Nowadays, we take great care of survivors and his herd has become very popular with those who are curious to better know and who want to understand this outstanding animal. This is what happened to a couple in their thirties from St-Prosper, Daniel Gagnon and Sylvie St-Arneault. The owners of the Bisonnière Farm are autodidact. They actually do not have a farming past. He worked on construction sights and she was a nurse at a local hospital.

While watching a television report on bison breeding, the idea inspired them. It was love at first sight for both of them. Daniel and Sylvie will visit ten bison breeding farms to get a better idea. Newly moved to St-Prosper, they started looking for a farm to make their dream, which was to be a pastime, come true. After a year of research, they found the perfect place; on December 21, 1990 they became the proud owners of a farm. A year later, three female bison became their first boarders. Meanwhile, more females and one male are bought and in 1993 the idea of living off the profits of breeding appears.

More and more, the curious came to the outskirts of the farm to try and get a glimpse of the bison in the fields. It is then that Daniel and Sylvie got the idea, so people could get closer, in a safe way, to the bison by getting on an old modified tractor trailer.

Always wanting to satisfy the visitors’ curiosity, who wanted to learn more on bison meat, a stable was converted into a dining-room so the customers could taste the bison meat. The originality of the farm is based on its’ diversity. Upon entering the farm, you can buy souvenirs in effigy of the bison like: necklaces, decorative objects, etch.

In 1994, a kitchen-butcher’s shop was arranged so the owners could prepare meals, cut meat and also transform it. While selling meat to the local restaurants, the Bisonnière also sells high quality meat to everyday customers. Since 1995, more than 6000 visitors per year come and tour the farm and also have the chance to eat an excellent meal, prepared and served by the owners. The Bisonnière’s clients are mostly Europeans from France, Germany, Switzerland, and Belgium and more recently from Spain and Italy come weekly to discover the bison.

Having both left their respective jobs, the agro tourism of their farm permitted them to make their dream of living off agriculture come true.

In February 2006, a tragic incident occurred. A fire destroyed part of the farm. The cause of the fire was accidental and started because of a tractor block heater. The fire took the Gagnon family’s livelihood, taking with no regret the barn in which the newly renovated dining-room was, the butcher’s shop, the farm tools and even the coral that was used to capture the bison.

The herd was safe. For a certain period of time, Sylvie, Daniel and their four children asked themselves if they would rebuild, because the new installations were not yet insured. It was when they saw their town’s residents come and volunteer their help and donate wood, they had the courage to rebuild.

With neighbourly help and town solidarity, better days came back to the farm, which is actually one of St-Prosper’s jewels. Two of the four children want to take over the farm when the time comes.

You will quickly understand the success they have, by seeing the passion that animates the family. The attachment to the Bisonnière is deep and is irreversible because they have simply fallen in love with this splendid animal.