We were lucky to catch up with Derek Weidhaas recently and have shared our conversation below.

Derek, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with a fun one – what’s something you believe that most people in your industry (or in general) disagree with?

Some bison farmers believe grain finished VS grass-finished is better, however, it isn’t. Grass-fed is way better, keeps our outputs down, and our animals healthier.

Derek, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I started working for the Canadian Armed Forces in 2000. I was given great advice a few weeks after I joined. I was told to start planning for my retirement right away since we never know what may happen while serving our Country.

At this point, I was starting a new career so I had no idea what I wanted to do for my eventual retirement from the military. I kept this piece of advice in the back of my mind throughout my career.

I was afforded many travel opportunities over the years but I couldn’t find a place that felt like home. One night, I was waiting outside of a large meat company in Alberta while transporting goods. I watched as many military members came out with large bags of meat. I was curious what they were buying so I asked those who came out while I waited.

A few people said they had purchased beef but I was surprised to learn most were purchasing bison. I’ve always had a fascination for bison and that day stuck with me. I fell in love with the Ottawa Valley when I was posted to Garrison Petawawa in 2006. I settled into a cozy position teaching the troops how to operate military vehicles and heavy equipment, from a snowmobile to a tractor-trailer. I finally found a place that felt like home.

I found an old 105-acre farm in the Whitewater Region of the Ottawa Valley. The property was being used by a landscaping company. The fields were overgrown and unused. The property needed a lot of work and the house wasn’t finished, but it had potential. Situated on a great road with lovely neighbors and surrounded by agricultural land, I fell in love with this property! Then it hit me, I could bring this farm back to its former glory and raise bison for my retirement.

Once I secured this farm, a big piece of my retirement plan fell into place. I was determined to be a bison farmer! Every free moment at home was spent tirelessly researching, planning, renovating, and updating the farm property while trying to improve the quality of the soil in the overgrown fields.

Tile drains were installed in one of three fields soon after obtaining the farm. I was determined to learn how to do everything myself. I purchased hay equipment from a local farmer who taught me how to use, maintain, and fix it. I started to put my research into practice on my days off. I was pleased when I started producing quality horse hay, which I sold for many years.
I built an 8-acre bison pen behind my bush for my eventual herd. It was a start! Life with the military became too busy to handle farm improvements and hay production. Luckily, I was able to keep up with producing hay for many years but the renovations and farm improvements were put on hold.
Once I was informed I was being posted to Kingston in 2017, I could no longer manage the hay field myself. I decided to rent the field to a local dairy farmer, Bardee Holsteins. I was very fortunate to have kept this farm while I was working at another military base.

Years of ruck marches and injuries while performing my duty had compounded into a long-term physical impairment. My retirement was now being processed sooner than anticipated. After 20+ years in the military, it was time to prepare for my new civilian life. Luckily, I was posted back to Garrison Petawawa in 2018. I was back home on the farm.

In the summer of 2019, I was able to secure my starter bison herd from Bison du Nord with the understanding of receiving my herd in November.

I chose Bison du Nord for their 100% pasture-raised and grass-fed bison, their friendly and helpful nature, and the fact that they are situated close to where I was born. They are true leaders in the bison industry and I couldn’t be happier to work with them!

Now that I knew I had a starter herd coming soon, this was the perfect time to rename and rebrand the farm. And so, White Pine Bison was born.

Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.

When we partnered with Bison Du Nord they had contacts with both the Provincial Abattoir and Meat processor.

We are using them until we get our own place built so we can have more control over our products.

We sell most of our meat products through social media. All of our vendors contacted us because we had bison and that was different from beef etc.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Rome wasn’t built in 7 days. I have to remind myself of this when I think we are not progressing fast enough.

However, we are progressing rapidly from where we started. Farming is a lifestyle, we are doing it because we wanted to be our own employer. We love animals, and we love seeing our hard work grow and come to fruition. Every day we are moving forward a little at a time no matter what.

We are positive because positive thoughts bring positive outcomes, and negative thoughts bring negative outcomes. It’s all about the law of attraction.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.whitepinebison.ca
• Instagram: www.Instagram.com/whitepinebison
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/whitepinebison
• Youtube: White Pine Bison Inc.
• Other: Tik Tok as well under white Pine Bison Inc.

Image Credits
Credits to Janice L Bell Creations and Notions and Notoriety Photography.