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Caught up in the economic slowdown presently hurting all Americans, bison rancher Rex Moore saw a steep reduction in business in recent weeks. Rock River Ranches supplies bison meat cut into burgers, steaks, and roasts to buyers across the entire state.

However, the majority of those buyers consist of restaurants. Presently, restaurants remain closed in an effort to cut down on large gatherings. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommended certain measures to stem the spread of covid-19, the lower respiratory disease that results from the novel coronavirus.

Among those measures is social distancing.

In practice, people refrain from going out, dining at restaurants, and spending unnecessary hours in public. Shown to slow the spread of the outbreak in other countries, governors in the United States imposed orders to replicate the tactic here.

However, the consequence comes in the form of economic slowdown. As everyone shelters in place, less money gets spent. Therefore, businesses begin to struggle, losing business to the coronavirus.

Bison Rancher Shares Message

The dropoff in business for Rock River Ranches amounted to its majority. Moore says he lost 80 percent of the restaurants he sells to. To illustrate, he said he ordinarily sells about 45 orders each week. Last week, he sold 5 small orders.

“I was distraught and thought I could lose my business and have to sell the herd,” he said.

But then Moore reached out. He posted a video on social media explaining his situation to the public.

Suddenly, his message was being shared thousands of times. Moore began fielding requests for meat. He received an estimated 2,000 orders since Monday.

He says in one day, he took enough orders to account for 3 months of business. Since, he took the video down because of the sheer volume of orders.

To other struggling ranchers, he says reach out. “All of these Colorado people who know we’re in trouble, and they want to help you.”