Introducing TDA 35….

It was 10 years ago that I walked out in a pasture Cornwall, England with a grizzled old farmer named Ivan Rowe.  Ivan was introducing me to the best herd of cows I had ever seen! More than that he was offering me my pick to breed…flush the embryos…and ship back to the States.

It took at least an hour to walk through the herd but it wasn’t a difficult choice.  I spotted my candidate almost immediately and said “how about that one”?

“Well you did choose the best,” Ivan grumped.  And from that point on he’s always called me “mate”…the highest honor I’ve ever received.  Ivan is a lifelong judge of cattle, respected by the leading breeds.  For any breeder, especially an American, to be Ivan Rowe’s mate is better than any college degree.

The cow was Goldings Norah and we transported her to UK Sires near Penzance.  (Yes Gilbert and Sullivan fans, that Penzance!). The mating was to a bull that is the basis of our pure traditional English Devon herd:  Ashott Barton Millennium Falcon. 

The first flush gave us 16 excellent embryos; and the second another dozen.  No cow has been that prolific for us.  And the two year old bull, TDA 35, above is one of her progeny, set to go to work at Thistle Hill.

David