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The happy marriage…
…of two great English herds at Thistle Hill. TDA 31 is an embryo heifer from Goldings Farm in Cornwall and Ashott Barton Farm in Somerset. 31 is Exhibit A in what we hoped to achieve with our pursuit of pure traditional English Devon genetics. We would be hard-pressed to find some way to improve her. The dam was Goldings Norah who we discovered in Ivan Rowe’s pastures at Lands End. Ivan told told us to select any cow we wanted from his herd of more than 100 Devon. He’d wait for us back at the house. Wooz and I trudged back and forth in the rain all afternoon before settling…
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An early morning stroll…
…but with a purpose. This part of the herd has finished strip grazing the East pasture and is moving to fresh grass in the West pasture. This is not the entire herd…just the mamas with their steer and heifer calves. At about eight months we move the bull-calf pairs to an auxiliary field. An important thing to note is how well-behaved our Devon are. Church is taking this picture and they come at his whistle…no shouting, or whips or dogs. Of course the cows know there’s ice cream at the end of this trail, and though there’s pretty good grass where they’re walking, they want to do as Church asks.…
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Holding you hostage…
…hackers have been targeting American consumers recently…by going after fuel and food. First the cyber-attack on Colonial pipelines which cut off gasoline supplies on the East Coast. And now the second largest meat packer in the US has been hit. Apparently Russian hackers are behind this one and demanding a ransom. The two attacks demonstrate how foolish we have been to allow the huge conglomerates to take hold. A neighboring cattleman Joel Salatin addresses the problem here. https://www.thelunaticfarmer.com/blog/6/2/2021/mmiidpz556j8jmsaopt0ta7peswvdg David
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The magic of grazing…
This photo by son-in-law Curt Humphreys captures the harmonious relationship among soil, grass, animals and sky that is an on-going process on the pastures of Thistle Hill. There are no losers in this kind of farming…the soil, the grass, the cows and the environment all prosper. And the farmer does, too. It’s easy to lose sight of the Big Picture but every once in awhile we come across a kindred spirit, such as Suzanne Nelson Karreman in North Carolina, who puts it into words better than most of us can. She deals with the holistic nature of this kind of husbandry…yes, including the ultimate death involved. https://reverencefarms.com/ruminants-make-more-life-than-they-take/ David
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The war against red meat…
…seems to have gathered some steam in recent years. Undoubtedly there’s new…and serious…money (Bill Gates) behind the campaign. We haven’t given much thought to what has always seemed like a religious cult…but here’s an Australian who confirms what I only suspected. Vegetarianism goes way back in history but really only flourished near the end of the 19th century when it attracted the attention of the 7th Day Adventists…and yes (following the money) Big Businessmen in Battle Creek, Michigan. Their business was cereal…does the name Kellogg ring a bell? In fact there were about 100 cereal manufacturers in the new industry…all centered in Battle Creek…and all now Adventists and vegetarians. That…
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Just a quick tour…
…this past weekend. (Warning: no pigs; they’re off at freezer camp) First stop the shipping pen where this four-year old bull is waiting for his ride to a commercial operation in southwest Virginia. Clark Family farms have been good friends and customers for a number of years. The Clarks also selected one of our young English bulls with Tilbrook Cashtiller genetics. For three years running Cash’s sons topped the English national sales. At one of our auxiliary farms we checked the progress of some of our other yearlings…three pure English calves and their dams. In recent years we’ve found it best to separate the bull and heifers calves at about…
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The butcher’s breed…
…was the name the English gave to the Devon. That was because of the quality of Devon meat. It was about that time that the leading English agriculturalist Robert Bakewell pronounced Devon the perfect cow…in no further need of refinement by crossing with other breeds. At Thistle Hill we have devoted our time and resources duplicating that early English Devon…and by coincidence the other day some of cows lined up demonstrating what we are trying to achieve. I guess the larger one in the center helps demonstrate the uniformity of the rest of the herd. She’s part Senepol bred to a Devon bull, an experiment we tried to demonstrate the…
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Words unnecessary…
He’s doing his part…are you?! David
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Thistle Hill alumni club…
…features our Equinox at home at Spring Pastures farm near Middletown, Maryland. Equinox is packed with our best pure English Devon genetics…Churchill on one side…Buttercup on the other. It’s the second bull Thistle Hill has supplied to Brooke Henley and Tom Garnett. Brooke is excited by his first calves…eight so far, all vigorous and thick. We’re excited by the grass on Brooke and Tom’s pastures! The combination of that forage and Devon genetics will result in top quality meat! David
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It’s official…
…Spring is here! We know because the interior portable electric fencing has gone up and our cows have begun their strip grazing. From now through the first of the year the main herd will be allocated about an acre of pasture at a time. To tide them over the summer slump when grass nutrition value declines, we’ve seeded in a heavy stand of clover…three types of clover…including a red and white variety we’re experimenting with and a New Zealand white clover we’re used before. So far this year we’ve been blessed with favorable growing conditions. The clover had plenty of time to establish before the grasses came on. David