Cherokee Bison Farms

06/10/2026

Happy Hump Day! Started out with a doozie of a thunderstorm approx 7 AM. That started with 60+ mph winds and then rain, rain, pummeling rain. Apparently about 4500 folks surrounding us lost power but we were fortunate enough to keep the lights on this time. So much thunder & lightening …. One huge bolt in particular raised both Ranger and I right up (he is soooo afraid of storms, poor dog) and I was positive either the school, our neighbors or perhaps our silo had to have been hit. But nope … all’s ok.
As always after storms like this, Ranger & I fed the bison mineral & filled the calves’ creep and then rode the perimeter fence looking for damage. Actually we were also looking for the herd … couldn’t find them. Really annoys me when they do this. Don’t they know I need to lay eyes on them for the anxiety level to go down??? But then there they were, moseying out from the woods without a care in the world. And what else do we see??? A brand new calf. Not sure if it was born just before, during or just after the storm, but all seems well with mama and little one. Calf count stands at 16, folks. Only 4 or 5 more to go.
To answer another grandchild’s question: back when our herd had 65-75 mama cows, we did not try to keep count of calves. It was a real zoo out there and counting was pointless and impossible! But what a sea of cuteness!!!

One shot of the buffs finally strolling out of the woods this morning. The other is Ranger, all worn out from the morning adventures, apparently thinking I brought those flowers inside just for his pleasure. 😉

Fingers crossed that Round 2 this afternoon mostly goes around us … really don’t need 2-inch hail and any more rain. No tornados either.
Happy summer ….. 🥴

06/05/2026

Here’s a random thought for today …. Yesterday was National Cheese Appreciation Day and since we’re die-hard Wisconsinites and LOVE all things cheese, I have local history to share. Did you know that Colby Cheese was invented right here in our own Colby, WI in 1885? I’m fortunate to be a shirt-tail relative of the Steinwand family through my paternal grandfather side.
Growing up, (and I do not exaggerate when I say this) there was literally a family-size cheese factory every second mile or so, each one with their own special touch and variation on cheese. That’s also testament to the large number of true “family” dairy farms in the area who kept the cheese factories full and busy. But the process for making the actual Colby Cheese, mild, soft and terrific go-with-everything flavor, stayed the same. I won’t go into the details on the process, but it’s unique to any other cheese variety. It’s only in recent years that the unimaginable happened and our state legislature allowed cheese makers to process a mild cheddar and label it as Colby after they claimed it’s so similar in properties and flavor. (I disagree, but that's a topic for another day) So if staying true to your cheese varieties is important to you, talk to the cheesemaker and make sure they are making their Colby Cheese using the actual Colby methods and not short-changing you by selling a variety of sneakily-labeled cheddar! Gah!

With that said, we love an aged cheddar, pepper jack and mozzarella as much as the next guy, maybe more, but keep your labels honest!

And just none of this cheese-inspired information has anything at all to do with Bison … except that cheese and bison pair perfectly! If you’re planning on Bison burgers with cheese for dinner… make mine Colby, please! If you happen to have a bag of fresh curds on hand, fire up your grill for curd-burgers tonight! Form your burger patty around 4 or 5 curds, completely enveloping the curds with meat, then grill. When the cheese starts to ooze out the side of the burger, they’re ready for the bun and whatever other fixings you’ve gathered.

In one of the pics below you’ll see an old cheese vat from the former cheese factory right here on our corner. (Closed in the 70s) Leroy was blessed with many a warm, fresh curd from these vats as a kid and the memories are sweet. When the plant closed they gave our family the vats … I guess because farmers are just resilient that way and can put almost anything to a new useful life! Now the vat serves as a raised garden, and soon to add the second one because it works so well. Who’d have thought?!?!?

05/28/2026

Whew …. You’ve heard me grumbling about the cold weather throughout May …. But summer is suddenly here in full force, just like that. Upper 80s, pop-up thundershowers and more dandelion fluff than should be allowed. Bring it on!
Pastures are flourishing and the herd is happy. Had another calf born yesterday (Wednesday). I thought for sure this one was going to arrive over the weekend but she’s here now. You don’t realize how much the calves grow in a little over a month until a newbie drops …. She looks SO tiny! Calf count is at an even dozen. 🦬✅

Have to take a moment to thank everyone for the fantastic market again last Saturday. We felt the love! 😍 Your support is very much appreciated. Was a beautiful day in Madison and great way to end the early season. We will return in fall … meat from our next scheduled harvest should be ready the first week of October or thereabouts. There’s always a slight chance of us making it down for a random summer Saturday market but there’s so many variables with that, that I hesitate to predict too solidly. It’s always in the back of our minds!

Happy, safe and relaxing summer vibes coming your way. “Peace out, friends”. There’s always a seat at our campfire if you’re passing through ….

05/21/2026

Reminder! Cherokee Bison Farms will be at the Dane County Farmers’ Market this Saturday, May 23. This ends the market season for us and we return in fall.

Preorders taken for fast market pickup until noon Friday.

