through a blood test - that will make things a lot simpler for us.”
Strong start
The elk business has been a good one. Like many exotic livestock ventures, the elk business saw early years with big prices for good breeding stock when numbers were small and demand was soaring.
Many bulls with good genes - siring calves that grew big sets of antlers - went for many tens of thousands of dollars. Braaten and Hanson heard of one bull in North Dakota whose owner sold half of its breeding prowess for a cool $500,000 a few years ago. Breeding cows routinely sold for $15,000 a head.
But this year, prices have plummeted to a third or less of recent highs, Braaten said.
Some are liquidating their herds.
“The guys who bought 50 elk a few years ago at $15,000 a head, they're done,” Braaten said.
The big money for breeding stock comes because the best bull elk grow huge antlers that are prized in Asia, where, for centuries, deer horn dust has been considered a medicine for most of what ails one.
A mature bull's antlers, cut off while the velvet still is on them early in the season, can weigh 40 pounds. It's a renewable resource that grows back every year on bull elk.
“In North Korea and Taiwan, they say it's for sex,” Braaten said. “But we see it around here mostly as something for arthritis.”
He and Hanson have found a manufacturer to render the antlers into powder-filled capsules, sold in a bottle as “Velvet Antlers.”
It really works for alleviating arthritis symptoms, Braaten said.
“I take it myself. My mother is on it. I wrecked my knee in football, and it gets so sore when the weather changes. I started taking this stuff, and it works. It's good stuff.”
But because it's mostly dried blood, the antler product's value has dipped as the Asian customers have become wary of CWD, Braaten said.
Korea, the biggest market, put a ban on American elk antler products being imported because of CWD, Braaten said.
“The antlers is the main business, and that has dropped considerably in value because of this, too,” Braaten said. “When we first got in, in 1995, we were selling horns for right around $100 a pound. Now it's $25, $30.”
In Asia, the retail price for antler dust is likely in the hundreds or thousands of dollars per pound, so there's still great potential to build market share, Braaten said.
The other saleable part of elk is the meat, of course.
Hanson and Braaten have steaks and jerky for sale. They have their elk butchered under state inspectors in Carrington.
“The steaks cook slowly because they are so lean,” Hanson said.
No large market has developed yet for the meat, as they had hoped, but the potential is there, he said.
They can ship it out by air and have it most places in America overnight.
“We have shipped some to California,” Braaten said.
The fact that no CWD has shown up in North Dakota after five years of testing ranch-raised elk may become a selling point, Braaten said.
“Anyone looking for elk meat who is suspicious of wild elk meat, here you know it's guaranteed safe meat,” Braaten said. “I think it will help some of these elk farmers.”
CWD first was detected in the early 1960s in wild elk and mule deer in Colorado, Braaten said. “It's been around for a while. I think it's Mother Nature's way of thinning out deer.”
“I think if CWD is ever found here in North Dakota, we will see it in wild deer, since (elk producers) have been doing sampling for so long,” Braaten said.
There is no evidence yet that CWD is transferred from elk to humans. But because it's related to what is called “mad cow disease” that has caused human deaths, there is concern about the disease.
“We elk growers are trying to control the disease,” Braaten said. “We are not bucking it one bit. North Dakota is probably the toughest state to raise elk. There are lots of laws.”
Reach Lee at (701) 780-1237, or (800) 477-6572, ext. 237; email slee @gfherald.com
Concerns about disease affect prices and demand for N.D. elk
By Stephen J. Lee, Gran Forks Herald Staff Writer
“Anyone looking for elk meat who is suspicious of wild elk meat, here (in North Dakota) you know it's guaranteed safe meat. I think it will help some of these elk farmers.”
Ronnie Braaten,Golden Valley Elk Ranch
PORTLAND, N.D. - The bulls are bugling here on the banks of the Goose River at the Golden Valley Elk Ranch.
It's breeding season, and ranch owners Corey Hanson and Ronnie Braaten hope the lucky bull chosen to be hanging with 20 cows will sire 20 calves to be born next spring.
Other bulls fenced away from the action can't stop letting everyone know of their displeasure by their wild, whistling bugles.
But the business of raising elk has become less lucrative in recent months, since concerns about chronic wasting disease have made the news after an infected elk died of the fatal brain disorder near Aitkin, Minn.
Braaten and Hanson have raised elk here on Hanson's farm west of Portland since 1995. They've run as many as 80 head and now have 50. They have invested lots of money into pens and equipment for handling the majestic animals.
Five years ago, they expanded their elk business to a site west of Edinburgh, N.D. There, in a coulee of the Park River, they built a large hunting lodge, fenced in 300
leased acres and sold hunting trips to Californians, New Yorkers and mostly Wisconsinites willing to pay several thousands of dollars to shoot a bull elk in the semi-wild.
