The other day some of us got into a discussion, via email,\u00a0about breeding heifers.\u00a0 But as these things go, we wandered off topic quite a bit.\u00a0 When I signed off, I realized that\u00a0 there might be some thought-starters in our ramblings for readers of this blog and so I have reproduced it here with the permission of the participants.<\/p>\n
Taking part were myself, and our two partners in Traditional Devon, Bill Walker and John Forelle, as well as two people whose counsel we frequently seek out: Bill Roberts of 12 Stones Grasslands Beef and Dr. Sue Beal, a holistic vet in Pennsylvania.\u00a0 The give-and-take began when I posted a video produced by one of our partners in England, Juliet Cleave.\u00a0 (If you haven’t seen it, scroll down to “It’s Showtime” below.)<\/p>\n
Here’s how it went:<\/p>\n
David:<\/b>\u00a0 When you have six minutes, treat yourself to a fun video put together by one of our English friends and partners\u2026.Juliet Cleave.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n She\u2019s a Cornwall and Devon girl whose family goes way back\u2026.more than 100 years\u2026raising Devon on the same land.\u00a0 She put together some old pictures from her farm with her herd today.\u00a0 I think Grandpa would be proud.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n No point to this\u2026.you just deserve<\/em> a break.<\/p>\n Bill R:<\/b>\u00a0 Wow! \u00a0There was a tremendous point to this. \u00a0The progress in quality of cattle illustrated is dramatic. \u00a0Those are phenomenal cattle on just grass and dispel the myth that Devon cannot be bred effectively until 24 months – an issue that has stalled them from popularity among commercial folks.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n I believe your group importing these genetics could fulfill the hopes for Devon in America. Congratulations on your historically significant efforts.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n David:<\/b>\u00a0 A couple of thoughts on this\u2026..\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n First, our heifers here at Thistle Hill are maturing very rapidly.\u00a0 So much so that at 1 year and 3 months Wooz has been lobbying me to breed them soon.\u00a0 Needless to say, while they seem big enough\u2026.I\u2019m nervous about that.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Second, we were amazed at the recent improvement in Juliet\u2019s herd in Cornwall\u2026improvement I\u00a0 credit\u00a0 to the bull she had just purchased before\u00a0our earlier visit\u2026..a Millennium Falcon brother, the first bull we selected for our English effort!\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n But to burst the bubble just a bit:\u00a0 keep in mind English breeders bring their cows into sheds in the winter and onto straw bedding.\u00a0 And almost all feed what they call \u201cnuts\u201d in addition to hay.\u00a0 Nuts are a pelletized feed\u2026..barley the main ingredient\u2026.but other things as well.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0I think that being under cover\u2026.not getting wet\u2026.and with the warmth of the other animals\u2026.decent hay and the nuts\u2026.the cows in England continue to grow in the winter.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n I appreciate you pointing this out though.\u00a0 I am going to monitor the situation with our heifers more closely. \u00a0I hope you\u2019re right that we may well be raising heifers that can breed more in line with commercial requirements.\u00a0 Wouldn\u2019t that be a nice plus!\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Bill R:<\/b>\u00a0\u00a0 Personally I believe to be commercially viable; we should push our heifers to grow as much as possible in the first year and a half. \u00a0Ideally, the grass should be high enough brix to do it alone. \u00a0If it is not, meeting their nutrient requirement with hay or even a touch of barley or oats is within reason. \u00a0Being a purist and starving cattle is no virtue. \u00a02 – 3 pounds of grain per day in the winter allows their rumen to function properly for forage and yet helps them get where they need to be.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n When commercial producers have money borrowed to pay for cows, they cannot wait for the first calf for 36 months. \u00a0They need a calf ASAP. \u00a0Angus have been developed to breed at 14 – 15 months and calve by the time they reach 24 months. \u00a0To enter in to the commercial market, Devon needs to be able to do the same.<\/em><\/p>\n Bill W:<\/b>\u00a0 I have been listening and reading discussions for 30 years on when to breed heifers.\u00a0 I think it depends on your\u00a0circumstances.\u00a0 There is certainly the argument that a commercial cattleman needs his cows to calve at 2 years and every year afterwards.\u00a0 There are purebred breeders that also think this works best for their situation.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n I think it is important to make this decision after you have evaluated the heifer\u2019s weight, age, and body condition.