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Keeping an eye on his harem….
Thistle Hill U2 is on special assignment…breeding a small group of heifers before shipment to Linda Hendrix and son, John, in South Carolina. All four of the females are Rotokawa 688 line- breds. U2, a son of Watson, who made a major improvement in our herd some years back, is a grandson of Rotokawa 974 and out of one of our best cow lines. The 20 calves he has on the ground now with our main herd make up the most promising class we’ve had so far.
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Just like Dad….and Mom…
….one of two Rotokawa 688 line bred bulls remaining at Thistle Hill. Click the picture to see both ends of him. This two-year old—Wooz named him “Oh My“—is extremely docile, even by Devon standards. He’s in a pasture with five other young bulls and he’s the one who always comes up to the Gator to greet us….and assure us he has everything under control. The other bulls are by “Magic” and Rotokawa 243, 93 and 974.
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Throwback at Trapper Creek….
….is a very informative website we found recently. It details the “adventures” of Nita Wilson, a third generation farmer in the Pacific Northwest. She spends a good deal of time on each topic she develops; her treatment of beginning rotational grazing in the spring is an example of her work. http://matronofhusbandry.wordpress.com/2013/04/10/its-complicated/ It’s worth your time to check out the entire site.
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Slow food a “hot” investment?
Apparently some folks like to think so. And there’s a group looking for investors to invest in sustainable agriculture. Most of the people who have developed small scale, but profitable companies specializing in healthier foods find they can’t compete against the “big guys” who move in and threaten to crush them. So far, those small companies have just given up and sold out to the highest bidder (who proceeds to corrupt the brand). Farmers, by and large, are terrible businessmen and worse marketers. In fact, they’re repelled by the idea they should have to sell their products. But for those out there who are still interested in making the “fight”, there’s…
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Why am I not surprised….
….that food labels don’t necessarily tell the whole truth. “Food fraud” has become big business, and bigger with the introduction of what we’d like to believe is healthier foods. Big Ag, of course, has moved in to corrupt labels such as “natural” and “organic” and just about every box or bag of processed foods contains stuff that’s not on the label and is not good for you. Food blogger Dr. Joseph Mercola has the story here. Important reading but I’m at a loss as to how to protect ourselves. Oh, right. Buy from a local farmer you know. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/05/04/food-fraud.aspx Anyone who still believes the government is protecting you from this…
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On the trail of the “Highwayman”….
….a bit more information on the 1960s British champion, Uggaton Highway 2nd. Our Cornwall lass, Juliet Cleave, came up with the picture and wondered who he was. Wooz added some detail from the old herd books (including the fact that he’s an ancestor of one of the bulls calves we now have on the ground here). In case you missed her comment yesterday, I’ve pulled up the latest information from Juliet: Have just spoken to William Brent (of the now dispersed Clampit Herd): his family bought Uggaton Highwayman 2nd as an 18 month bull at the Devon Society annual sale & worked him “as much as we could” within the…
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Jerry Engh on the mend….
We thought his many friends in the Devon world would want to know: We saw Jerry Engh at Lakota Ranch today. Jerry suffered a stroke a few weeks ago but he’s not only up….he’s running. And supervising things at Lakota from a 4-wheeler. He does have some mild paralysis but my non-professional diagnosis is that it will pass. The major problem, Jeremy tells us, is holding his Dad down. Jerry says he expects to be on hand for the joint meeting of the two Devon associations in September…a meeting that should heal the breech between the two organizations.
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Worth waiting for….
….the second pass over the new grass and we’re still moving them quickly. The plan is to cover every pasture (but one) within 21 days. The “one” is our Italian rye pasture, intended for the steers but they didn’t get the memo. We put the steers on the “special” grass earlier this week. By the end of the next day, they had found their way through to wire fences and across a creek to re-join the main herd. I can hear Ian saying: “Of course, dummy.” Maybe there’s a book in that: Grazing for Dummies. But I’m a fast learner, the next time the rotation takes the herd to the Italian rye,…
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Our alumni club….
….we think we treat our animals pretty well here at Thistle Hill, but Regina Tesnow at Tomina Farms in Kentucky puts us to shame. Here she’s grooming a bull we shipped to her not long ago. She calls him “Casino“…a Rotokawa 243 son…who she hopes will replace her famed “Magic” who is also a Thistle Hill alum. Regina apparently pampers all her Devon this way. I suspect she even tucks them in at night with an alfalfa cube.
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Piglet’s first time….
….rolling in the mud. There can’t be a photo that better captures pure joy. The photo and the pig belong to Mike Jones, who just purchased some cows here at Thistle Hill. (see “Parting is sweet sorrow” below) This little Tamworth pig was lucky enough to find some mud her first day in the pasture.