Snowflake anchors our rare blonde/cream/white phenotype breeding program at S&S Acres. Honest framing, no purity claims. He came to us as a yearling and has been documented since, running in a brucellosis-negative and tuberculosis-negative herd. Inquiry-only program.
SILV (also called PMEL17) is a melanin-related gene present in cattle. Modern genetic studies of North American bison — including the 2022 Derr Lab whole-genome work — show that essentially every bison herd on the continent carries some cattle DNA at trace levels, a legacy of late-1800s near-extinction recovery efforts and historical bison-cattle crossbreeding.
The white coat phenotype that appears occasionally in bison is most plausibly explained by SILV dilution introgressed from those ancestral cattle inputs, expressed when both copies of the gene align.
We could pretend our white bison are something more than they are. We don't. What we have is a documented, rare phenotype in a closed, disease-tested, photo-tracked herd.
That's the truth.
White coat color in North American bison comes from three different genetic causes. Most people lump them together. We don't — because the rarity story is honest only when you know which one you're talking about.
We don't claim Snowflake belongs to the rarer two categories. We claim what the science supports. A documented, rare blonde-to-white phenotype within a closed, disease-tested, photo-tracked herd — the most common of the three origins, run with integrity.
Snowflake runs with the two founding white females (4 years old, sourced out of state to start the program with Thor) and four white heifers born here at S&S Acres in 2025. Documented from birth.
These are the four white heifers born at S&S Acres in 2025 — daughters of Thor, photographed from day one. They run with Snowflake and the founding females in the rare-phenotype line.
Documented from birth. Photo-tracked through the seasons. The future of the white-bison program.
The 2026 blonde and cream calves, all sired by Snowflake and born here on our own ground. They're four to five months old this fall, and we have both bulls and heifers available.
Same honest framing as the rest of this page: a rare blonde-cream-white phenotype, blonde, not albino, and never sold as “pure.” Available to qualified buyers in any state. No public pricing — tell us whether you're after a bull or a heifer and we'll send current photos of what's available.
Thor was our original white bull — the genetic foundation of the rare-phenotype program at S&S Acres. He came to us from Dr. King's ranch in North Carolina and sired the white females now in the herd.
The king who was never dethroned. Everything around him stood smaller and weaker, and every one of them knew it — the giant in the background who never had to lift his head to prove it.
Thor anchored the program before passing it forward to Snowflake. He was sold privately in 2025.
We plan to pull hair samples from a few of the white bison at our winter run and send them to the Derr Lab to characterize the maternal lineage of the rare-phenotype line. Nothing has been sent yet. Results go on this page when they’re back.
Snowflake program is inquiry-only — no public pricing. Fill out the form below and we'll get back to you with pricing, availability, and lead times. Routes to orders@ssacresbison.com.