\u00a0 Also, for that particular heifer you need to consider what season she is going to calve in your environment.\u00a0 We (importing English genetics for Traditional Devon) are in a unique situation. If we let our heifers calve when they are 3 years old we will have a better mama and a better calf.\u00a0 I expect the elite animals to continue production late into their teens.\u00a0 My goal is 19 years and we have achieved this with some of our genetics.\u00a0This would give a solid 14 to 16 calves during the lifetime of a mama cow.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n David:<\/b>\u00a0 Right at the moment I can only say we\u2019re having no trouble growing these heifers\u2026.though we are using alfalfa hay along with mixed orchard grass hay.<\/em><\/p>\n Bill R:<\/b>\u00a0 We have bred some of our heifers at 16 and 17 months. \u00a0They calve just fine but because we were totally on poor to medium fair grass, they did not complete growing until their second calf was raised. \u00a0Some did not breed back for their second calf until they gained in condition.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Two points:\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n 1) Some Devon grow more rapidly and can be bred early more effectively (the general rule of thumb is a heifer is big enough to breed at 750 #’s whatever age that happens)<\/em><\/p>\n 2) The quality of forage and overall nutrient availability makes a big difference in growth rate.<\/em><\/p>\n David:<\/b>\u00a0 There\u2019s a trade-off of course between early calving and calving mortality.\u00a0 I think most of the breeders I know calve at 3.\u00a0 We have had much more success calving an older heifer.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Obviously all this is a judgment call depending on the appearance of the heifer.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n Sue:<\/b>\u00a0 This is an interesting meander.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n The housing of the cattle over winter is a big thing – then they are not using energy to keep warm, but to grow. We know that, depending on temperature, wind, mud, wetness, etc., their energy requirement will increase by 30-50plus% out in the weather. I can find those numbers again for you if you want.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n David echoes what I was going to write, though:\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cObviously all this is a judgment call depending on the appearance of the heifer\u201d.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Certainly if she is starting to fat at a younger age, we need to get her doing something. Or eat her. If she is not, then perhaps wait to impregnate.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Alternately – impregnate regardless of tendency to early fat – and sort it out on the other end of things: those young mommas that do well with that “early” breeding and use them to build that type of herd. The latter may make more sense than the former, really.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n There is no reason that we cannot select – on grass and outside – young stock that turn fat earlier\u2026\u2026 and generate a subsection of animals that will breed w\/ the industry. (Ditto w\/ the other approach, too.)\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n I still have to think, though, at the overall calf\/cow count when they are bred a little later\u2026.. And perhaps that doesn’t matter for industry? And perhaps it won’t be so when we are working with that group of early breeding and successfully down the road animals. In fact, that’ll probably be the case – they’ll breed early, be good mommas in that and subsequent pregnancies, rebreed, and calve many times.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n And that statement (more lifetime calves w\/ later breeding) did not take into consideration anything but linear time age of the animal – not condition or fatness at age x or feed or\u2026..\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n John:<\/b>\u00a0 Is the “two year rule” unique in your experience to\u00a0Devon?\u00a0 If it is such an impediment to spreading\u00a0Devon we should be trying to\u00a0experiment to\u00a0find ways around it rather than slavishly follow it.\u00a0 Since we will have a relatively large number of full Cashtiller\/Jaunty sisters, why not breed half of them (a cross-section, not necessarily the best ones) as yearlings and see if there is a difference?\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n David:\u00a0 <\/b>No.\u00a0 But I would say most breeders fall all along a line from breeding at 16 months up to just over two years.\u00a0 There are those who have an arbitrary weight, such as 750 pounds; others want a certain percentage of mature weight, for instance two-thirds.\u00a0 So if the cow is 900 pounds, they want to breed the heifer at 600.\u00a0 We start looking at the heifer a about two and generally breed within the next few months.