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It’s fescue weather….
We had a good solid freeze last night…the time of year that fescue pastures come into their own! The main herd has just moved into the next to last paddock. The green line is obvious but you can click on the picture to enlarge. Scientists say that the freezing temperature increases the sugar content considerably. And we’ve never been able to buy hay that tests as well in winter as our fescue. Not by coincidence this is exactly when we time our calving. The cows are in peak condition and there’s plenty of energy in the ground for nursing and rebreeding…and no endophyte toxicity around to complicate things. When the…
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Remember, the answer lies in the soil….
When we first moved to Dallas, we had an English gardener, Patrick Butterworth, who ended every letter, birthday card, and bill with the above phrase. Over time I have come to appreciate how incredibly apt this phrase describes so many systems, from the human body and how well it heals, to the garden, to the pasture and the animals on it. Diversity has been shown to be an important part of any ecosystem, whether one is looking at the boardroom, the gut flora, or the soil. For our gut flora, we want a diverse population of bacteria, archaea, viruses, and fungi that together shape our physiology, guide our immune system,…
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A new profit center….
…and it certainly fits our wellness theme. A farm in New York offers spa treatments including “cow cuddling”. For $75 an hour you can snuggle up to a cow. Seems their body temperature and heart rate are good modifiers of the human condition. Of course that’s in New York; not sure our cows will work that cheaply. Thanks to longtime Devon friend Shauna Wobeser for sharing the link. David https://beyondblindfold.com/cow-cuddling-is-the-new-wellness-trend-now-and-it-costs-300-for-a-90-minute-session/
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Red Rubies….
…that’s what our British colleagues call them…often leaving off the “Devon”. Our most recent pure English arrival reminded us again of the beautiful deep ruby red color of the traditional Devon. We use different tags for our English herd though I’m not sure why. Hide color identifies the English animals long before you’re close enough to read the tags. We began the English acquisitions initially to strengthen our Rotokawa-Lenoir Creek-Lakota genetics. Developing an entirely traditional Devon herd came later. This is what we were looking for: a descendant of the champion English cow Tilbrook Cashtiller. The American side of the pedigree is all Rotokawa/Lakota. Clearly that deep ruby red color…
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You can take the farm…
…but then you know the old saying. It wasn’t that long ago that today’s over-populated Washington suburbs were wonderful, if not terribly productive, farmland. Even up to 40 years ago, super malls like Tyson’s Corner had to demolish barns and feed stores to make way for the likes of Bloomingdales and multi-tier parking garages. Still the old day’s and ways are not forgotten. Driving down the main street in Falls Church recently I noticed a statue of a farmer feeding his pigs. Investigation informed me that the statue was erected by the family of mega auto dealer Don Beyer in 1985. Seems the Beyers started out raising pigs on a…
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Catching up…
…is hard to do. Over the years we have spent a lot of time, effort (and money) on our pastures. The results have been gratifying and we reached a point where even seed and fertilizer salesmen were at a loss to recommend anything else. But now four years of neglect caused by health issues are seeming to take their toll. The heavy rains, flooding and pugging did their best (worst), too. Weeds have moved in and there could be still more next spring filling in bare spots. Actually from afar the pastures look pretty good…but we do want to measure now and hold some pastures back as we try several…
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Clean Air – Diesel Exhaust
I had a long weekend at Thistle Hill Farm two weekends ago and loved my time there. I fixed fences with young Church, visited all the herd and delivered minerals to the different pastures, and worked on some weed-eating along the fence, done the old-fashioned way in my case- with hand clippers! I loved spending so much time outside, especially the ability to breathe in deeply the (relatively) clean air on the farm. Over the last year I have been taking an environmental health course with Dr. Walter Crinnion, learning about the ubiquitous toxicants in our air, food, and water. Even according to the EPA, there isn’t any area in…
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Why eat organic?
Earlier this week a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine showed that eating more organic foods was statistically significantly associated with a reduction in risk of cancer. French researchers reviewed the diets of 68,946 middle-aged French adults by questionnaire, assessing how often they reported eating 16 organic foods. The average time on study was 4.5 years, during which time 1,340 cancers developed. Participants who were in the top quartile of eating organic food were 25% less likely to develop cancer over the ensuing years than those in the lowest quartile. Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma was 75% less likely in the organic food eaters, and postmenopausal breast cancer was 21% less likely. I’ve…
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Welcome the latest….
…pure, traditional English Devon heifer. She’s out of a very famous English line…one that we fell in love with when we saw a Bribery heifer on Shiamala Comer’s Ashott Barton farm in Somerset. This heifer came 10 days early and is a few pounds lighter than I’d like. (BW 59 pounds) But my prediction is she’ll grow up and hit our target for a two year old heifer when she’ll be bred. I base that not only on her genetics but that recipient cow watching over her. THF 257 was Wooz’ favorite…and a steady performer. I think maybe 257 wanted baby on the ground before she got too heavy. Can…
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Red Meat and Lipids
I visited the American Heart Association website recently and it recommends getting 5 to 7% of our daily caloric intake from saturated fat. This would be the equivalent of a 1 oz cube of cheese. This perspective perpetuates the idea that saturated fat in the diet leads to high cholesterol, which leads to heart disease. A large review published in the Annals of Internal Medicine in 2014 found no link between dietary saturated fat and heart disease. In 2016, researchers reviewed data from over 40 countries and concluded that there was no link between red meat and heart disease. The problem is not red meat; it’s the high glycemic carbohydrates:…