End of an era….

….the Jackpot era.  At Thistle Hill, anyway.  Jackpot being sized up by Charles Blankenship of Day Spring Farm in Altamont, Tennessee.  As Jackpot loomed up in the morning haze, I heard Charles exclaim to himself:  Wow!

About two minutes later, he owned him.

Jackpot is a son of Rotokawa 243….Ken McDowall’s favorite bull.  We ai-ed him to one of our cows that has a habit of producing great bull calves.  And when Ken first saw him five years ago he said, “David, you’ve hit the Jackpot!”

Charles and his wife Madeleine are developing  quality grass fed meat operation near Nashville based on Red Angus, but friends convinced him crossing with Devon would not only give him a more manageable sized animal but bring along all the other desirable Devon traits.  Devon-Red Angus crosses are becoming the breeding of choice among many large grass farmers.

Photo by Duane Ard.