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Sue:<\/b>\u00a0 To breed at some arbitrary weight should depend on the weight of the adult cow. For example, if her mature weight is 850, then waiting until 750 may be relatively too long\u2026.. if her mature weight is 1500,\u2026\u2026.\u00a0 Degree of fat is perhaps a better assessment.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n And also remember, regardless of weight, they don’t have full mouths until six years or so – so we are breeding developmental “babies” in a sense.\u00a0<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n Bill W:<\/b>\u00a0 I do not believe we should consider feeding grain to our cattle as an option. \u00a0Alfalfa is certainly forage that can be used to supplement. \u00a0There is a growing movement that is concerned about GMOs (genetically modified organisms). \u00a0As Round-up ready alfalfa becomes more available, we may have to address this issue.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n I believe it is important for us to be totally and impeccably\u00a0forage-based. \u00a0If someone wants to call\u00a0us a purist, so be it.<\/em><\/p>\n Bill R:<\/b>\u00a0 Just in case I am maligned for being for grain feeding, I am not; quite the reverse. \u00a0However, cattle country is one step away from disaster conditions. \u00a0There will be some compromises made this year on individual farms and ranches or they will be hauled in by the Animal Nazi’s for animal abuse.<\/em><\/p>\n David:<\/b>\u00a0 The trouble is that with the help of our government, Big Ag is eradicating the labeling difference and eventually the public perception that there\u2019s any difference.\u00a0 I already hear customers say they can now buy grass fed beef at the market\u2026.and of course it is not \u201cgrass fed\u201d, certainly not \u201cgrass finished\u201d by our definition.\u00a0 You can now even grow a cow in confinement and call it grass fed\u2026.\u00a0\u00a0 I think we\u2019ve lost this battle forever which means our customer base is going to be those meat customers we can actually engage in serious conversation or those really serious \u201cfoodies\u201d who seek us out.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n I agree with you Bill about the protocol for raising our Traditional Devon; grass period\u2026.but I appreciate Bill Roberts\u2019 thoughts on this issue.\u00a0 For the larger Devon marketing question,\u00a0 I had always focused on the Devon bull\u2026.this is the first time I realized the replacement heifer is part of our problem reaching the commercial industry.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Bill R:<\/b>\u00a0 I will guarantee you those cattle grazing mature pasture get far more than 3 pounds of seed heads per day. \u00a0The Omega 3 profile does not change until the concentrate percent of ration is far higher than nature has to offer under normal conditions.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n However, you are correct that perception is what matters. \u00a0I still believe that \u201dforage natural” in the commercial sector will evolve of necessity due to environmental conditions. \u00a0The purist consumer may not want it, however the number of people who like the taste of grain fed but might be open to a healthier choice outnumber the grass purist consumers 10,000 to one.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n David<\/b>:\u00a0 I really don\u2019t think the people who like grain fed have any idea what they taste.\u00a0 I haven\u2019t had a steak in a restaurant in years that was not well-seasoned before it ever reached my plate.\u00a0 More than that, the tenderizing has made steaks so mushy I really would prefer a tough one to what I\u2019ve been served.\u00a0 And just as steak in the supermarket is colored\u2026I\u2019ll bet you it is \u201cflavored\u201d too.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n However\u2026.I don\u2019t expect to make any converts with this argument.\u00a0 As I said, the government has now made labeling irrelevant.\u00a0 We\u2019ve lost the fight\u2026.except where we can directly encounter a customer.\u00a0 For some time, \u201clocal\u201d\u00a0has been a far more powerful marketing word for us than\u00a0grass fed.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Sue:<\/b>\u00a0 Before we get all tied up in the debate about whether animals on grass seed are actually getting grain, it’s important to consider a couple of things (and I say this after working on some grass fed standards for PCO\u2026..\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n We need to differentiate carbohydrates as starch vs. sugar.\u00a0And we need to look at the amount of carbohydrate in grass seed head – vs. that in grains.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n I have table values somewhere from that discussion but trust me that the carbs in grass are waaaaaaaaaaay less than in grain, and tend to be sugar based.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n And we need to look at how we want Devon in the market:\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 As terminal crosses?\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 As pure bred stock?