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Warning!…
…do not date a farmer! He will put you to work! Here Mackenzie Mason, who could be basking in the sun in San Diego, is helping with a rush fencing repair job. She’s in the camo jacket with son-in-law Curt Humphreys. Take our word for it: she’s pretty! David
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Parade of cows…
…time to get back to business with a quick look at our main herd. Leading the way to fresh grass is an English pure traditional Devon, TDA 5. She was originally assigned to our partner John Forelle’s care. The cow right behind is an American Devon whose tag is illegible. But you can appreciate the uniformity. Our aim is to produce moderate-sized animals… ”sturdy” Wooz would call them…thick and deep to my eye. Grandson Church will start breeding about Thanksgiving, starting with the heifers. A family meeting is scheduled soon to finalize the pairings. The cows condition is (are?) just about perfect…a tribute to Church’s first year as herd manager.…
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Our newest hand…
…and a picture of pure joy. Oliver and mom, Ashley! Maybe he should go in our calving report. Oliver was eight pounds-one ounce…and big hands and feet indicate he’s going to be a big ‘un like his Dad. A tribute to carefully selected genetics: Warhurst, Ostroski, Mayo and Schoumacher. Check out the girth! Okay, the upper arms anyway. Lift that bale! David
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Living in a resort…
…that’s what my 18 years at Thistle Hill have felt like. The farm has been in the family a lot longer…almost 75 years. And now a new generation…the fourth…is beginning to take hold. Grandson Church Humphreys is managing our Devon cattle herd and showing the same appreciation for the setting in the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia that his great-grandparents fell in love with. Cutting through the picture…and the farm…is the beautiful Rappahannock River…the stream legend has it George Washington threw a coin across. (Actually a pretty easy toss). And no farm is complete without its fishing hole…and thanks to grandson Luis Gentry we’re well-stocked with large mouth bass perch,…
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Parade of bulls…G101…
…is a pure traditional English calf just 10 months old. Again note the deep ruby red coat..a distinguishing feature of a pure Devon. G101 is a grandson of Ashott Barton Millenium Falcon who we spotted in Cornwall and is the bull that got us started in importing English genetics. His dam is TDA 4…a cow that has produced for us consistently. She was a daughter of the famed English cow Tilbrook Cashtiller, who won three grand championships before retiring undefeated. Cashtiller and Falcon are found throughout our herd now and we’re indebted to our English partners Gavin Hunter and Shiamala Comer for sharing their genetics with us. Sadly many English…
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Parade of bulls…
…features a relative newcomer who is pure traditional English on both sides. He’s F65; one month past his first birthday. F65’s dam is Essington Buttercup, from one of England’s oldest and finest Devon herds…one that sadly was dispersed a few years ago with the retirement of owner Brian Drake. The sire was our major herd bull Thistle Hill Churchill. He in turn is the son of Tilbrook Cashtiller…the award “winningest” Devon cow in recent English history. In fact four of her sons topped successive sales and our Churchill is their half brother. F65 has quite a lot to live up to! David
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The three little pigs…
…who went to market the other day averaged 230 pounds hanging weight. Exactly what we were aiming for! And Church reports the spread was only five pounds…227, 230, 232. Can’t wait for our share! There is no matching fresh farm-raised pork. It’s akin to corn or tomatoes right out of the garden. And Thistle Hill pigs have the advantage of browsing for acorns…producing pork like the Spaniards do (and charge so much for!). By coincidence, my daughters and their mother are in Spain right now…where raising pork is an art form. Every region has its own special taste…and pigs raised on truffles can bring as much as $300 a pound.…
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The parade of bulls…
…this time features a young bull exactly one year old, F100. He’s a combination of English genetics. The sire is the great English champion Cutcombe Jaunty. The dam was selected by Wooz on what turned out to be her final visit to England. She choose an Ashott Barton Tulip heifer which in turn we mated to Jaunty. All this in a clinic outside Oxford. The resultant embryo was shipped to Virginia where we implanted it in a top Thistle Hill cow…in our Rotokawa line, in turn from New Zealand. That recip is a vital part of the whole process. So there you have F100…a citizen of the world! When we…
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The nonsense about meat…
…which mostly we ignore because, like politics, it’s an argument you can’t win. Vegans who first based their belief on animal cruelty, eventually branched out to make health claims which weren’t substantiated by any evidence. Now, though, comes the results of another massive research project which cannot find any link between red meat and cancer, heart disease or diabetes. In fact, the researchers also gave a pass to processed meats. There’s also an interesting side note: the scientists say it was hard to come up with any conclusions because all the basic research that has fueled the opposition to red meat is flawed. David