Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 24, 1993 TAG: 9310240090
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: D1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PAINT BANK LENGTH: Medium
There were seminars on raising buffalo, buffalo burgers for lunch, frozen buffalo semen for sale.
And there were buffaloes for sale - 65 purebred animals from Virginia's largest buffalo herd.
Hundreds of people came Saturday to Hollow Hill Farm in this remote and mountainous corner of Craig County to see and celebrate the animals.
For many, it was a nostalgic return to an earlier time when buffaloes roamed the West and farming was a way of life.
The festival included Native American dancing and crafts, black-powder shooting and tomahawk and knife throwing.
There also was an old-time band competition with folk, fiddle and mountain music.
For others, the festival was mainly business, because they came to buy buffalo calves, heifers, cows and bulls to start or expand their herds.
Nearly 75 buyers came from as far away as Minnesota, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Tennessee to bid on animals in the herd of John Mulheren, Hollow Hill Farm's owner.
Hundreds of spectators, sitting on bales of hay around the auction ring, seemed enthralled by the auctioneers as they barked out the price , urging the bidders to go higher:
"$1,100-1,125-1,125-1,150-1,150-1,175-1,170- - sold - to bidder number 25."
And the buffalo heifer would be run out of the ring, and another would be brought in. And the chant would begin again:
- sold to the bidder over there."
While many buyers came from out of state to bid on buffaloes for breeding, some came from closer and weren't sure of their plans for the animals.
Pat Charlton, who is in the real estate business in Covington, bought two yearlings for $1,375 each.
"I don't know what I'll do with them," he said.
Charlton has access to farmland where he could pasture the buffaloes. "I might kill them and eat them," he said.
The market for buffalo meat is growing. The meat's low cholesterol and taste are helping it become more popular.
Dozens of buyers and spectators stood in a long line Saturday to get $3 buffalo burgers, provided by the Paint Bank Volunteer Fire Department. They said the burgers were worth the wait.
Saturday was the second annual sale at Hollow Hill Farm, and the crowd was much larger this year than last, said Luann Sverduck, the farm manager's wife.
"Last year, we just had the auction sale. This is the first time we've had the festival, and it has just exploded in interest," Sverduck said.
The farm sells only its top-quality buffaloes at the auction. To help the buyers, the farm identifies the buffaloes by genetic background.
The buffalo farm and auction have become something of a status symbol. Hollow Hill Farm shirts and caps were on sale.
Baseball caps and Western hats were the headgear for the day.
Old and young men alike - wearing denim shirts, blue jeans and cowboy boots - leaned against the fences and squinted in the bright sunlight as they watched the auction. Some chewed tobacco.
At times, the auction looked like a tourist attraction, with dozens of people carrying cameras and video recorders.
Some came just to look and listen. And they were impressed.
"I've been to a lot of cattle auctions, but I have never seen anything like this," said Doug Arrington, who lives near Covington.
Arrington used to be in the cattle business, but he got out because he no longer could make much money in it. Now he works for Gala Industries, but he's still interested in cattle.
From what he hears, Arrington said raising buffaloes is a growing business.
"That may be the way to make some money," he said wistfully.
by CNB