\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Take a look at what they can do now – and use that ability to place them where they are most useful.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n David:<\/b>\u00a0 I think Sue has brought us back to an important point\u2026there may be many roles for Devon.\u00a0 For our Traditional Devon imports from England, we are focused on finding and maintaining breed purity.\u00a0\u00a0 If we want to serve other markets\u2026.then I guess that is what each of us decides for our individual herds.\u00a0 As I said to Bill Roberts at the beginning of this exchange: the Devon in England have been diluted by cross-breeding\u2026.and by feeding grain.\u00a0 Their winter housing adds still another dimension.\u00a0 Their summer grass is also far superior to ours\u2019.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Right now\u2026.I\u2019m for doing what we reasonably can to improve our grass\u2026.we will seed in some Italian rye, as Jim Gerrish recommends,\u00a0to see if it is economically worth it in our operation\u2026.and trust to Billy Bob Jim\u2019s minerals to supply the rest.\u00a0\u00a0 This winter, we\u2019re definitely seeing a kick from the alfalfa hay, in addition to our cafeteria mineral program, so we will\u00a0continue that with the young ones.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Sue:<\/b>\u00a0 Again, we can select for those traits we want in our particular herd\/functional group.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n And no one says we have to dance to anyone else’s music – though it’s nice to be able to make a profit as we waltz to our own tune!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The other day some of us got into a discussion, via email,\u00a0about breeding heifers.\u00a0 But as these things go, we wandered off topic quite a bit.\u00a0 When I signed off, I realized that\u00a0 there might be some thought-starters in our ramblings for readers of this blog and so I have reproduced it here with the permission of the participants. Taking part were myself, and our two partners in Traditional Devon, Bill Walker and John Forelle, as well as two people whose counsel we frequently seek out: Bill Roberts of 12 Stones Grasslands Beef and Dr. Sue Beal, a holistic vet in Pennsylvania.\u00a0 The give-and-take began when I posted a video produced by one of our partners in England, Juliet Cleave.\u00a0 (If you haven’t seen it, scroll down to “It’s Showtime” below.) Here’s how it went: David:\u00a0 When you have six minutes, treat yourself to a fun video put together by one of our English friends and partners\u2026.Juliet Cleave.\u00a0 She\u2019s a Cornwall and Devon girl whose family goes way back\u2026.more than 100 years\u2026raising Devon on the same land.\u00a0 She put together some old pictures from her farm with her herd today.\u00a0 I think Grandpa would be proud.\u00a0 No point to this\u2026.you just deserve a break. Bill R:\u00a0 Wow! \u00a0There was a tremendous point to this. \u00a0The progress in quality of cattle illustrated is dramatic. \u00a0Those are phenomenal cattle on just grass and dispel the myth that Devon cannot be bred effectively until 24 months – an issue that has stalled them from popularity among commercial folks.\u00a0 I believe your group importing these genetics could fulfill the hopes for Devon in America. Congratulations on your historically significant efforts.\u00a0 David:\u00a0 A couple of thoughts on this\u2026..\u00a0 First, our heifers here at Thistle Hill are maturing very rapidly.\u00a0 So much so that at 1 year and 3 months Wooz has been lobbying me to breed them soon.\u00a0 Needless to say, while they seem big enough\u2026.I\u2019m nervous about that.\u00a0 Second, we were amazed at the recent improvement in Juliet\u2019s herd in Cornwall\u2026improvement I\u00a0 credit\u00a0 to the bull she had just purchased before\u00a0our earlier visit\u2026..a Millennium Falcon brother, the first bull we selected for our English effort!\u00a0 But to burst the bubble just a bit:\u00a0 keep in mind English breeders bring their cows into sheds in the winter and onto straw bedding.\u00a0 And almost all feed what they call \u201cnuts\u201d in addition to hay.\u00a0 Nuts are a pelletized feed\u2026..barley the main ingredient\u2026.but other things as well.\u00a0 \u00a0I think that being under cover\u2026.not getting wet\u2026.and with the warmth of the other animals\u2026.decent hay and the nuts\u2026.the cows in England continue to grow in the winter.\u00a0 I appreciate you pointing this out though.\u00a0 I am going to monitor the situation with our heifers more closely. \u00a0I hope you\u2019re right that we may well be raising heifers that can breed more in line with commercial requirements.\u00a0 Wouldn\u2019t that be a nice plus!\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Bill R:\u00a0\u00a0 Personally I believe to be commercially viable; we should push our heifers to grow as much as possible in the first year and a half. \u00a0Ideally, the grass should be high enough brix to do it alone. \u00a0If it is not, meeting their nutrient requirement with hay or even a touch of barley or oats is within reason. \u00a0Being a purist and starving cattle is no virtue. \u00a02 – 3 pounds of grain per day in the winter allows their rumen to function properly for forage and yet helps them get where they need to be.