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A reunion…
…with my friend and mentor Jim Gerrish the other day. Jim is the acknowledged guru in the grass fed business. He first came to Thistle Hill Farm about 15 years ago and was influential in designing our grazing plan. When people rave about the taste of our meat…they’re really raving about Jim. So when I heard he was speaking at a day-long grazing conference in Boonsboro, MD, I signed right up. Jim is a retired Ag professor and runs a thousand cow feeder operation in Idaho in addition to lecturing around the world. Most of all he has never stopped learning and revisiting what he knows. If he’s ever speaking…
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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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About that “Ice Bucket Challenge”….
….our favorite farm consultant, Jim Gerrish, says “no thank you”! From his Facebook: Gerrish September 3 at 5:33pm · I agree with Jordan on my unwillingness to participate in the ALS ice bucket challenge because I do not believe sending funds to any of the so-called medical research foundations will do anything to cure these diseases. The G.A.M.P.I. (government-agricultural-medical-pharmaceutical-industrial complex) created most of our chronic health problems. Supporting them will not bring us any closer to a solution. Healthy soils and healthy foods is what creates our own health and well-being. You can better contribute to a healthier future each time you make a food purchase outside the GAMPI.
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The Thistle Hill girls are all happy….
….starting with Wooz. Grandson Church is back from his “gig” in Idaho working for “pasture wizard” Jim Gerrish. Wooz was worried about her little grandbaby with a thousand Angus after dealing with no more than a handful of our docile Devon. Not to worry, of course. Church was even the lone hand on the ranch for stretches while Jim was away speech-a-fying. The cows were happy Church was back, too. He seems to have the same “touch” his uncle has. We seldom pet our cows, but they immediately come close to win his scratches.
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Red wine shortage strikes eastern US….
….which can only mean that Jim Gerrish and I have been at the Thistle Hill cellars again. We call it a consultancy and from time to time I think we saw one of our cows, but mostly we ponder big strategic questions over Google Earth with a glass of red to clear our thinking. Actually, it is Jim who got us into Devon, rescued our pastures, and about once a year puts us back on track. This year we re-arranged some pasture layouts, plotted a few water lines, adjusted the grazing schedule and debated the future (ours’ not his). He did particularly like our young two year old bulls. Always…
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In case you were wondering….
….we’ve finally herd from grandson, Church, explaining he hadn’t written because he’s been busy herding fish and stringing thousands of feet of wire on Jim Gerrish’s Idaho ranch. The picture (click to enlarge) shows a moose sharing Church’s fishing hole. I hadn’t carefully thought out the possible ramifications of this summer job. Our grandson’s letter had three very specifics instructions to us on improving our grazing techniques! Today, he’s taking a break and attending a Gerrish lecture on real food and nutrition in a nearby town. We were just a bit surprised that Jim has to pay someone to get an audience. Just kidding, Jim, just kidding!
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Some kids have all the luck….
….our grandson, Church, for instance. He’s had the great good luck to be taken in hand by Jim Gerrish, the pasture expert, and put to work this summer at Jim’s ranch in Idaho. This is a picture of them herding fish in one of the mountain streams on the ranch. Actually it was just a break they took on the 4th of July. There’s not much to do on a big ranch with thousands of cattle. You’d think the kid could write his grandparents, wouldn’t you?
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Is it alright to be jealous….
….of your own grandson? Church has the summer experience of a lifetime….working with Jim Gerrish at his Idaho ranch. We’re going to miss his help here and we’re also a little worried that he’s going to want to change everything when he gets back. Wooz is more worried her grand-baby is going to get lost in those mountains back there. And his experience has been limited to our docile Devon herd of 50. Now he’ll be helping watch over thousands of cattle. Seriously, Jim is a rare combination of thinker and do-er. Church is now thinking he wants a career in forages. Whatever he decides, time with the Gerrish’s is…
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Yes, it’s true – 2…..
…we hope you’re following the discussion following the post we did on the Greg Judy farm and mob grazing. Pasture expert Jim Gerrish has chimed in…and I suspect the debate is not over yet. Scroll down to “Yes, it’s true….”
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Breeding heifers…and more…
The other day some of us got into a discussion, via email, about breeding heifers. But as these things go, we wandered off topic quite a bit. When I signed off, I realized that there might be some thought-starters in our ramblings for readers of this blog and so I have reproduced it here with the permission of the participants. Taking part were myself, and our two partners in Traditional Devon, Bill Walker and John Forelle, as well as two people whose counsel we frequently seek out: Bill Roberts of 12 Stones Grasslands Beef and Dr. Sue Beal, a holistic vet in Pennsylvania. The give-and-take began when I posted a video…