Disease no damper at bison sale

? Duane Panek was concerned recent media coverage of a disease that killed more than 40 buffalo at the state-owned Maxwell Wildlife Refuge near Wichita might affect how much his nine animals would fetch at a Salina auction.

But halfway through Saturday’s sale at Farmers and Ranchers Livestock Commission, Panek’s concerns were alleviated.

“I don’t think it’s made much of a difference,” Panek, of Cunningham, said. “I was a little concerned about it, but the people who know what’s going on didn’t seem to be, so I feel better.”

More than 400 bison ended up being sold at the Kansas Buffalo Association’s sale.

Dick Gehring, sale chairman for the Kansas Buffalo Association, said most calves went for between $400 and $500 and eight bulls sold for between 95 cents and $1.20 a pound.

“It went very well today. Calf prices were strong. We saw some good bull prices, too,” he said.

He and other association members had been worried a few days ago.

“We spent a lot of time making phone calls and putting fact sheets together to try to correct some of the misinformation,” Gehring said.

The disease, mycoplasma bovis, causes pneumonia, mastitis and arthritis in buffalo. It claimed at least 47 head at the state-owned Maxwell Wildlife Refuge.

But Gehring said the disease is not widespread and does not pose a risk to humans.

“A lot of us are at harvest time, so to have misinformation like that is a concern,” Gehring said. “We’ve made sure people understand the disease isn’t new. It’s not an outbreak that’s going to have an effect on the industry.”

Concerns about mycoplasma bovis at the Maxwell refuge led to the cancellation of the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks’ annual sale, a mid-November tradition for nearly 30 years.