\u00a0\u00a0 When commercial producers have money borrowed to pay for cows, they cannot wait for the first calf for 36 months. \u00a0They need a calf ASAP. \u00a0Angus have been developed to breed at 14 – 15 months and calve by the time they reach 24 months. \u00a0To enter in to the commercial market, Devon needs to be able to do the same. Bill W:\u00a0 I have been listening and reading discussions for 30 years on when to breed heifers.\u00a0 I think it depends on your\u00a0circumstances.\u00a0 There is certainly the argument that a commercial cattleman needs his cows to calve at 2 years and every year afterwards.\u00a0 There are purebred breeders that also think this works best for their situation.\u00a0\u00a0 I think it is important to make this decision after you have evaluated the heifer\u2019s weight, age, and body condition.\u00a0 Also, for that particular heifer you need to consider what season she is going to calve in your environment.\u00a0 We (importing English genetics for Traditional Devon) are in a unique situation. If we let our heifers calve when they are 3 years old we will have a better mama and a better calf.\u00a0 I expect the elite animals to continue production late into their teens.\u00a0 My goal is 19 years and we have achieved this with some of our genetics.\u00a0This would give a solid 14 to 16 calves during the lifetime of a mama cow.\u00a0 David:\u00a0 Right at the moment I can only say we\u2019re having no trouble growing these heifers\u2026.though we are using alfalfa hay along with mixed orchard grass hay. Bill R:\u00a0 We have bred some of our heifers at 16 and 17 months. \u00a0They calve just fine but because we were totally on poor to medium fair grass, they did not complete growing until their second calf was raised. \u00a0Some did not breed back for their second calf until they gained in condition.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Two points:\u00a0 1) Some Devon grow more rapidly and can be bred early more effectively (the general rule of thumb is a heifer is big enough to breed at 750 #’s whatever age that happens) 2) The quality of forage and overall nutrient availability makes a big difference in growth rate. David:\u00a0 There\u2019s a trade-off of course between early calving and calving mortality.\u00a0 I think most of the breeders I know calve at 3.\u00a0 We have had much more success calving an older heifer.\u00a0 Obviously all this is a judgment call depending on the appearance of the heifer.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sue:\u00a0 This is an interesting meander.\u00a0\u00a0 The housing of the cattle over winter is a big thing – then they are not using energy to keep warm, but to grow. We know that, depending on temperature, wind, mud, wetness, etc., their energy requirement will increase by 30-50plus% out in the weather. I can find those numbers again for you if you want.\u00a0\u00a0 David echoes what I was going to write, though:\u00a0 \u201cObviously all this is a judgment call depending on the appearance of the heifer\u201d.\u00a0 Certainly if she is starting to fat at a younger age, we need to get her doing something. Or eat her. If she is not, then perhaps wait to impregnate.\u00a0 Alternately – impregnate regardless of tendency to early fat – and sort it out on the other end of things: those young mommas that do well with that “early” breeding and use them to build that type of herd. The latter may make more sense than the former, really.\u00a0 There is no reason that we cannot select – on grass and outside – young stock that turn fat earlier\u2026\u2026 and generate a subsection of animals that will breed w\/ the industry. (Ditto w\/ the other approach, too.)\u00a0\u00a0 I still have to think, though, at the overall calf\/cow count when they are bred a little later\u2026.. And perhaps that doesn’t matter for industry? And perhaps it won’t be so when we are working with that group of early breeding and successfully down the road animals. In fact, that’ll probably be the case – they’ll breed early, be good mommas in that and subsequent pregnancies, rebreed, and calve many times.\u00a0\u00a0 And that statement (more lifetime calves w\/ later breeding) did not take into consideration anything but linear time age of the animal – not condition or fatness at age x or feed or\u2026..\u00a0 John:\u00a0 Is the “two year rule” unique in your experience to\u00a0Devon?\u00a0 If it is such an impediment to spreading\u00a0Devon we should be trying to\u00a0experiment to\u00a0find ways around it rather than slavishly follow it.\u00a0 Since we will have a relatively large number of full Cashtiller\/Jaunty sisters, why not breed half of them (a cross-section, not necessarily the best ones) as yearlings and see if there is a difference?\u00a0 David:\u00a0 No.\u00a0 But I would say most breeders fall all along a line from breeding at 16 months up to just over two years.