Stock up on some fabulous bison summer grillers … burgers, top sirloin, rib eye and new york strip steaks, two gorgeous brisket left along with hump roasts and at this moment, one hanger steak still available. Your imagination is the only limit!

I’ve sadly been neglecting our calf count followers …. 11 bison calves born so far. This morning I watched a very round, uncomfortable-looking cow. She gave me a very long look with those big brown eyes that said very clearly she was ready to get this over with. I’m betting we have an even dozen before the weekend’s over.

Happy Memorial Weekend to you all!

05/19/2026

Tuesday morning! And one more chilly, rainy one to boot. Just can't quite seem to make that switch into warmer weather. I know ... be careful what I wish for as one day soon we may be melting into our seats! That's why we love Wisconsin, though. :)

Madison area friends, we're coming down ....we're getting ready for the Dane County Farmers' Market market this coming Saturday. This is probably our last market until fall and we've already been busy filling orders. Happy to add yours to the list. You can see our available products/price list here: www.cherokeebisonfarms.com Please have your order in before noon Friday.

Go ahead and grab a few packages of bison burger patties for grilling at those summer gatherings .... Father's Day and 4th of July celebrations, for sure! (Again, pre-order if you're counting on picking some up. Just a quick message, text or email and your order is set aside with your name on.... saves time on both ends and ensures availability) Snack sticks and jerky are easy travelers for camping and road trips. Homemade snack bags with cut up sausage or sticks, cheese cubes, craisins, dried fruit ......

Our fabulous wood-fired, open pan maple syrup will also be available at market, and the last of our Special Dark. Have you discovered all the things that maple syrup enhances? Bean bakes, drizzled over ham before baking or frying, there's a fabulous maple pumpkin pie recipe, homemade granola, over ice cream with strawberries & chopped pecans is the BEST EVER dessert. Tempted yet????

Located in Central Wisconsin at Cherokee, just four miles east of Colby, home of the world famous Colby Cheese, you will find our 440-acre bison farm. What began as an alternative to dairy farming is...

05/13/2026

One of the grandkids asked me recently why I don't have pictures of when we ran 300+ head of bison. (we have roughly 60 head now) "That must've been so cool!" It was. It really was. I guess there's a couple of factors for this. First of all, different times .... every little thing we did wasn't documented because we were too busy working. Our time was spent raising the bison, feeding and tending fencelines, all the crop work, harvesting and learning to market, enjoying watching our 3 kiddos grow, caring for almost 300 head of Holstein/Brown Swiss beef calves/youngstock, we still milked cows after the fire in a rented barn for several years and were just busy managing and living life. No time for taking pictures. It was early 2000s, I believe, when we had our first cell phones. And they were flip phones (no pic-taking with those!) Earlier, we did have a bag phone in the truck for those wee hours of the morning market runs (lordy, remember those phones?.... that was so cool.) :) We simply didn't have the cell phone in our back pocket 24/7 like we do now. So in the 80s when the bison first came to live here at Cherokee, keeping a Kodak 110 in our work pants just wasn't gonna happen. Hindsight being what it is, I do wish picture-taking had been higher on the priority list because yes, it WAS cool. And I can only share that time now with stories.

Work schedules have dictated we will NOT make it down to the DCFM this Saturday. The plan is to return, quite probably for our final market until October, on SATURDAY, MAY 23, Memorial weekend. I have several pre-orders ready for delivery that day and am happy to add yours to the list. You can place an order now and it will be filled right away & set aside for you. We often times sell out of one product or another early on, so having a pre-order ensures you get what you're anticipating (as long as we have it on hand in the first place, of course). We aren't scheduled to harvest again until September so what we have on hand right now is pretty much it until then.

We've had the true pleasure of several of our DCFM/Madison area folks popping in at the farm for meat when they're in the area. We no longer keep regular hours so if you're traveling our beautiful state this summer and find yourself in the western Marathon County region, give us a bit of a heads-up and we'll do our best to work out a farm pickup for you. Call, text, email or message us with your guesstimated timeline & we'll go from there.

Check out our current product/price list here: www.cherokeebisonfarms.com

I do my best to keep it updated as sales happen here.

Time to throw another log on the fire. It has been SO CHILLY up here in Marathon County. We're all ready for warmer temps and to get those gardens going!

05/06/2026

May 5th! Cinco de Mayo and our youngest grandson’s 12th birthday. Where does the time go?

Bison calf count is at 7 healthy little fuzzpots accounted for, and I’m like 90% certain #8 was born this afternoon in the privacy of the old, secluded gravel pit area in the wooded part of the pasture. Tomorrow will tell us if I’m right.

I think Spring needs to try a little harder & knock this incessant chill out of the air! I think it was warmer in early March! Despite the chill, hoards of flowers in the maple woods are blooming. Little forget-me-nots and violets….. trillions are close. I’m including a pic of an interesting yellow flower that none of us ever remember seeing here before …. Anyone know what this is?

