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Thistle Hill alumni club….
….includes this truly international calf. The scene is Woolen, Ontario, Canada….the farm of Connie and John Moelker. The proud mom in the back is all American from Thistle Hill…from the old Lakota 48 line…one of the most noteworthy of the Devon breed. And the sire is from England…Traditional Devon’s Highwayman. Which brings us to this little guy….calved just two days ago. His mom was one of a shipment of heifers we made to Canada earlier this summer. Not the end of the story by any means. The Moelkers plan to enlarge their Devon herd and offer Devon seedstock in Canada.
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And that’s the way it is…..
….although no one is the Ag community talks about it. Health expert Dr. Joseph Mercola blows the whistle in the practice of dumping sewage sludge on pastures and crop lands. Several farms have down this in our area despite the serious concerns that have been raised about the practice. In our experience, the pastures look good the first year…but deteriorate rapidly. Wonder if the sludge kills the microbes in the soil? At least I’ve never noticed anyone doing a repeat treatment. Here’s the Mercola link: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2015/11/01/biosolids-fertilizer.aspx?e_cid=20151101Z1_DNL_art_1&utm_source=dnl&utm_medium=email&utm_content=art1&utm_campaign=20151101Z1&et_cid=DM89600&et_rid=1193536402
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Alright, this is political….
….I try to keep this blog away from politics but, reading between the lines, you can certainly tell I believe “that government is best which governs least”. And particularly when it comes to the food we eat. Yes, even the safety of the food we eat is not well-served by big government…not the federal government…or the EU…or the UN. And not by Democrats or Republicans, either! The agenda of big government is mass production because it is simplest to control. And the money is there in large-enough amounts to enable world-class graft and corruption. World-class politicians need world-class perks. And Big Government decided long ago on a political agenda that was…
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A first time for everything….
….Traditional Devon’s™ Churchill presented us with a new problem the other day. He had been dehorned several years ago but for some reason the “stump” had splintered and we found him in the pasture this way…an ugly sight but he didn’t seem particularly disturbed. We first thought one of two younger bulls had gotten into a “head-to-head” with him, testing his strength. But they seemed properly differential. It was also possible he had been scratching his head on a tree, and broke what was left of his horn. In any event, the wound was too serious to leave untreated. So veterinarian Monica O’Brien clipped off the broken ends and then cauterized…
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Not only falling leaves….
….but calves. And it’s good to have Wooz riding shotgun again as we move in to tag a heifer’s brand new calf…a sturdy young bull. Couldn’t help remember the old Angus days when we’d have to be sure mom was a long way off…preferably on the other side of a big fence…when we were tagging her baby. Now the Devon mom just stands overhead….mooing comfort to the calf…as we get the job done. This was one of two new calves…the other newcomer joins our Traditional English Devon™ herd. This young heifer is the second calf for TDA 4. Proud papa is TDA Ransom. I love the way she holds her…
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End of an era….
….the Jackpot era. At Thistle Hill, anyway. Jackpot being sized up by Charles Blankenship of Day Spring Farm in Altamont, Tennessee. As Jackpot loomed up in the morning haze, I heard Charles exclaim to himself: Wow! About two minutes later, he owned him. Jackpot is a son of Rotokawa 243….Ken McDowall’s favorite bull. We ai-ed him to one of our cows that has a habit of producing great bull calves. And when Ken first saw him five years ago he said, “David, you’ve hit the Jackpot!” Charles and his wife Madeleine are developing quality grass fed meat operation near Nashville based on Red Angus, but friends convinced him crossing…
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Boo!….
….the Thistle Hill Halloween decorations are up! Spooky picture by Duane Ard.
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Just sayin’….
Thanks Duane Ard.
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The Alpha and the Omega….
….it was one of those days that makes raising Devon both a joy and so fulfilling. We had checked the young mother-to-be a few hours earlier. Nothing. After a few errands, we went back out….and there was the latest addition to our herd. The hour or so old heifer cleaned up and waiting to be tagged. The was mother’s first….and she handled it like she had read the book. The dam is a granddaughter of a young cow we bought years ago from the Tranthams’ Leonoir Creek Farm. The sire was an English pairing: Ivan Rowe’s Snowdrop and Shiamala Comer’s Falcon. Just a few miles away, two of our bull calves…approaching two…
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There’s no place like home…2…
….our farm manager Duane Ard has had a remarkable string of beautiful photographs recently…all taken with his cell phone…all taken on our farm. On our first date, and knowing my wandering nature, Wooz told me firmly: “I want to make one thing clear…I will never leave this farm!” Yesterday, one of those moments. A young mother leads her very first calf to safety away from the herd at sunset. The Blue Ridge is the backdrop.