“But we're going to end up selling that because of this issue,” Braaten said. “We backed out of all our hunts this year.”
Even though CWD has never been found in North Dakota, after years of testing for it, concerns about CWD means hunters may not be able to take home any trophy head. And although CWD hasn't been found, and each dead animal can be tested for CWD, news of the disease spreading elsewhere makes some skittish about eating elk meat, Braaten said.
Tuesday, Gov. John Hoeven issued an executive order outlawing the transport of elk and deer carcasses from certain areas where CWD has been found. The order mostly will affect North Dakota hunters who bag a deer or elk in Colorado, South Dakota or other states where CWD has been detected. The heads of the game and other parts of the spinal column where the CWD proteins are thought to reside cannot be brought in to North Dakota.
Since the one domestic elk near Aitkin was found with CWD earlier this year, lots of testing has not turned up any more incidents in Minnesota.
Mike Horken, who with two partners, owns a herd of 49 elk near East Grand Forks, said elk growers are being proactive to protect the industry and consumers.
“We are just doing what they are asking us to do,” he said. “Any animal that dies or that we butcher, we are sending in samples, even though it's not mandatory yet.”
He had an elk butchered in August for meat and sent in the tissue samples of the brain stem and spinal cord to state officials for testing for CWD. “It came back negative,” Horken said.
“One thing they are working on is a live animal test for CWD,” Horken said. “But that's a year away. But then, we could test our animals, through a blood test - that will make things a lot simpler for us.”
Strong start
The elk business has been a good one. Like many exotic livestock ventures, the elk business saw early years with big prices for good breeding stock when numbers were small and demand was soaring.
Many bulls with good genes - siring calves that grew big sets of antlers - went for many tens of thousands of dollars. Braaten and Hanson heard of one bull in North Dakota whose owner sold half of its breeding prowess for a cool $500,000 a few years ago. Breeding cows routinely sold for $15,000 a head.
But this year, prices have plummeted to a third or less of recent highs, Braaten said.
Some are liquidating their herds.
“The guys who bought 50 elk a few years ago at $15,000 a head, they're done,” Braaten said.
The big money for breeding stock comes because the best bull elk grow huge antlers that are prized in Asia, where, for centuries, deer horn dust has been considered a medicine for most of what ails one.
A mature bull's antlers, cut off while the velvet still is on them early in the season, can weigh 40 pounds. It's a renewable resource that grows back every year on bull elk.
“In North Korea and Taiwan, they say it's for sex,” Braaten said. “But we see it around here mostly as something for arthritis.”
He and Hanson have found a manufacturer to render the antlers into powder-filled capsules, sold in a bottle as “Velvet Antlers.”
It really works for alleviating arthritis symptoms, Braaten said.
“I take it myself. My mother is on it. I wrecked my knee in football, and it gets so sore when the weather changes. I started taking this stuff, and it works. It's good stuff.”
But because it's mostly dried blood, the antler product's value has dipped as the Asian customers have become wary of CWD, Braaten said.
Korea, the biggest market, put a ban on American elk antler products being imported because of CWD, Braaten said.
“The antlers is the main business, and that has dropped considerably in value because of this, too,” Braaten said. “When we first got in, in 1995, we were selling horns for right around $100 a pound. Now it's $25, $30.”
In Asia, the retail price for antler dust is likely in the hundreds or thousands of dollars per pound, so there's still great potential to build market share, Braaten said.
The other saleable part of elk is the meat, of course.
Hanson and Braaten have steaks and jerky for sale. They have their elk butchered under state inspectors in Carrington.
“The steaks cook slowly because they are so lean,” Hanson said.
No large market has developed yet for the meat, as they had hoped, but the potential is there, he said.
They can ship it out by air and have it most places in America overnight.
“We have shipped some to California,” Braaten said.
The fact that no CWD has shown up in North Dakota after five years of testing ranch-raised elk may become a selling point, Braaten said.
“Anyone looking for elk meat who is suspicious of wild elk meat, here you know it's guaranteed safe meat,” Braaten said. “I think it will help some of these elk farmers.”
CWD first was detected in the early 1960s in wild elk and mule deer in Colorado, Braaten said. “It's been around for a while. I think it's Mother Nature's way of thinning out deer.”
“I think if CWD is ever found here in North Dakota, we will see it in wild deer, since (elk producers) have been doing sampling for so long,” Braaten said.
There is no evidence yet that CWD is transferred from elk to humans. But because it's related to what is called “mad cow disease” that has caused human deaths, there is concern about the disease.
“We elk growers are trying to control the disease,” Braaten said. “We are not bucking it one bit. North Dakota is probably the toughest state to raise elk. There are lots of laws.”
Reach Lee at (701) 780-1237, or (800) 477-6572, ext. 237; email slee @gfherald.com