Thank you all for a fabulous market last Saturday. Looking forward to the next trip down. Will post here when we know for sure which Saturday (not May 9th, though) … the meat from our most recent harvest is ready to pick up & bring home for pricing & inventory. We will be well stocked for our last market (or maybe two…) Then we return in fall.

04/27/2026

Long overdue, but lots of good news from the farm. To answer the question I get almost every day: 5 new bison calves and counting ... and the herd's out on pasture. A full two weeks earlier than other years and they were so totally ready. :)

First off, the plan is to head down to Madison for the Dane Co Dane County Farmers' Market on the Square this coming Saturday, May 2. This market opens at 6:30 AM and while vendors must be off the Square by 2:00 PM, obligations are calling for us to be packed up and off by NOON. Please plan accordingly!

With that said, we have a good selection of bison products on hand right now. Placing a pre-order is always a good idea for those items your tastebuds are set on. Have pre-orders to us before noon on Friday. You can see our entire product/price list here: www.cherokeebisonfarms.com or drop us a message, email, text or call with questions or to place a pre-order for pickup. On that list you'll find bison tenderloin (limited, as always); stew cubes; other great grilling steaks and (3) bison hanger steaks on hand at the moment; burger (both 1 # bulk and patties); some absolutely gorgeous top round and/or hump roasts; smokable, delectable bison brisket .... and a fresh stash of our bison snack sticks, jerky, original summer sausage and braunschweiger brought home just in time for our outdoor market debut.

Not to be left out, it was a very good maple season here at our little sugarbush. We completely finished tear-down and clean up this past weekend, everything stored and ready for next year. We've taken several gallons & bottled for market, but the rest is still settling out. We will then decant the rest off the top and the settlings are left for adding to the bison mineral ..... oooooh, they really love that stuff. The best news in THREE YEARS is that the weather and trees cooperated fully and we were blessed with a nice batch of our elusive Special Dark maple syrup. If you're not familiar with the Special Dark, it's the very end-of-season sap that creates a syrup which is darker, thicker and much more "maply", less sweet than our traditional pancake-style. It's simply the bees' knees when it comes to rich flavor ..... brings out the best in bakery, granola, glazing hams, that special kick to your baked bean recipe ..... and more. There's less liquid needed to get that amazing maple flavor in everything you create, including the best maple nut ice cream you've ever tried. $25/quart and limited supply. The whole run period for the dark syrup lasted roughly 3 days, if that helps put it in perspective. The season for regular syrup is roughly 6 weeks. Risking a bit of braggadocio here ..... our Special Dark syrup is what is used in Hook's Cheese Maple Jack cheese variety. Check THAT out!
Feel free to pre-order either of our syrups as well ...

Looking forward to Saturday market ..... please remember if you have a pre-order to pick up, we're gone by noon on Saturday this week! (and have those pre-orders to us before Friday noon - thank you!)

04/01/2026

No fooling! April 1st brought our first bison calf of the year. Right on schedule. Little heifer, as far as we can tell at the moment. Mama’s still a bit protective but that’s as it should be. Another month before we can let them out on the big pastures for the summer. It’s always fun to see the calves’ reactions when the herd is let out on green grass … a first of many first-time experiences and it couldn’t be any sweeter to watch. Some are reluctant to even step on it, some immediately roll around and a few mimic mama & start nibbling. They ALL run around, kicking up their heels and stretching out their legs after a winter in lock up in the yards. We can all relate, right?

Now I’m just praying no one else calves during this forecasted ice storm over the next 24+ hours. Say a little prayer, please. Nobody needs freezing rain, sleet or snow at this point & we’re smack dab in the middle of the mess. I read the perfect analogy regarding weather when someone asked what the difference is between freezing rain and sleet… Isn’t it the same thing? Apparently not … the meteorologist said to think of freezing rain as a glazed donut, (covering everything in a layer of ice) while sleet is a donut with sprinkles. 👍🏼🤣. I can grasp that!
Just have to have the right words.

Will post when we know when we’ll be down to Madison for the DCFM. In the meantime, Easter Blessings to all our friends & customers, neighbors and family! Hope your holiday is full of family and fun times! We will still be cooking maple syrup ….. shaping up to be a pretty decent season.

Later!

03/05/2026

Hello, on this damp & dreary Thursday morning .... fog is starting to lift. At 5:00 this morning I couldn't see anything beyond our immediate yard. All the neighboring farm yard lights had disappeared, even the exceptionally bright school yard light across the road. One of those cool-yet-eerie sort of moments. ....
Cherokee Bison Farms will not be at the DCFM in Madison for the next TWO Saturdays for certain (March 7 and 14) .... and quite possibly not at all again until we're back out on the Square, as maple season will have kicked into high gear by that time. We will attend the market on the Square 3 times between opening Saturday (April 11), our last market attendance being Memorial Weekend Saturday. We then return in October.

Enjoy the milder spring temps (although I suspect from past experience, we might see a blast of winter yet again!) ... and don't forget to set your clocks ahead an hour this weekend. Ugh.