\u00a0 There are those who have an arbitrary weight, such as 750 pounds; others want a certain percentage of mature weight, for instance two-thirds.\u00a0 So if the cow is 900 pounds, they want to breed the heifer at 600.\u00a0 We start looking at the heifer a about two and generally breed within the next few months.\u00a0 Sue:\u00a0 To breed at some arbitrary weight should depend on the weight of the adult cow. For example, if her mature weight is 850, then waiting until 750 may be relatively too long\u2026.. if her mature weight is 1500,\u2026\u2026.\u00a0 Degree of fat is perhaps a better assessment.\u00a0\u00a0 And also remember, regardless of weight, they don’t have full mouths until six years or so – so we are breeding developmental “babies” in a sense.\u00a0 Bill W:\u00a0 I do not believe we should consider feeding grain to our cattle as an option. \u00a0Alfalfa is certainly forage that can be used to supplement. \u00a0There is a growing movement that is concerned about GMOs (genetically modified organisms). \u00a0As Round-up ready alfalfa becomes more available, we may have to address this issue.\u00a0 I believe it is important for us to be totally and impeccably\u00a0forage-based. \u00a0If someone wants to call\u00a0us a purist, so be it. Bill R:\u00a0 Just in case I am maligned for being for grain feeding, I am not; quite the reverse. \u00a0However, cattle country is one step away from disaster conditions. \u00a0There will be some compromises made this year on individual farms and ranches or they will be hauled in by the Animal Nazi’s for animal abuse. David:\u00a0 The trouble is that with the help of our government, Big Ag is eradicating the labeling difference and eventually the public perception that there\u2019s any difference.\u00a0 I already hear customers say they can now buy grass fed beef at the market\u2026.and of course it is not \u201cgrass fed\u201d, certainly not \u201cgrass finished\u201d by our definition.\u00a0 You can now even grow a cow in confinement and call it grass fed\u2026.\u00a0\u00a0 I think we\u2019ve lost this battle forever which means our customer base is going to be those meat customers we can actually engage in serious conversation or those really serious \u201cfoodies\u201d who seek us out.\u00a0 I agree with you Bill about the protocol for raising our Traditional Devon; grass period\u2026.but I appreciate Bill Roberts\u2019 thoughts on this issue.\u00a0 For the larger Devon marketing question,\u00a0 I had always focused on the Devon bull\u2026.this is the first time I realized the replacement heifer is part of our problem reaching the commercial industry.\u00a0 Bill R:\u00a0 I will guarantee you those cattle grazing mature pasture get far more than 3 pounds of seed heads per day. \u00a0The Omega 3 profile does not change until the concentrate percent of ration is far higher than nature has to offer under normal conditions.\u00a0 However, you are correct that perception is what matters. \u00a0I still believe that \u201dforage natural” in the commercial sector will evolve of necessity due to environmental conditions. \u00a0The purist consumer may not want it, however the number of people who like the taste of grain fed but might be open to a healthier choice outnumber the grass purist consumers 10,000 to one.\u00a0 David:\u00a0 I really don\u2019t think the people who like grain fed have any idea what they taste.\u00a0 I haven\u2019t had a steak in a restaurant in years that was not well-seasoned before it ever reached my plate.\u00a0 More than that, the tenderizing has made steaks so mushy I really would prefer a tough one to what I\u2019ve been served.\u00a0 And just as steak in the supermarket is colored\u2026I\u2019ll bet you it is \u201cflavored\u201d too.\u00a0 However\u2026.I don\u2019t expect to make any converts with this…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,24,42,27,26,47,36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-breeding","category-england","category-gerrish","category-government","category-roberts","category-roundtable","category-traditional-devon"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thistlehill.net\/wpblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1606","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thistlehill.net\/wpblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thistlehill.net\/wpblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thistlehill.net\/wpblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thistlehill.net\/wpblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1606"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.thistlehill.net\/wpblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1606\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1607,"href":"http:\/\/www.thistlehill.net\/wpblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1606\/revisions\/1607"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thistlehill.net\/wpblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thistlehill.net\/wpblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thistlehill.net\/wpblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}