When it absolutely has to be there overnight….

….we always hope transport driver Mark Howard is available.  The other day we made a large (for us) shipment of six cows with calves and a bull to two farms in Tennessee.  The scheduled morning arrived and so did a heavy rain the night before.  That made it impossible for Mark’s big rig to get down to the pens to load directly.  So we ferried the animals in our trailer….three at a time….with our tractor standing by to pull us out of the mud, if necessary.

Fortunately, it wasn’t necessary.  Here farm manager Duane Ard (he was hoping for a raise for Christmas but we gave him a promotion instead) walks behind one group of three cows.  Note the absence of prods and sticks.  There was no shouting, either.  Thistle Hill cows generally behave themselves, particularly when strangers are watching.  It’s true…they’re show-offs.

One benefit: when you ship a herd bull like our Carolina Hobo to a new breeder like Trail White in Fairview, you know he won’t have any problems with a temperamental animal.

This has been a particularly good year for Thistle Hill as both our seed stock and our beef and pork seem to have established a “name” in their respective communities.  It makes us all the more determined to produce the finest Devon anywhere.  It is Christmas evening as I write this, and my prayer is that you have had the kind of loving, family get-together that once again has blessed our farm.