Adair couple Raising Bison, Opening Shop To market Meat

At first glance, one might think that buffalo meat, a women’s fitness center, a Christian gift shop, tanning beds and Smoothies (a milkshake-type concoction made with real fruit) wouldn’t have much in common.
But, when Jim and Carol Leib open Buffalo Hills in the building that already houses Curves on Greensburg Street later this month, all the above-mentioned products will be offered under one roof.
The Leibs said that they didn’t start out to become involved in such a wide variety, it’s just the way things turned out. Jim Leib’s original intentions was for a shop to market the processed buffalo meat that eventually will all be produced on their Buffalo Hills Farm located off Weed-Sparksville Road in western Adair County.
“I began looking for retail space to market the buffalo meat, plus Carol wanted to open a Christian gift shop,” Jim explained. “While looking around, we found out the Curves franchise was for sale, along with the building, and we ended up buying them. We then decided to offer Smoothies, so we’ve got everything together.”
The female fitness center, Curves, and the tanning  beds are self-explanatory. The Christian gift shop will offer a wide variety of merchandise, including t-shirts, books, instructional videos, etc. And the fruit-based Smoothies, while new to Columbia, are familiar to many people.
However, it’s the buffalo ranch, and the buffalo meat that will be marketed that are the unusual parts of the story. It could be entitled “How did a retired realtor from Florida wind up in Adair County raising buffalo?”
“Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I’d wind up on a Kentucky farm raising buffalo,” Jim Leib said. “It just ended up being God’s plan for us.”
While Carol Leib has Kentucky roots – she was born in Pikeville and grew up in Murray – Jim Leib said that he grew up as a ‘Navy brat’ and lived all over the   country before settling in Florida, where he spent 25 years as a Century 21 real estate agent.
“I was enjoying life in Florida, working my real estate business,” he explained. “We had some friends in Florida that owned a farm here, and they asked us to come up and ‘farm sit’ for them.
“I really didn’t want to come to Kentucky for the first vacation I’d had in three years and spend  my time on a farm,” he continued. “But, we came, and I fell in love with the area.”
Not too long after their trip to Adair County, in  2001, the friends called and told the Leibs that a farm across the road from them was for sale, and Jim said when he found out the asking price, he immediately came up and bought it.
“I came up and bought the farm without even telling Carol, who was on a mission trip to Israel at the time,” he said. “I called and told her I had bought it, and she later told me that she’d had a dream a year ago that we’d buy a farm here.”
While they now owned a farm in Adair County, the Leibs continued their normal, hectic life in Florida for the next year or so, until an event happened that changed Jim’s life – he suffered a heart attack.
“Before my heart attack, I’d always treat myself to a big steak every Friday night as a reward for working 70 to 80 hours that week,” he said. “I never thought anything about it, until I found out that they were helping to clog my arteries.
“So, I began researching, trying to find foods that were better for me, and I found out that buffalo meat was lower in fat (2.8 grams per ounce) than beef, chicken or salmon,” he continued. “I ordered some and after I ate it, I said ‘This is it!’”
Jim said that at that time, he still planned to remain in Florida in the real estate business, with his only connection to buffalo being ordering it and eating it. However, things changed.
 “I finally got tired of dodging hurricanes and dealing with tourists,” he said. “So I told Carol lets move to Kentucky and raise buffalo, and she said ‘let’s go.’”
So, the Leibs began to make their transition from ocean front dwellers in Florida to farmers in the hills and hollows of Adair County, Kentucky.
They began building a home, and Carol moved here for good in mid-2004. Jim commuted back and forth for several months before making the permanent move in early 2005.
The Leibs purchased beef cattle for their 120-acre farm (plus some horses), and began fencing and preparing the farm to hold buffalo.
“Two years ago, we bought 14 bred buffalo heifers and a three-year-old bull, and Buffalo Hills Ranch finally had buffalo on it,” Jim noted.
In the time since, the herd has grown to 22 head, Jim said by this fall, their herd will be able to provide all the buffalo meat for their retail sales. (Currently the buffalo meat they sell comes from Kentucky Bison in Louisville, which is the parent herd to the Leibs’ buffalo.)
Since moving to Kentucky, Jim Leib said that he’s learned a whole lot about buffalo, and a lot about farming in general. And, while he reiterated that he’d never thought he’d be doing what he is now, he said he’s glad things turned out the way they did.
“We went from having a _ acre with a fenced in back yard and two dogs to 120 acres with way too many animals – cows, horses, dogs and buffalo,” he said with a smile. “But, I wouldn’t have it any other way. All things happen for a reason.”

 

Photo:FEEDING TIME. Jim Leib put buckets of feed into troughs for his herd of 22 buffalo on their farm on Weed-Sparksville Road. Just like their cattle counterparts, the buffalo quickly answered the call of the feed. (Photos by Paul B. Hayes)