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Our cats do this all the time….
….sleep on the hood of a still warm car to stay warm. But our cows pretty much tend to stay in their pastures no matter how cold they are.
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Eat it….it’s good for you….
….no, not your spinach (although that’s good for you, too). I was thinking of all the things experts have told us through the years were bad for us (or good for us). And now, here I am finally authorized to eat eggs, bacon, beef, as long as it’s grass fed, coffee and, of course: Red Wine! http://arstechnica.com/science/2014/02/more-evidence-that-red-wine-and-aspirin-protect-against-cancer/
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A list of what’s ailing us….
….a list of the major factors impacting our health. When you read the list, you can’t help wonder if “Experts” should be at the top. http://www.businessinsider.com/whats-wrong-with-the-modern-diet-charts-2014-2 And then of course there’s eggs. They must be killers! http://authoritynutrition.com/how-many-eggs-should-you-eat/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AuthorityNutrition+%28Authority+Nutrition%29
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Just think about spring….
….and how great all this moisture will be for the pastures. But right now it is not a fun job bringing hay to cows in the far pastures. We thought they had enough but underestimated their appetites in really cold and wet weather when they use more to stay warm. By morning, the chores seemed much less difficult in the bright sun. Farm manager Duane Ard plows the driveway so the oil truck can get in. The cows and the farmers both need energy. We had anywhere from a foot to just over two feet of snow in this latest storm. Fortunately the ice missed us, but that will come with…
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Be my Valentine….
….romance in bloom on Juliet and Chris Cleave’s pastures in Cornwall.
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Dieting: not settled science….
….Gary Taubes, whose views on dieting have turned establishment thinking on its head, has finally broken into the mainstream. In an op-ed in the New York Times, Taubes exposes the shoddy research that is the basis of most advice on losing weight. (More accurate to say “non-research masquerading as expert opinion”) http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/09/opinion/sunday/why-nutrition-is-so-confusing.html?_r=1
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Stealing in….
…under cover of darkness. Traditional Devon America’s final calf in this class…TDA 15. She’s a Tillbrook Cashtiller heifer by Cutcombe Jaunty. We did very well we think. All nice, thick calves with deep Ruby Red coats. Three heifers; three bulls.
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And God made a Factory Farmer….
….here’s something on the internet that deserves to go viral. A take-off on the Paul Harvey salute to farmers that was the hit of last year’s Super Bowl. Watch it and laugh….(or cry). http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/e1abab3c2b/god-made-a-factory-farmer Thanks to Bill Roberts of 12 Stones Grasslands Beef for the link.
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Ready to take on the world….
This little English bull calf only looks like he’s getting ready to charge. He’s really just getting up for one of the first times in his first day in America….and trying to figure out if he can risk moving those front legs. TDA 11 is a Millennium Falcon son out of Goldings Norah….an embryo calf we bred in England and imported as part of our Traditional Devon America project. Right now he is in the capable hands of Doyle Unruh in Georgia but eventually he’ll join the Virginia or South Carolina TDA herds…..and probably make a few commutes up and down Interstate 81.
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Meanwhile, in South Carolina….
….while we’ve been calving the next group of English Traditional Devon in Georgia, just across the border, at Walker Century Farms in South Carolina, we’re monitoring the progress of earlier classes. In the foreground are two heifers just over two years of age…in the background, a bull calf from last year. Right now the Traditional Devon America herd numbers 14. Progress but still a long way to go.