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Mob grazing…the soil report
It was a year ago that we began our experiment with mob grazing at Thistle Hill. And here, agricultural land consultants Charlie Thornton (foreground) and Tim Woodward of Tellus Consulting help us consider the results. Tellus did a complete mineral analysis of seven of our pastures using Brookfield Labs in Ohio. We tested three of our mob grazing pastures against others that were used in the usual way. Mob grazing puts more pounds of beef on a very limited area and moves the animals off quickly to the next small area. The belief is that this “pressure” will result in more fertile soil, more organic matter because of the trampling effect,…
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Giving docility a good name….
As we’ve noted before, visitors to Thistle Hill almost always comment on two things about our cows: first, how healthy they look (and are), and then how well-behaved. Devon are naturally docile but our care does seem to make Thistle Hill cows and bulls especially easy to handle. It’s an advantage in many ways, including the tenderness and taste of the meat. It also helps when show animals to a potential buyer that you can walk right into the center of the herd…no one runs to a far corner of the pasture. But the big advantage, particularly when you reach our delicate age, is the ability to work with them without…
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Morning chores…
It’s the twice-a-day routine. Pokey sets out with Wooz to feed the pigs and check on the heifers. (They share a pasture) (I mean the pigs and heifers; not Wooz and Pokey.) We’ve not had a dog, certainly not a puppy, who is content simply trotting alongside, watching what needs to be done. She won’t be distracted by our older dog racing off to investigate something or even a nearby cat or squirrel. Yesterday we strung a lot of electric wire to begin mob grazing. There was a cold wind, and a lot of walking for a little dog, but she gamely trotted along for about an hour. And that…
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Cashtiller does it again….
…was the heading on the email we received recently from an English friend, Gavin Hunter. Once again his magnificent cow Cashtiller has sired a bull that won top price at the national Devon show. That’s three straight bull calves and Gavin, throwing caution to the wind, had actually named this bull Hat Trick. Sports fans know that three-in-a-row is called a “hat trick. We actually saw Hat Trick two years ago as a youngster, still at Cashtiller’s side, when we visited Tilbrook Grange on a Devon tour. But we only had eye’s for the famous Cashtiller and quickly arranged with Gavin to flush her and import embryos to the States. Those calves…
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So now you have a choice….
You can look at pictures of our great-grandson, our 14 grandchildren or our new hired hand. She flew in from Oklahoma the other night, arriving in excellent condition and more than matching our expectations. Her name is Pocahontas, and that recommended her still further. Pocahontas of course was the legendary Virginia Indian maiden. However, before she even arrived, we had shortened it to “Pokey“. Pokey was bred by Elaine Reynolds of Cimmaron English Shepherds and that’s what Pokey is. The breed isn’t recognized by the AKC but is well-known in England as a typical farm dog. Not instinctively a herder, though she can be trained, she does understand every animal has its…
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What can you say?
A bald eagle perched on a tombstone at the national cemetery outside Minneapolis. (Our thanks to Bill Roberts of 12 Stones Grassland Beef)
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All dirt is not the same…..
Water (not oil) may be our most precious resource but dirt isn’t far behind. And with all the changes we’ve made to our pastures at Thistle Hill (and the addition of more acreage) we thought it was time for a complete analysis of our soil. So last week we brought in Tellus Consulting again for a survey. Tim Woodward (on the left) took samples in seven key and representative pastures. Not sure who the old geezer was on the right who showed up to watch. The hundreds of samples are sent off to a lab in Ohio…put through a number of tests to identify the mineral content, fertility, pH and…
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As I was saying….
…before our modem quit. Well, more precisely, before three modems and three techs finally solved the problem. It is not with complete confidence that I try this post….I’ve gotten this far many times only to see the internet suddenly fade away. The headlines while you (we) were gone: Pork is sold out. More beef and pork in late May or June. Rave reviews which I’ll share later. All our older bulls but one are sold; we deliver 180 in a few days. The next crop of bulls and heifers are doing beautifully and we’ll have quite a few arguments over how many we can keep. We really are at our…
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Another helping of slime, kids?
We thought it kinda funny-sad-outrageous recently when the Fed Food Police confiscated some school lunch boxes and substituted cafeteria meals instead. The contents of the lunch boxes were deemed “unhealthy” but when we read what the Feds proscribed—starting with chicken nuggets—we concluded Mom’s cooking may not have been perfect but it was a whole lot better than Michelle’s Menu. Now comes word that a decision back in the Bush administration perfecting a school lunch burger—something scientists that investigate the project call “pink slime”—is being implemented. The Feds are buying millions of pounds of the stuff—made up of meat trims, connective tissue, and “you best not ask”—for your local school cafeteria. …
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It was bound to happen….
Someone would eventually realize how glamorous cows really are. And it’s finally happened….in a Dallas boutique, of course. These cow mannequins are sporting not only the latest designer gowns, but thousands of dollars in jewelry. We think our cows are gorgeous just the way they are…but maybe a little sparkle on their ear tags would be nice.