• A billionaire and his millions….

    ….are soon parted. Google (you really want to trust those guys with your food, too) is financing a project in England to grow “cultured” or “cloned” hamburger.  Not sure which to call it, except maybe disgusting. Almost nothing in this article is accurate but the money involved. http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/08/05/googles-brin-funds-332k-lab-grown-beef-hamburger-looks-to-make-meat-a-sustainable-resource

  • A sign of the times….

    ….what to do about our over-weight military recruits—and everyone else?  You’d think the Pentagon might decide to feed them right instead of hoping to run them back into condition. Where’ve you been?  The obvious answer is:  liposuction! http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2478403/Suck-Chubby-military-personnel-getting-liposuction-pass-Pentagons-body-fat-test.html Our guess is the chow halls are doling out extra portions of whole wheat bread as well! (Note:  if you’re new here, this is all sarcasm.)

  • Speaking of England….

    ….Bill Walker weighs in with a recent picture of Traditional Devon’s TDA 3, now exactly two years old and we’re about to breed her.  “3” is, of course, out of Tilbrook Cashtiller by Cutcombe Jaunty.  Doesn’t get any better than that!

  • A few of my favorite…..

    ….People!  My mate, Ivan Rowe, braving a gale to judge a Devon show at Camelford, England recently.  The steward for the show was our Cornwall lass, Juliet Cleave. Our English project is all the stronger for the fact that four of our seven partners have been judges in Devon circles for many years.  If Ivan tells you a cow is “fit”, take it to the bank.  It’s an integrity he took to people judging too, as a former Queen’s magistrate.

  • The Class of “A”….

    ….at least so far.  The first five calves gather under a tree (that should come down and will soon if I don’t get at it) with baby-sitters U3 and R2.  (click to see them all) We seem to have hit a pause with 15 yet to come.

  • Thistle Hill alumni club…

    ….a match that began here at Thistle Hill but consummated at the Hendrix farm in South Carolina.  THF 64’s new heifer by THF 31.  This is now the third heifer in a row for 64.  Grandma is still in our herd and also producing mostly heifers. The sire, THF 31, is a Thistle Hill Magic son.  Magic seems to specialize in small calves that explode around Month 6.

  • Thistle Hill alumni club….

    ….his name is Tomina Farms Gambler….the first son of our Thistle Hill Casino.  (We always enjoy Regina Tesnow’s ability to come up with new names.) Mom is Virginia Q1 and she started an excellent line here before moving on to the Tesnow’s in Tennessee.  Casino is a Rotokawa 243 son.

  • The bugs win!!!

    An important milestone that won’t get much press coverage:  A top-level health officials say we have indeed “run the course” of antibiotics.  Super-bugs have won the battle and there’s nowhere we can turn. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2477273/Weve-reached-end-antibiotics-Top-CDC-expert-declares-miracle-drugs-saved-millions-match-superbugs-people-overmedicated-themselves.html Just a few days ago, there was an article…one of dozens we’ve seen…worrying about where all this is headed.  But now, as we read in the first story above, we don’t have to worry about where we’re headed.  We’re there. http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/feeding-antibiotics-to-cows-is-bad-for-humans-but-congress-wont-stop-it-new-report-says/2013/10/22/ecd2de08-3afd-11e3-a94f-b58017bfee6c_story.html It’s the same group of Merchants of Death (Monsanto, et al) inflicting GMO on us that have, of course, blocked any attempt to control the use of antibiotics in feeding animals.  Like hormones, antibiotics speed…

  • Get the dirt out of food!

    Sounds good in Washington.  And in the Big Food board rooms. So the FDA is going to crack down on—who else—small farmers.  The idea is we should all disinfect our produce and pack it in plastic.  Okay, so there’s a big recall underway right now for vegetables that Big Food packed just that way.  But nothing’s perfect. Small farmers, of course, can’t afford to buy the machinery to market food that way.  And intelligent consumers are smart enough to know they don’t want it that way.  The last thing they want is another chemical (not to mention plastic) on their veggies. But the feds….right up to the guy closest to…