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Fox guarding the hen house…
…that’s how the self-proclaimed Lunatic Farmer Joel Salatin describes the latest advisory committee to the USDA’s meat and poultry inspection division. Salatin joins Greg Gunthorp in pointing out that the watch dogs include solely Big Ag and its academia sycophants but leaves out any representation from the “little guys”. In fact, the big processors include two from a Brazilian giant that has been scandal-plagued in recent years. Joel writes the following to his Congressman and suggests we all do. https://www.thelunaticfarmer.com/blog/8/20/2020/open-letter-to-your-congressman David
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The Rotokawa renewal…
…takes a big jump with the purchase of about 100 straws of the top bulls ever produced by Ken McDowall. They’re all here…688, 667, 982 and all the others in a purchase Church just concluded with veteran breeder Don Minto in Rhode Island. Don was in the group that first imported Rotokawa heifers and his Watson farm was a showplace for the Devon breed. When he and Heather decided to downsize, we jumped at the chance to purchase his collection. It included not only the Rotokawa greats but probably the most famous English bull of all: Potheridge President and his son President’s Favorite. To have this much firepower at our…
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End of an era…
…with the auction of the Goldings herd in Cornwall, England. Ivan Rowe, our partner in securing the fine English genetics, passed away last fall and this past weekend his incredible animals were auctioned. Back in 2010, Ivan gave us the pick of his herd…to breed and flush. The cow I selected was Norah 21 and Ivan smiled when I made my choice. He had already pulled her pedigree out from his herd book and it was laying there alone on the dining room table when we went inside. Norah comes from a long line of champions…more than 40 when we stopped counting. Her background includes sires from both the historic…
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It’s a dog’s life…
..at Thistle Hill farm. The term may not have originated here but…
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Standing by…
A full English bull by Ashott Barton Millennium Falcon out of Goldings Norah. An imported embryo calved and raised at Thistle Hill. Really excited to see how this young three-year old boy does this fall. TDA 35 is a full younger brother to Highwayman, and has been producing amazing calves at one of our partner farms for the past two years. Here’s to hoping the trend continues! Church Humphreys
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Two little girls are we…
…on a foggy morning. Both are about 18 months out of American Devon dams…but their English sires have had an impact! The heifer on the left is out of my personal favorite…R2…an almost after-thought purchase and a cow that was a trouble free producer of great calves for 15 years. This will be her last calf. Her sire, now sold, was an English bull Wooz called Handsome Ransom. The other heifer, against the fence, has U2 in her background…as well as two English greats…Cutcombe Jaunty and Ashott Barton Millenium Falcon. As we’ve said before, we imported English genetics because pure traditional Devon are a disappearing breed in England and here. …
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A virtual hug…
…to three families who welcome Thistle Hill cows to their property. We couldn’t operate the way we do without them. Mary Schindling Perrine sent this view of her farm…our cows in the foreground…Cobbler Mountain at sunrise. Confederate raider John Mosby—the Gray Ghost—always made his getaways to Cobbler and the Union troops could never catch him. The Perrines…and the Ferro’s adjacent…provide us with 20 acres of pasture for our young heifers. We’re convinced that the tender and personal care of these two couples make our young ones even more gentle. Could I say our calves our “house broke”? Well, grandchild broke anyway. Just around the corner, the Rowland’s are keeping a…
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At the heart of our herd…
TDA7, daughter of the great Tilbrook Cashtiller who is still the finest cow of any breed we’ve ever seen! We flushed Cashtiller twice in England and nine years ago TDA7 was born here along with five sisters and two brothers. TDA7, like her mama, has aged gracefully…udders still as correct as a three-year-old. Our friend and veteran cattleman Bill Roberts spotted 7’s dam Cashtiller on a visit to Gavin Hunter’s Tillbrook farm near Cambridge, England, and his judgment was confirmed by pictures and then our first visit along with 50 other Devon breeders on the 2010 tour. It was then that we formed a friendship with Tillbrook’s Gavin Hunter and…
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The cost of doing business…
..Bayer, seeing the handwriting on the wall, has agreed to a ten-billion dollar out of court settlement to get rid of the lawsuits against its Roundup weed killer. Juries haven’t accepted the various company-friendly investigations that cleared Roundup (aka: glysophate) of any connection with the cancer deaths of its users. Ten-billion sounds like a lot but when allocated among potential claimants, its not very much. Not only that, Bayer is free to continue marketing Roundup without any cancer warning on the label. You can read the story by going to this website. David
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The Thistle Hill Alumni Club…
…and a recent graduate…Equinox. He’s a combination of our top English lines. Equinox is not quite two years old and at 900 pounds has a lot of growth yet to come. But he went right to work covering the herd at Spring Pastures farm in Maryland. The Equinox pedigree includes such top names as Falcon, Cashtiller, Buttercup…all the result of a ten year search we made through Devon country in their native England. That dark ruby red haircoat and the spotless muzzle are two guarantees of a pure traditional Devon! This is the second bull we sent to Spring Pastures Farm and owners Brooke Henley and Tom Garnett. Reddi was…