LJWorld.com

Hutchinson — Old No. 12, a 1,000-pound buffalo, made his way around the inner edge of a sale ring on a recent Wednesday. He seemed to stare out into the crowd of onlookers in wonderment — maybe pondering who the lucky guy would be who’d get to haul him home.

No. 12 was among 53 buffalo sold Wednesday morning at the annual buffalo auction at Maxwell Wildlife Refuge in McPherson County.

Everything from 6-month-old calves to 2-year-old bulls was sold at the 30th annual auction, put on by the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks. The department maintains several small herds of buffalo across the state.

As these herds grow, the agency sells its surplus animals.

Some purchased an animal for the first time — mainly as meat for the freezer. But most of the buffalo were sold to roughly six to eight Kansas bidders who supply the nation with buffalo meat.

E.J. Siefker, who started raising buffalo nearly 40 years ago merely because “I liked the looks of them,” said these days demand for buffalo meat has grown because of health advantages over other proteins.

It’s all that is in his freezer, he added.

“We raise a couple thousand head of cattle,” he said of his Allen County operation near Moran. “But with all the cattle we raise, all that we eat is buffalo.”

He sat with his wife, Barb, on a set of bleachers placing bids.

Siefker said he’d take home 15 animals, if he could get them, to keep up with his customer needs.

Prices reflected a meat market, said refuge manager Cliff Peterson. In general, prices were up from a year ago.

“There wasn’t much action for breeding animals,” he said, noting the lower prices for cows. “They wanted animals that could go straight to the locker.”

The refuge raised $27,075 in all, or about $511 a head. Last year, 33 bulls sold for an average $495 a head.

The stands were full, but only 18 bidders purchased animals this day, he said.

Most were observers. Ralph and Marsha Crockett, of Lyons, stopped by on their way to Abilene to see the excitement.

“I’ve always liked watching the buffalo,” Ralph Crockett said, adding that he wouldn’t be taking one home.

“Unless we could fit it in the trunk,” he said with a laugh — his wife adding that they did have a cooler.

And as for old No. 12? Well, he went home to the prairie grass around Moundridge. Dick Gehring purchased him for $1,125.

Gehring, a Newton firefighter, has 200 buffalo and sells meat to customers across the nation. That’s where No. 12 will eventually end up, he said, adding that the animal should have some fairly tasty cuts of meat for some happy eater.