What do you say to the McDowalls…what can you think?  What a terrible agony they are going through.

Wooz and I owe so much to this absolutely lovely couple….the most decent people you could ever know in this world.  They have been key in the development of Thistle Hill…the impact of Rotokawa is everywhere.  But that pales in comparison to the impact of their friendship on our personal lives.  We’ve shared more than a few bottles of wine….more than a few moments of great fun here at home and traveling together in the United States and England.

We know many Devon breeders who read this blog also know Ken.  I felt you would want to know this and share in the McDowalls’ grief.

This news was all the more poignant coming as it did within hours of a joyous email from another good friend, John Forelle.  John is a partner in our English Devon venture but more than that we have also shared wonderful times together.  Today he emailed that his son, Luke, a Marine lieutenant is back safely from Afghanistan where he was a platoon leader (it doesn’t get any more dangerous than that) and is now vacationing in Hawaii.

We frankly don’t know how to process all this emotional news.  What the Forelles have gone through worrying about Luke and then the release that came with one phone call.  Do you have any idea what our military families are going through?  And then….dashed down by the call from New Zealand.

Not a day we will soon forget.

Because of the uncertainty of putting a young bull with 24 grown cows, we kept him in an extra month.  But it wasn’t necessary.  He settled 75% of his charges in the first 22 days.  All but two in the next month for a total of 94%.

All in all, a performance that earned Double Trouble bragging rights with his buddies when he returned to the bull pen.  Of course, what counts is the calves.  We won’t know about that until October.  But so far Trouble seems to be a chip off the old block.

Of course, we’re proud of all our young bulls with genetics by Rotokawa 688, 93 and 974.  Then there are our new British imports by the great bull Jaunty.  Thistle Hill has placed bulls in herds all across the eastern half of the United States.  We hope you’ll think of us when you’re ready to start or upgrade your operation.

Industrial agriculture is based on antibiotics.  All commercial animals…cattle, chicken and pigs…are fed them routinely as a preventative.  They have to, because in the way they are raised, they’d die otherwise.  So you get them too, whether you’re buying meat at the supermarket, a restaurant or McDonald’s.  More than that, those cows you see gracing lovely landscapes (unless you’re looking at Thistle Hill and similar farms), are excreting those antibiotics onto the land and then into the streams and rivers.

And yes, meat can be labeled organic and the cow or chicken involved could well have received antibiotics.  Once again, it all comes back to “know your farmer”.  But you can be sure that if you’re buying your meat through the usual channels (a careful choice of words) you are getting not only antibiotics but pesticides and herbicides.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/763657?sssdmh=dm1.783490&src=nldne

They’ve found that antibiotics have one other feature: they cause animals to gain weight.  Any chance that’s a factor in our obesity epidemic?  All young animals have worms, of course, which limit growth.  But that can be treated naturally.

Not in big operations, though.  In commercial farms, they use what’s called a “pour on”; that is, cattle go through a chute on a regular basis and a poison is poured on their back.  It just happens to be a nerve agent….attacks the spinal cord.  The poisoned worms just wind up on the ground.  They’re dead; but the poison winds up in other animals and again, in the water supply.

Horst was a talented, indestructible man who dominated the Saigon scene while many of the rest of us just “dabbled”.  As a CBS News correspondent, I was one of those who passed through Viet Nam for a year and went home.  Horst stayed and was a mentor for all of us.

Confined to a wheelchair in his later years, Horst remained an indomitable, irascible, forceful, hard-living spirit who refused to yield to his affliction.  Here’s an obit by an AP colleague, Richard Pyle.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20120510/D9UM3PD00.html

We’re proud to be affiliated with Gail Reardon and her quality store.  She not only carries local meat and poultry from a number of sources, but she also has wonderful fresh fish twice a week and a terrific inventory of gourmet food items.  And there’s also an gallery in back displaying the works of local artists.  Another reason to visit: continuous wine tastings.

Of course, we’ll continue with our practice of selling beef and pork off the farm at special pricing.  Right now, we have one steer aging and another to be processed so we look forward to being able to provide a regular meat supply.

And we haven’t forgotten our pork.  The pigs are approaching 200 pounds now and they’re doing so well, we think we’ll take them to 280 before harvesting.  We’re proud of our beef, but people have been known to write fan letters over our pork.  Here, for instance, is an excerpt from one we received today:

“Oh and we had your sweet italian sausages from the piggies – fabulously delicious and cooked up in no time.  Some of the best pork sausage I’ve had in a VERY long time – including German Gourmet which is my favorite until now.  Whatever you are doing with those pigs, great!  God if all pork could taste that way!”

If you aren’t yet on our mailing list, we urge you to add your name now.  And move fast when we announce that meat is available.  It’s generally gone in less than a day.

But here’s a first…they’re establishing a “chair” at the University of Illinois communications school to teach budding journalists to love chemical agriculture.

http://www.4-traders.com/MONSANTO-COMPANY-13589/news/Monsanto-Company-Monsanto-Commits-$250-000-to-University-of-Illinois-Ag-Communications-Program-14308443/

After the horns are off, Derek uses a hot iron to cauterize the site both to stop the bleeding and limit the possibility of infection.  We used to do this here at the farm but now prefer the environment at the clinic.  So does Churchill.  He’s had a local anesthetic and is feeling no pain.

It’s been a tough couple of days for our newcomers.  First separated from their mothers…then rounded up and re-tagged in North Carolina…divided into two groups…loaded onto trailers….brought here to Thistle Hill where they have to become accustomed to new grass, new water and new herd mates.  But from this point on, it’s all gravy.  As more than one visitor has remarked:  “If I come back as a cow, let it be to Thistle Hill!”

A busy day today with the new calves: tattoo-ing, dehorning, and moving to their new pastures and getting acquainted with their new herd mates.

*  unless Wooz says take it down.

It was a great experience, sorting through our calves with partner Bill Walker, and selecting which would head to South Carolina and which to Virginia.  DeKalb Wells and his family did a wonderful job raising these unique youngsters from embryos and we thank them.

Wooz and I also want to thank our good friends, Rachel and Glenn Covington, who brought their big trailer down to transport them back home.  Both have “the touch” with animals and loading and unloading these nine youngsters could not have been smoother.

We’ll have more on our newcomers soon but there’s a full day ahead:  got to catch up on chores, move some fence, and get going in time for a college graduation party for a grandson and a birthday party for a great-grandson!  Pictures of that, too, coming.  Of course!

Kids learn more playing with animals, even spiders and snakes.  Won’t his mom just love helping him unwrap a snake!

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_124588.html

Thanks to Dr. Sue Beal, for this link and solving all our gift-giving problems.