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The bottom of the barrel…
…the stockpile barrel, that is.If there is a key in cattle raising, it is to avoid feeding hay at $100 a ton for as long possible. Here Church opens one of our last stockpiled pastures and the cows don’t need a second invitation. Video by Church Humphreys Native grasses here for the most part but will satisfy them until AI is scheduled for mid-month. Then we will bring a cover bull in and hope the grass will last until the end of the month. There’s 22 acres of grass left just across the road…tantalizing but Church has decided to feed that to our steers destined for meat. David
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Parade of cows…
…time to get back to business with a quick look at our main herd. Leading the way to fresh grass is an English pure traditional Devon, TDA 5. She was originally assigned to our partner John Forelle’s care. The cow right behind is an American Devon whose tag is illegible. But you can appreciate the uniformity. Our aim is to produce moderate-sized animals… ”sturdy” Wooz would call them…thick and deep to my eye. Grandson Church will start breeding about Thanksgiving, starting with the heifers. A family meeting is scheduled soon to finalize the pairings. The cows condition is (are?) just about perfect…a tribute to Church’s first year as herd manager.…
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Post graduate work…
As if grandson Church didn’t have enough to do running the farm and studying for an advance degree in biology…he recently took a week to attend the Frank B. Graham Cattleman’s School in Kansas. The week-long program covered every aspect of herd fertility and calving, including artificial insemination, preg checking and delivering a calf. Church, pictured below with his classmates, is second from the right. He aced his final exam with a perfect score; only the fifth attendee to do that in more than 20 years! Not long ago Church was selected by The Grassfed Exchange as one of 12 outstanding young cattlemen in the country. His goal is to…
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A lovely young maiden at Cathy Cochran’s Oak Hill Farm.
She’s just two days old but seems older. Her sire is Thistle Hill’s King David. He spent the last breeding season at Oak Hill and contributed new genetics to Cathy’s award winning herd. Meanwhile King David is back home awaiting his next assignment. David
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Here they come…
The main Devon herd stretched out across Thistle Hill at sunset. No fuss or bother as they follow grandson Church for close to a half a mile. Do they understand that luscious green grass awaits? They do certainly trust Church’s leadership and sense of purpose. Outriders, sticks and herding dogs not necessary. Once they’ve regrouped they’ll begin a daily rotation of fresh grass, roughly an acre at a time. They have to be this well trained after all because Church has college to attend and can’t be late. After a few days they’ll be waiting for him at the entrance to the next paddock. He won’t even have to whistle!…
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Lest we forget…
…another pure English heifer…half sister to the two below…Ashott-Barton Tulip is the mother…and a line that stretches back as far as there have been Devon record books. The origination was in the famed Champson herd. The sire is Cutcombe Jaunty. Our current plan for Tulip is to let her calve at 3 and then decide whether to flush her. David
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So Jim Gerrish knows….
…we practice what he preaches. The experts say the cows get about two-thirds of the best hay. The rest is not wasted but trampled in creating organic matter and feeding the microbes. Add in the fertilizing the cows do as they roam around and our fertilizer bill is precisely “zero”. We do need a minimum application of lime though…if the fields ever dry out. David
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Surprise…
The oldest cow in our herd at 16, M180, greeted us with a bull calf. Baby is an 82 pound bull calf by an English bull, TDA Highwayman. M180 was purchased from Lakota ranch years ago and has produced a string of nice calves. She preg checked open and gave no sign she was expecting. In fact, she had been at the top of the list in our discussion of potential culls. Back to the drawing board. And did you notice the new green grass now that the snow has melted? David
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An inspection tour…
…the new management took me around to check on our cows the other day. With my usual impeccable timing, we were right in the middle of a blizzard. Carolyn and Church got a close look but I stayed in the car, which promptly got stuck in the snow. But the main herd looked great…featuring a beautiful calf crop staring a Tulip youngster from England who is going to make a major impact soon. It is personally rewarding to see the farm, which was founded almost 75 years ago, doing so well under the next generations. PS: they sent a 4-wheel for me and a tractor for the car! David
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English update….
The bull calf on the left is out of a Tulip dam, a line that goes back as far as there have been herd books in Britain…about 170 years. He’s definitely a “comer”; love his head and muzzle! The heifer on the right is out of Bribery. Church spotted her dam on his first trip to England. Ten years earlier I fell for her grandmother but it took young Church to sweet-talk breeder Shiamala Comer into releasing the genetics. We’re often asked how we judge purity. Check the muzzles on these two calves. Flesh toned…clear of any spots. It also helps to know your registrar. In years past, our in-house…