You guys may have been wondering about the results of the bull naming contest.  Well we had some farming drama.  Shortly after we began the naming contest, we took Red Prince to the vet for a breeding soundness exam.  I’ll save you the gory details but they check to make sure that everything is in working order and that his swimmers are swimming.  Much to our dismay Red Prince flunked his exam decisively.  The sale was contingent upon good exam results so we called up the seller and arranged to audition a second bull – Rodeo King (shown right).  Rodeo King aced his exam and is now hard at work in the herd.

Now for the results of the contest.  Rodeo King will henceforth be named – Heff!  Nicole Ottavian and Kitty Tilson both suggested names inspired by Hugh Heffner.  Both will receive a pack of Hot Italians links, a pack of mild sausage, two lbs of ground beef, and a dozen eggs for their efforts.   Come visit Heff sometime, he’s a friendly and charming  philanderer.

Now for the more technical side of what we are trying to accomplish with Heff and how this might affect your beef.  The bull(s) are most important genetic part of your herd has he will supply 50% of you all of your calves’ genetics.  Like any good farmers we evaluate our herd carefully and try to chose a bull with genetics that will steer our herd toward our ideals.  Unlike the industrial markets which values black hide, heavy carcass weight, and high fat content we have a much more complicated set of criteria that we wish to promote with our genetics.  Our herd is strong in calving ease, parasite resistance, docility.  When looking for a sire we wanted and animal that would keep these traits, and add consistency, early maturing, and increase forage efficiency.

We think Heff is the fella we are looking for.  We selected him mainly on breed characteristics and the reputation of his previous owner.  Heff is a purebred Devon.  Devon cattle are a British breed renowned for their efficiency with forage, docility, early maturation, and tolerance to weather extremes due to their thick hide.  Devon’s have recently gained popularity in North America along with the popularity in grass fed beef.

Heffs good looks and enthusiasm for the job give us hope for a strong crop of calves next spring.  With luck we’ll be tasting the fruits of his labor in about 2.5 to 3 years.

We are excited to announce that we have two interns working with us this summer, Hannah Dubit and David Tilson.  Mind you, interns are not a new phenomenon on the farm, in fact, my grandfather and his friend Roger Mudd were some of the first interns back when Broadview was a dude ranch run by my Great-Grandad Tex Tilson.  Even Josh and I spent a summer working on the farm together a few years back.

Hannah Dubit

Hannah hails from right down the road and has been a frequent guest at our pond parties.  She is a rising senior at Mary Baldwin College and is interested in learning the business of farming and managing large livestock.  Hannah once had an egg business of her own and is experienced in animal husbandry.

David Tilson

David lives on the farm and is the son of Alan Tilson.  He has been working his whole life around the farm but this is the first time we are paying him.  David has been working mainly with the chickens before and after school.  Now that he can work full time over the summer we are looking to get him more involved with the cattle and pigs.

For any of you that haven’t seen this fascinating series about chef Jamie Oliver and his effort to change the broken eating habits of America, I highly recommend it. It is truly sad to see the detrimental effects that a broken food culture can have on health, education and communities. Its a six episode series available to watch on Hulu. http://www.hulu.com/jamie-olivers-food-revolution

I ran across two bad ideas in my travels on the internet this week.  The first is genetically modifying pigs to produce less sulfur in their excrement.  There are plenty of red flags around GMO’s but the real question  is why are we raising these animals in such a way that their waste is problem instead of a boon.  We are excited enough about our pig excrement that the location of the next pig paddock and subsequent fertilizer drop is carefully planned to spread the wealth. This effort shows backwards thinking on so many levels.

The second article is about McDonalds Opposing Cage-free Eggs.  The request was for 5% of McDonald’s eggs to come from cage free hens.  These birds are still raised in confinement and never see the light of day but they have slightly more space.  I think the Onion put it best when they quipped “Five percent would have been perfect, as I tend to get a guilty conscience with every 20th Egg McMuffin.”

The readers of Edible Blueridge Magazine have voted and given Broadview Ranch a Local Hero Award in the Best Farm category.  Each year, Edible Communities publications recognize outstanding contributions to the local foods movement through the Local Hero Awards which are voted on by readers. We are really excited to have received this award and we would like to thank our customers for their support!