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Et tu, NIH?
One of the rewards of what we do is talking to our friends and neighbors as they get their latest grass fed beef and pork fix. There were a couple of those conversations yesterday. One about the federal study that says the low carb diet is best for losing weight after all….and another with a woman who says she depends on the perfect fats in grass fed beef to supply just the right amount of fat she needs. We’ve ranted here before about the nonsense masquerading as science that comes out of not only the government but the medical industry. Anyone for the food pyramid? Now, though, this latest study…
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Those who can’t….
….well you know the rest. And it’s certainly true in the cattle business. Some of the best-known consultants have never really successfully managed a herd, much less produced a notable cow. You can check. But here’s a Devon cow bred by a consultant, Bill Roberts of 12 Stones Grassland Beef, that would be a star in any herd. Her name is 12 Stones Maxine and she traces her roots back to the Lenoirs Creek and Lakota farms. Bill not only produces beautiful animals but does a limited amount of consulting when he can fit it in between finding grass steers for processors and running a mineral business. I hope you’ve been tracking…
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Congratulations….
…to our British colleague, Gavin Hunter of Tilbrook Grange, for the success of his new young bull, Victory. Victory won the recent three-county show in England and is the latest of a string of triumphs for Gavin and his bull program. Victory is 21-months old, the son of Tilbrook Kiwi. Unfortunately he doesn’t quite meet the stringent pedigree requirements we have for our Traditional English Devon project but we think he’s going to be a big success in England and we just thought you’d like a look at him. Tilbrook Cashtiller, of course, is the keystone of our Traditional Devon program and she’s sired a string of England’s top-selling bulls. …
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Just by coincidence…
I had barely finished writing my post below warning that grass fed farmers needed to carefully consider before shipping their animals into the commercial marketplace. My point was that designing your animals for “The Box” is what got the meat industry into trouble in the first place. It’s an easy way to sell your steers, assuming you produce them to the required size, but I wanted to point out it was possibly the proverbial “bargain with the Devil”. (Why didn’t I think of that phrase sooner?) The big food processors have been buying up the smaller organic and natural labels and inevitably, I argued, that will lead to the corruption…
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A 7,000 year-old cow….
….a painting found on the wall of a cave in the Sahara. Actually more than one cow. We think we can make out 7. Hard to see but much better if you click on the picture to enlarge. Thanks to our dear friend in Germany, Gisela Volkert, for sending it to us.
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The developing grass fed beef market (Part 2)….
Bill Roberts’ dissent from the old bromide perception is reality reminded me of another: “Each man is entitled to his own opinions, but not his own facts”. It’s generally attributed to the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan but goes back a lot farther than that. And while we have some serious concerns over Bill’s article (see Part1 just below), we accept his basic fact: to meet the requirements of the commercial meat trade a steer must have a hanging weight of at least 600 pounds and that requires a live weight of more than 1,000 pounds. That’s Bill’s major concentration right now….putting together trailer-loads of grass steers…to be sent to processors. To…
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The developing grass fed beef market….
There is no one in this business of grass fed beef whose opinions I value more than Bill Roberts of 12 Stones Grasslands Beef. Bill has not only an education in the field but years of experience in all levels of raising and marketing cattle. While a staunch advocate for natural food he has also been a critic of some of the fads and, let’s face it, the nutty theories of some of the well-known grass gurus. A recent article got us thinking…and worrying just a bit. And while I don’t disagree with his facts, I’m not sure I want to follow where they’re leading. So let the discussion begin! …
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We invite your attention….
….to two new “boxes” on our home page. The first, is a link to Traditional Devon. For the past two years, much of our time has been spent in England searching out the very finest genetics for import to the United States. We’ve also tried to isolate what remains of more traditional Devon herds in the process. The idea is to provide more breeding latitude in the United States but also to preserve, in one location, beautiful English Devon as they once were. The link is www.traditionaldevon.com The second is a box that links to animals that we have for sale. It’s separated into three sections: cows, bulls and heifers. While…
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Sharpening their saw….
We slipped across the Potomac river yesterday to join a group of grass farmers who belong to the Maryland Grazing Network in a day-long seminar. About 40 farmers spent the day discussing grazing techniques, cattle and financial planning. Here they’re studying a summary report of 10 years of operation at host Myron Martin’s dairy farm near Knoxville. About halfway through that decade, Myron made the switch from conventional to grass fed dairying. The bottom line: the decision doubled the profit per cow on an already profitable operation. His per cow profit is triple that of the average Maryland dairy farm. The featured speaker was Dr. Sue Beal, a Pennsylvania holistic vet, staff…
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Two pin-up girls….
Our email brought some lovely pictures from Regina Tesnow of Waynesboro, Tennessee. She’s produced two great young heifers, thanks in part to Thistle Hill’s bull Magic. Ruby Red Slippers is just six months old and showing all the lines and volume of her dad. Her half-sister, Scarlett O’Hara, is several months younger, but looks ready to challenge for “princess of the herd”. We recently sold a Magic son but think we’ll keep the other. Magic has short legs carrying a powerful lot of meat! And a gentler bull there never was. We think Regina and Tom are doing a terrific job for Devon in Tennessee and suggest you check out their…