• Now she tells us….

    ….Kathleen Merrigan, who recently resigned as Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, created a bit of a stir this week when she said the latest law the government passed to “protect” us…..has the potential to transform and even destroy small and medium sized farms. Of course, the law has a high-sounding name, (see George Orwell),  the Food Safety Modernization Act.  But any bill that’s put together by Big Ag and Big Government is bound to be not only bad for small farms, but consumers.  The basic idea is to make the requirements so stringent and so expensive that only mass producers with their chemical warehouses can afford them. Apparently there’s a lot of…

  • Farm land…what’s it worth…

    Our friend Bill Roberts, of 12 Stones Grasslands Beef, has had some experience in the subject in an “earlier life”.  Sometime back we posted his thoughts on just how a farmer, or particularly a would-be farmer, should approach the subject of buying land for his operation. Bill has just gone back to the subject on his blog and we thought it important and am posting it permanently here.  Just go to the Archives section….it’s right at the top.  

  • Some myth busting…

    ….from Chris Kresser, a popular Paleo blogger.  Chris takes on the recent spate of articles and studies purporting to show (once again) how bad cows are for the environment.  It’s a subject we’ve gone over so many times, I’m frankly tired of defending us.  In brief, if you look at the “evidence”, it’s been “cooked”.  I remember reading a big 50 years ago, required reading in J-school when they used to teach critical thinking.  As I recall, the title was:  “How to Lie with Statistics”.  There’s also: “Figures Lie and Liars Figure”. But if you want to wade through the arguments again, Chris has just started a series on his…

  • Duh….

    ….it is good we have government and university (but I repeat myself) studies.  Turns out that animals do better with clean water.  Who would have ever thunk it? http://news.psu.edu/story/277672/2013/05/22/campus-life/study-suggests-dairy-herd-water-quality-linked-milk-production Pretty soon you’ll be required to have a university degree and a government license to raise a cow.  Did I just give them an idea? Thanks to Dr. Sue Beal for the link.

  • Laugh or cry….

    ….or both.  Hard to decide.  Those folks at the guvmint who are “here to help you” are giving meat labels a “face lift”.  The reporter passes on the assurance that this is intended to protect us unsuspecting consumers. The change:  the labels on steaks will be changed to designate the country of origin and the country of slaughter.  That’s better. Not what the animal was fed of course.  Certainly not whether it’s been raised on genetically modified grain.  Or what they injected it with or sprayed on it.  Nothing at all on that package of hamburger.  Of course, no label would be large enough to list all the countries that…

  • Ready to shave….

    …I could swear TDA 001 Churchill, Traditional Devon’s young English bull, seems more grown up.  He’s still just 19-months. That’s what happens when you put him in a pasture with some “older women”, I guess.  What a difference four weeks makes, but wipe that silly grin off your face! Photo by his care-giver:  Lindsay Sagstuen.

  • The good guys lose one….

    ….in the Senate, where they’ve just killed a proposal that would permit individual states to require labels for Genetically Modified food products. The argument was that would be too expensive and is better left to the federal government.  (We’re in the very best of hands.)  Thanks to Ed Taylor for the link: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2013/05/23/us/politics/ap-us-farm-bill.html?hp&_r=1&

  • The magic of proper nutrition….

    ….I don’t know why I keep being surprised because it seems like I come across a story at least once a week detailing the healing power of the right food.  We certainly have noticed that the aches and pains associated with aging have dropped away in recent years but that’s nothing compared to the “cures” we keep reading about. Here’s one that we discovered this morning: http://www.thepointmag.com/2012/essays/plea-human-food

  • What they’re paid to do….

    ….it’s always interesting to welcome visitors to Thistle Hill and listen to their reactions.  And if possible we time it so they can help move our cows.  You see them better when they parade single file right into the new paddock. Ed Taylor of Vermont, who came by this weekend, was struck by the uniformity of the cows and their docility.  He’s still setting up his farm but wisely he is using this time to see “what’s out there.” Sorry, not this one.  That’s “THF Jackpot”, who we used for the first time earlier this year on a small group of cows.  If his calves turn out as well as…

  • All for one….

    ….one of the pleasures of being a part of the grass fed and sustainable farming community is the fellowship and cooperative spirit of people learning together.  The process never stops and, like this small grazing meeting at Thistle Hill yesterday afternoon, people learn together and help each other improve their pastures. We like to think we’re doing pretty good but we still have “problem” areas….spots like this one where, unlike most farms, we have too much clover.  Not a problem at all in the heat of the summer but not what we want for grazing and adding pounds right now.  Click to enlarge….there are three generations in the picture learning together!  You…