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Trust me…..
….just get a cup of coffee and shut out your world for a few minutes and relax with the “real world”. http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=BUOQ_yPW_0s Thanks to our good friend Bill Roberts of 12 Stones Grasslands Beef for sending this along.
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The Pitchfork Protest gathers steam…
Our friend, Rich Hamilton of Amelia, Virginia, reminds me that the so-called “Pitchfork Protest” in Fauquier county has gone statewide. A bill is being introduced in Richmond to prevent local governments from limiting the sale of on-farm products and hosting activities. Some “big guns” are joining for a news conference and this press release has all the background. http://fauquierfreecitizen.com/lingamfelter-introduces-the-boneta-bill-in-response-to-property-rights-infringements-by-government/
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Don’t want no Diesel Bull….
We never know what phrase is appropriate to describe our friend Kit Pharo. He sells bulls but that doesn’t begin to cover it. For 20 years, Kit has waged a one-man crusade for more moderate sized, low-input bulls (and herds). His thinking has influenced thousands of cattlemen into transforming their herds into more sustainable, profitable businesses. Now Kit has come up with a phrase suggested by a South African cattleman, who says with high energy costs stretching as far as we can see, survival depends on abandoning what he calls “grain fed diesel bulls for grass fed Solar Bulls”. You can read the article…and other valuable information….in Kit’s monthly newsletter.…
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Putting “happy” into your New Year….
Just an excuse to wish all our friends in the Devon world….and our friends who share our fondness for Thistle Hill beef and pork….the happiest of New Years. Certainly for many, and for our nation, the outlook may not be as bright as we might have hoped, but here’s a little quiz to help us put things in perspective. How happy 2013 is, is up to us! http://www.webmd.com/balance/rm-quiz-happiness?ecd=wnl_day_122312&ctr=wnl-day-122312_ld-stry&mb=&utm_source=December+30+News+Alert&utm_campaign=121230&utm_medium=email
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In the “calf-bird” seat….
…a favorite napping place for calves, particularly when it’s cold or wet. Certainly more comfortable than the hard ground. Mom probably likes it, too. She can key an eye on Junior while eating. Sometimes the calves refuse to move, even when we want to dump a new bale into the ring. Sometimes, we also miss the ring when we’re “dumping”….thus the bent metal. Maybe Santa Claus will see this and….
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Waiting for 422….
….patiently. When you call the herd into the pen, generally a few of the senior cows start the move and the others tag along. That’s the way they’re built. But when the senior cows all have brand new babies, they’re not going to leave them unguarded and, by themselves, the steers in the group don’t seem to get the message very well. And that can be a problem when you want one of those steers….422, in this case…to come in for his ride to the abattoir. After waiting awhile, I took the Gator and found him in the midst of the calves, helping babysit. It’s easy (sometimes) to wrangle an animal…
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It’s come to this….
….it’s easy to forget, here in Virginia, just how much our fellow farmers are suffering in most of the rest of the country. The drought most places has taken on “Dust Bowl” proportions and that’s triggered a predictable reaction: We hope they’re not fellow farmers, but some people have been engaging in the lucrative crime of “hay rustling”. http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2012/12/03/missouri-farmers-fight-rise-in-hay-thefts/
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Better than nothing….
….at least that was my reaction to a report Fox News carried on grass fed beef. Never mind that the report was buried on Thanksgiving day when no one is watching television except football fans. About the only positive notes were that grass fed beef is leaner….and that consumption is growing. Not a word about the poisons that are poured into, onto and injected inside conventional cattle. Nothing about the diseases (cancer, heart, diabetes, etc) that have been linked to the consumption of corn…in boxes and in cows. No mention of the destruction of land and water in ordinary cattle production. Nothing about the huge consumption of energy required to…
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With a lotta help from our friends….
….we were delayed in sharing the credit for the success of our Open House by computer problems but it turns out Thanksgiving is a particularly appropriate day to thank friends like Ken McDowall. Ken, the man whose Rotokawa herd put Devon back on the map, is a frequent visitor to Thistle Hill and his breeding and management advice has been invaluable. The Rotokawa herd, which has endured a lot in its journey from New Zealand, is now safe in the capable care of Henry Hauptman in Massachusetts, a responsibility Henry admits he would not have embraced without Ken’s promise to stay involved. Ken’s unselfish devotion to the breed puts the…
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Sunset at Thistle Hill….
When Wooz and our co-worker Duane Ard were out checking for new babies the other evening, they spotted this cow following her young bull calf to the water trough. Is it just my imagination or do bull calves always lead their mothers around while heifers know to follow? Duane took the picture. He’s available for weddings, as long as it’s not his.