• On top of the world….

    ….a picture of our granddaughter, Marion, exuberant at the view of the Rockies from her summer camp.  I think this captures perfectly the joy in being young, alive and confident of a limitless future. Just thought I’d share the feeling with you….hope you’re not so old that you no longer get it.

  • Well, of course…

    ….once again, in a remarkable display of bi-partisanship despite the bitterness everywhere else, Republicans and Democrats have gotten together to produce another monstrosity of a Farm Bill.  As befits such a bill, it is laden with 60% more pork than the last one. Corn subsidies are still there even though corn is at the highest price in history.  And Californians will still get handouts to enjoy their foie gras.  It’s all in the time-honored tradition of what used to be called “log rolling”.  I’ll vote for your bill if you’ll vote for mine. Sometime back, lawmakers from Ag states realized their grip on the process was slipping and so they…

  • A terrible tragedy….

    A car crash has claimed the life of the son of Kim and Ann Seeley.  Kim is a dairy farmer and the former, longtime president of PASA, the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture. The Seeley’s 29-year old son, Shon of Troy, Pennsylvania was killed when his SUV ran off the road Tuesday night.  As though not tragic enough, the young man was on the way to the hospital to visit his wife and their brand new baby girl. This is heart breaking news and we can only send our condolences and prayers to the entire Seeley family.

  • Once more with feeling…

    ….we were at a party last night where, once more, someone in one of the conversation circles, announced her family “just doesn’t eat much red meat anymore”.  Not a vegetarian exactly, you understand, just would rather not eat much red meat. Because I was a guest (and off-duty), I again let the remark pass.  I did not tell the lady that the chicken and pork she was feeding her family was a whole lot worse for them than red meat.  But still, despite all the evidence, it’s my impression that most of the experts today are still cautioning against “too much”, whatever that is, red meat. We’ve linked to various…

  • Drought claims noted Devon herd….

    Quite a few cattle owners have decided to throw in the towel because of the drought, and now we’ve heard from Devon breeder Bill Roberts that he’s planning to disperse his herd. 12 Stones Grasslands Beef is one of the outstanding Devon operations in the country.  Bill kept it in the Midwest when he moved to the Phoenix area because the desert environment was more hospitable to his allergies.  However, looking at the ravages of the drought…and the rising price for hay…and worse to come… Bill has decided to sell all but the five or so Devon that make up his hopes for the future. Bill is a longtime Devon…

  • Alright. That does it! – 2

    The other day we mentioned that “the place” Devon in our mind actually stretches quite a bit farther than the place on the map.  About as far south as you can go is Cornwall, where several of our partners in Traditional Devon live and farm.  One of those is a vivacious young woman named Juliet Cleave from the Kew herd.  She not only raises excellent cattle but is in the forefront of promoting the breed and grass fed meat. Juliet has put together videos that we’ve shown here before and here is her latest, which was something she did locally to promote the Great British Beef Week. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBqu1hi1KSw&feature=related

  • Alright…that does it!

    We’re booking our flight for Devon right now!  This picture of Devon near storied Exmoor just came in from our English friend and colleague, Shiamala Comer, who has the good fortune to live there.  She also is the breeder of Millenium Falcon, the sire of some of our Traditional Devon embryos near to hatching. We’ve fallen in love with Devon, not only for its namesake cows, but for the beauty of its scenery, and the warmth of its people.  Actually, when we think of Devon, we include a wider area from Cambridge all the way down to Lands End….wherever we find our favorite cows and the people who breed them. And, truth…

  • About food prices…

    The media has somehow found out that we’re in a major drought.  (They’ll have to get out more)  And that means food production is going down and prices are going up…particularly the price of corn. One article we read has some interesting insight: primarily that since the cost of producing food makes up only a small percentage of the price you actually pay at the market, your grocery bill may only go up about 1%.  The notable exception, glossed over in this article, is conventional beef.  Corn makes up a big part of the cost of raising Big Ag’s beef. Typically, the price you pay for most things is for the…

  • Catching up….

    What with long power failures, travels and visitors, we’ve fallen behind with our blogging.  The topic here is food…beginning with the dinner guests prepared for us here at Thistle Hill. To explain:  we asked Rappahannock’s wonderful chef, Sylvie Rowand, to stage a dinner here for friends in the style of her native Reunion, a French island in the remote Indian Ocean.  Sylvie combines her French heritage with flavors of other populations on the island: Asian and African. But to make it a bit more entertaining, we asked Sylvie to add another of her specialties:  a cooking class.  Our kitchen is small so we spilled over into the adjoining breakfast room…

  • BULLETIN: Famed Rotokawa herd sold…again…

    A stunning announcement in the Devon world this morning:  the famed Rotokawa herd, which originated in New Zealand, has been sold to Massachusetts breeder Henry Hauptman of East View Farm in Hardwick.  Henry has been a fan of the herd from the moment he went into the cattle business and this fulfills a long-held dream. Henry tells us that he would not have considered the purchase of the herd Ken McDowall developed in New Zealand, if Ken hadn’t promised to once again be personally involved in operations.  We talked with Ken last night and he said he would begin by traveling to the Hauptman farm in August to discuss breeding decisions.  Both men expect to…