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Young cattleman of the year….
…if you’ll permit a proud Grandpa to brag. Grandson Church has just been named one of the 12 outstanding young cattlemen of the year by the leading grass fed organization in the country. The Grass Fed Exchange will salute the 12 young men and women at their annual meeting in Santa Rosa, California in April. The Grass Fed Exchange is an organization of regenerative farmers, processors and food experts dedicated to producing the highest quality meat and dairy products on grass. Each year they give full fellowships to promising young men and women starting out in the field of sustainable grass farming. Church manages our Thistle Hill herd of 34…
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The joy of farming….
Grandson Church is taking a post graduate course in biology this winter…and a course on everything else here at the farm. It’s easy enough rolling out the hay and makes for a nice picture but…but… The trick is to get the tractor started in zero temps and the bale positioned with the plastic wrapping off so the clamps grab it at the mid-point so the hay rolls out in an even line. The cows clearly look forward to their breakfast-almost-in-bed and you can see a calf or two moving in for a bite. What the young ones really like is sleeping in the hay instead of the frozen ground! The…
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Lord of the manor…
TDA Churchill was the first bull we developed in our pure English Devon project and we now have about a dozen of his progeny in our herd. Churchill’s dam was the best Devon cow we ever saw. She was national grand champion three years running until her breeder, Gavin Hunter of Tilbrook Grange, took pity on other English breeders and stopped showing her. Just as impressive…for four straight years her sons (Churchill’s brothers) topped the national Devon show auctions. We’ll always be grateful that Gavin shared Cashtiller with Thistle Hill. Cashtiller grandsons and granddaughters are available for inspection at our Farm. David
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A year end report….
….not from us, but from our English colleague and Cornwall correspondent, Juliet Cleave. Juliet and husband Chris are partners in our Traditional Devon™ project and in recent years their hard work has vaulted their Kew herd to the very top of Devon farms…anywhere. This year-end video doesn’t begin to do Kew Devons justice….but will give you an idea. Turn up the sound!
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Good morning….
….is there anything finer than going out into the pasture in the morning and being greeting by a heifer with her brand new calf? We don’t think so. The mom is descended from one of the first Devon we purchased years ago. We liked the line but the females had bad udders and we’re also not the most caring mothers. Now, we’re glad we waited. The complete package! While we slept.
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Just like the first robins….
….spring brings out the first cattle folk looking to either enlarge or upgrade their herds…or both. Thistle Hill welcomed Connie and John Moelker of Ontario, Canada recently who were making a circuit of US Devon farms. The Moelkers had recently purchased a Devon from the Lakota Bull Test but were now looking for females. After their first inspection, they came back the next day to buy two bred heifers and four open heifers approaching breeding age. John’s comment: “We haven’t seen anything better, anywhere!” The Moelkers not only have ambitious plans for their own herd but want to see Devon more widely used in Canadian cattle circles. We took some satisfaction in…
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A new arrival….
….one of 15 calves on the ground so far. And so far, it looks like a particularly good crop. This minutes-old heifer is by Thistle Hill Jackpot out of one of our young cows from the “2” line. Once the calving is complete, we divide the cows according to the bulls we want them with. We have quite a few options, thanks to the English Traditional Devon animals in residence here. And before we get started we have to bring in a dozen two-year old heifers who have been kept at a nearby cooperating farm. In all, we’ll be breeding about 35 females starting about Christmas time. We might add that this is…
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The Thistle Hill Alumni Club….
“Shenandoah“….a yearling heifer who is the result of a pairing here at Thistle Hill. The dam is Q1 and the sire, U2 “Double Trouble”. Q1 was an older cow we sent into retirement in the South—Tomina Farms in Tennessee—but, as you can see, she’s still working for Regina and Tom Tesnow. Actually, at 8 years of age, we find a Devon cow is really right in the prime of her life. There are quite a few Thistle Hill cows at Tomina Farms and, I think I mentioned before, that Regina tends to give them “Virginia names”, thus “Shenandoah“. “Brandy Station“, another yearling heifer and another result of Thistle Hill genetics…
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Houston, we have a problem….
….it doesn’t happen often, but a Devon heifer can get in trouble with its’ first calf. That’s when good friends like Glenn Covington come to our rescue. He’s our “go-to guy” and that’s where we went when WW1 clearly had a calf hung up…one leg and nose out…one leg bent back. Glenn abandoned his Co-Op manager duties to come to our aid…with Rose Hill vet Tom Massie not far behind. Glenn had the calf out within minutes….used a blade of grass in its nose to get it breathing…just as Tom roared up. The doctor pronounced the bouncing baby boy healthy and recommended we all get out of the way to…
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Thistle Hill alumni club….
….his name is Tomina Farms Gambler….the first son of our Thistle Hill Casino. (We always enjoy Regina Tesnow’s ability to come up with new names.) Mom is Virginia Q1 and she started an excellent line here before moving on to the Tesnow’s in Tennessee. Casino is a Rotokawa 243 son.