Bison Farming in New England

If you’re looking for a little bit of prairie among the rolling hills of western Massachusetts, you can at least pretend a bit at the Long Hollow Bison Farm, where the buffalo roam, if not the deer and the antelope play.

This unusual farm located on Route 9 in Hadley turned its operation over to the raising of bison in 1997 by brothers Fred and Paul Ciaglo, who wanted to keep the family farm thriving in a “pioneering” market and to express their interest in Native American culture.

There are approximately 500,000 head of bison in North America today, according to the National Bison Association, half of which are in the US. (Happily, up from only 1,000 at the turn of the 20th century before efforts to save the species.) About 20,000 of the bison are on public lands. The rest are privately owned. Here in Hadley, there are about 60 of them.

The Long Hollow Bison Farm represents a new trend in agriculture, geared toward specialty items and geared especially towards tourists. The bison require little care, and besides their obvious novelty to tourists, can be harvested for their lean meat (bison has less fat even than chicken).

The farm features a grill where you can sample the product, a gift shop, provides hayrides and space for music concerts. If you’re moseying down Route 9 in Hadley, Mass., have a look at the bison, pardner.