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Texas floods….
….it’s not only the human tragedy. Lois Ayelstock of Blue Ridge Meats has a link to some dramatic footage of cattle fighting for their lives. https://www.facebook.com/FoxNews/videos/10154336454526336/
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Thistle Hill alumni club….
….THF Red Lad X3, though his current owners Brooke Henley and Tom Garnett call him “Reddy” for short. He’s been at the heart of the grass fed beef business that Brook and Tom’s Spring Pastures Farm near Middletown, Maryland has been developing. You can see why they love him and why he’s one of our favorite bulls. Brooke and Tom have also done some innovative things on their farm and right now they’re experimenting with over-seeding summer annuals. You can keep up with their various experiments by going to their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SpringPasturesFarm/
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We knew her “when”….
….Thistle Hill is fortunate in the company it gets. I guess it’s because we try so many things and have become a real world laboratory. We’ve hosted visitors from around the world and learned from them all. One who stopped by last year was Sarah Flack, a young forage expert. She was writing a book (see the link below describing her visit) and now a mutual friend, Jim Gerrish, reports that Sarah’s book is coming out. We consider Jim at the top of the list of forage experts and that he would give a boost to someone new to the field is, as they say, “the mark of the man”. (You…
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Needed: short term pasture….
….in the Petersburg-Richmond area of central Virginia. A young farm couple we work with needs a pasture for about 15 cows…some with calves….for 90 days. If you can help out, please contact us here at Thistle Hill. We’ll all appreciate it. http://info@thistlehill.net 540-364-2090
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New on the scene….
….well new to me anyway. Tammi Jonas is an Australian farmer (cattle and pigs) who departed vegetarianism several years ago to become not only an omnivore but a butchers. And not incidentally, an advocate for “natural” farming. Ms Jonas recently attended a pork producers meeting in Australia and found her worst fears confirmed. Pigs are a big business with the dirty work done by little farmers but the ground rules dictated by Big Ag and Big Pharma. The situation is exactly the same here in the States. Big Pharma, Big Food… who really controls the pig industry?
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Extra company….
…..throw another steak on the grill! No, this isn’t at Thistle Hill. We thank our friend and webmaster Keith Smith for the link.
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Looking for volunteers….
….and here they are from the main herd. A big week at Thistle Hill as we implant embryos from the two heifers we purchased in England. There are four more waiting in another pasture….young cows who’ve had just one or two calves. Again, we’re congratulating ourselves for choosing Red Devon some years ago….they are calm and easy to handle in this sensitive project. You can see the current calves relaxing just outside the pen. The process takes about 10-15 minutes per cow, including moving them into the chute and headgate. Dr. Tom Massey of Rose Hill Veterinary Service did the implant work this time. We enjoy working with Tom because he…
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Eat. More. Fat.
….they’re having the same difficulty in England as here in the States….breaking down the “settled science” that fat makes you fat. In fact, the right fat makes you thin…and healthy. http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/health/672772/eat-more-fat-Britain-obesity-health-epidemic-cholesterol-NHS
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The cost of confinement….
….is generally discussed in terms of cost/benefit ratios. What is it worth to keep an animal confined to a pen, indoors…sometimes even immobilized…in order to put cheap meat on your table? (Forget, for the moment, that it is mostly unhealthy meat.) In the abstract, a few may understand that the animal is paying a terrible price but it’s not often we have its testimony. Here’s a young bull that was kept tethered for “only” a few months because bulls are “hard to handle” and he’ll be dead soon anyway. http://www.dailyliked.net/chained-bull-set-free/ At Thistle Hill, we have two bull pastures….generally about 10 bulls in each….living together peacefully….perfectly safe to handle.
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Buddy update….
….yes our rescue efforts with a twin abandoned by his dam continue. Dee Carter, our housekeeper, farm hand, and most of all, dear friend and neighbor, has made “Buddy” her particular labor of love. As his mother quickly figured out, “Buddy” isn’t “right”….hind legs crippled, hooves malformed and mostly blind. So he wanders the home pasture, trying to stay close to the herd, but often left behind. Twice every day, Dee hunts him out and feeds him two half-gallon bottles of milk replacer. “Buddy” is five months old now, generally in good health, eats grass in addition to the milk. Thanks to Dee and Wooz, he’s had some kind of a life…but now we’re trapped…