….billions and billions of little bugs….Mycorrhizal Fungi…we’ve been spraying on our pastures for the past few days (when the rain let up).  If you click on the picture and look at about 2:30 you can make out the spray….or right around the jet nozzle. Or you can just ask for a copy of my invoice. Actually, it’s not that expensive; about $15 an acre.  The microbes are said to do all sorts of things to the soil and grass: release minerals, balance pH, increase yield, thicken stands, etc, etc. This particular product is Terra One and we’ve used it before with good results.  It’s really easy to mix and I…

….two heifers with fairly new calves move from the “nursery” paddocks across the road to join the main herd.  It turned out they just missed all the excitement.  (See previous post.) These two little ones have been playmates since birth.  One stuck around for awhile…..and after five minutes or so the other one came back….”bawled” him out….and then the two trotted off to their moms and the herd. All in all, it was the kind of day that makes raising Devon so rewarding!

….to Philip Carter Winery.  Well, at the winery. The Hume, Virginia vineyards is hosting a “welcome Springtime” party tomorrow, May 17th, from noon to 7.  And the day of fine wine, good music and special foods is made even more special with the featured attraction:  12 local farmers have been invited to set up tents and highlight their products. We’re honored to be one of the “lucky dozen” and it was a close call.  We’ve been out of meat since last Fall but we arranged a quick harvest of one of our animals and Blue Ridge Butchers got us some hamburger right at deadline.  So whether you’re an old customer…or…

….sorry, the links on the previous four posts have now been fixed.  WordPress instituted a “new and improved” system for linking and it took a while for me to notice….and even longer to fix. Sorry for the inconvenience.

….spotted in Cornwall….a politically-correct sentiment.

….way out at the tip of southwest England…in fact, you can just make out the American colonies over the horizon.  That’s my mate….and my other “mayt”…Ivan Rowe at Land’s End.   Ivan’s Goldings farm is home for a number of our Traditional English Devon and Wooz and he are looking at a definite candidate to be next. The trouble is the darn Schmallenburg virus which has clamped a lid on exports of all genetic material.  Right now we have about 25 embryos tied up by the embargo so there’s not much sense in going ahead with more flushes. Ivan is even older than me (ok, by a couple of weeks) but…

….the main herd moving into the pen for preg checks.  With stocking rate just about max, we’re putting more pressure on selection but the cows wouldn’t cooperate.  They’re all pregnant. We used two bulls this year to keep the genetic lines separate:  U2 and Jackpot.  U2 comes out of Rotokawa 974; Jackpot from Rotokawa 688.  Both are now for sale to make room for their sons. The only open Devon was a freemartin (for our non-farm readers, that’s a female who was twinned and they’re often sterile) but we’re saving her for meat.  We understand a freemartin is outstanding in that category. It was a long day…we also had calves to dehorn and,…

  ….there’s probably no course at the police academy for this kind of emergency.  A Florida sheriff’s deputy receives a call to rescue a drowning…..Bull! http://www.aol.com/article/2014/03/31/deputy-rescues-drowning-1-000-lb-bull/20860000/?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl9%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D459508#!slide=2511948 Thanks to Church Matthews for the link.