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Our Story
Strohschein Farms is located near Wetaskiwin, on the original homestead that Great-Grandpa Strohschein settled in the early 1910's. The farm was originally mixed with all critters imaginable- dairy & beef cows, horses, turkeys, pigs, chickens, etc. Over 100 years have passed and many of the original buildings are still standing and in use today! Over the years we have evolved to fewer species being kept as a livelihood but still have a few chickens, rabbits, turkeys and pigs for our own family's use.
Four generations have called this land "Home" and we are proud to continue the legacy with our children.
Bison are an easy fit for our family because of their hardiness and longevity. Our family values the land that sustains us and bison's natural grazing patterns compliment our grassland management practices. We have been raising bison for almost 30 years and are excited to share it with you!
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Bison & The Land
Forty percent of North America's natural landscape is native grasslands. These grasses act as carbon traps which remove CO2 from the air and return it to the soil through the root systems.
Bison and Grasslands have a symbiotic relationship.
Grasses produce more growth each year than will naturally decompose so without large land mammals to graze it, that grass will eventually choke itself out and prevent healthy soil conservation. Bison are herd animals that move quickly across an area. Grasslands thrive under conditions of short periods of severe grazing, hoof action, and manuring, followed by periods of rest and recovery. As the bison graze, their hooves stir the soil, helping to bury seeds and to create small pockets in the earth to capture precious moisture. This relationship helps to foster a healthy prairie ecosystem.
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Because bison are undomesticated, they continue to interact with the environment as nature intended. Today’s bison still graze in herds, moving across the land, and only briefly stopping by the watering holes, reducing the damaging impact of hooves along riparian areas. Domesticated species, meanwhile, have long lost much of that natural behavior, and will commonly stand and graze in one spot, or lounge around stream beds and ponds on hot days.
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Land managers of other livestock species have adapted practices—such as rotational grazing—to try an imitate the natural interaction of bison with the soil. Those practices are beneficial, but will never completely replicate the natural patterns of bison.
