livestock conservancy

Link to show notes. 

This week is the funeral of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh.  He was a man that dutifully served in the less-glorious position of Queen Elizabeth II’s consort for over 70 years.  His funeral procession included his faithful team of Fell Ponies, pulling the carriage that used to zip along the royal estates under Prince Philip’s guidance.

So it is truly ironic that we had our podcast release prepped today for an interview on the Cleveland Bay horse, a breed that has a much more famous patron, and often gets more attention.  Kind of like…well…(ahem).  We don’t feel too guilty about it, though, as the Cleveland Bays are a critically-endangered breed, and need as much visibility as they can get.

We’ll definitely bring you more on the sturdy and easy-keeping Fell Ponies in an upcoming podcast, but in the meantime, here is Gabrielle Gordon to tell you about the glorious, majestic, sensible, hardy and versatile equine we know as the Cleveland Bay Horse.

Links:
https://clevelandbay.org/wp/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleveland_Bay
http://www.clevelandbay.com/about-cb-horses
https://royalcentral.co.uk/uk/prince-philips-beloved-carriage-horses-take-their-place-in-the-quadrangle-158695/
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-45061341
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Philip,_Duke_of_Edinburgh
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cumbria-56692935
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/prince-philips-cap-gloves-and-whip-placed-on-carriage-in-tribute-to-his-love-of-sport/ar-BB1fKX8U?ocid=uxbndlbing
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fell_pony
https://fpsna.org/
https://www.fiddleheadpony.com/
https://www.facebook.com/ClevelandBayHorse/posts/congratulations-to-gabrielle-gordon-as-her-purebred-mare-gg-geneva-is-confirmed-/2247139258732127/

Infrastructure.  Is it a “sexy” word for most people?  Definitely not.  But to some of us, the truly exciting part is that effort now can often translate to big gains in the future. Building something that will last long after you’re gone takes time, focus, thought, and usually quite a bit of money.

You might think we’re talking about all that stuff with the massive stimulus spending swirling in the news this week, but that’s not a pile we want to step in, over or through (how many zeros are in a trillion, anyway?).  But it does bring up a point – why is infrastructure investment important?  The answer is, whether it be an investment of time, or thought, or capital, when you spend on things that will improve an item or a quality of something over time, the benefit can be magnified in the future.  The guy we’ll talk about today did just that, and he changed the face of agriculture forever.

Elaine Shirley met up with us in Colonial Williamsburg back in 2016 to give us a grand tour, replete with history.  We’re bringing you her story of the Leicester Longwool sheep breed and its founder, Englishman Robert Bakewell.  You might not have heard of him before, but his influence on agricultural genetics and perpetuating breed typing had lasting impact on not only the concept of scientific management in farming, but our view of genetics in all fields of study.  If you get an immediate mental picture of a specific breed type when one is named (e.g. German Shepherd dog), Bakewell might be the guy you should thank.  All that, and his Leicester Longwools sometimes glow like a lightbulb when you put them in the sun.

And speaking of thanks -- Elaine – you’re a true champ.  Nankins and Devons and Leicesters – Oh, My!

-------------

Links:
https://www.colonialwilliamsburg.org/
https://www.colonialwilliamsburg.org/learn/rare-breeds/
https://www.ans.iastate.edu/about/history/people/robert-bakewell
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Robert-Bakewell
https://www.leicesterlongwool.org/
https://www.leicesterlongwool.org/an-open-letter-from-dr-phillip-sponenberg
https://www.thoughtco.com/millions-billions-and-trillions-3126163
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=biggest+global+economic+crisis+in+history
https://www.history.com/topics/great-depression/new-deal
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/infrastructure

Have you ever delved into logistics?  We haven’t much either (except for a required course for a BS in Business, which involved a lot of spreadsheets, chaos theory, and 42 reams of paper).  The parts and pieces of how to get the things we need where we need them isn’t something we think about a lot  – until it actually matters to us.  But in agriculture, the process of logistics is critical, and it starts with the animal itself.  The best supply chain in the world isn’t going to help you much if the thing you’re supplying doesn’t fit the needs of the consumer.  It’s a long-term commitment when you raise animals, and getting said critter from the birth stage to the end product is sometimes the simpler part of the equation.  

Today, we have Part 2 of our podcast from Shepherd’s Lane farm in Lebanon, Oregon.  , surrounded by multitudes of little wooly gray bodies, and talked with us about his Gotlands, sheep in general, and the intricate dance that is necessary to maintain genetic lines that produce something marketable, and not just pretty.  Or hardy.  Or pest and disease resistant.  Or productive.  Or true to breed requirements.  Or…well, we won’t go on, but there’s a ton of stuff to consider when breeding sheep, before you ever get to the feed and manure part (And you thought farming was just about feeding and caring for the little guys).  

We then move out to the green, green grass of the side pasture, where Joy showed off her herding skills, though maybe the Border Collies were doing some work, too.  All that gorgeous gray shining in the sunlight was a beautiful thing to see, so we’re going to put a video up on YouTube for you on this one.

Stay tuned for our next visit with the Dallys - lambing season on Shepherd’s Lane for the Valais Blacknose project (new home of the amazingly cute panda muppet sheep).  We’ll find out if the world IS black and white, and not just shades of gray.  We do love those little curly charcoal-colored Gotlands though, so we hope it’s both.

Links:
https://www.shepherdslane.com/thedallys
https://www.etsy.com/shop/shepherdslane
http://www.toprams.com/

Welcome to the New Year, and goodbye to the old.  This is the time of year where we often look back on the past, even if it’s usually just in the form of the “best of and worst of” lists.  We’re no different, but instead of the past year, we’re looking back to the last 500 (plus 1) years.  Half a century is a long time, but it’s an anniversary to be commemorated for today’s podcast guest:  The Galiceno horse.

These little horses are little.  Did we say that twice?  It’s because they are definitely that – as in, the size of a pony (but unquestionably look like a horse).  Even so, they pack a power punch in the “capacity” realm.  They arrived with Hernan Cortes in 1519 when he invaded Mexico, and originated from genetic stock from Northwestern Spain.  Even at 12 or 13 hands and about 700 pounds, they can carry a 200-pound person all day long over rough terrain.  Maybe all that fortitude comes from laboring in the Mexican silver mines, or maybe it’s from its development as a true land-race breed over the last century.  But either way, we hope this highly-endangered animal keeps going into the future.  There are said to be less than 200 in existence, most of them non-breeding, so that’s a real concern. 

Join us as we talk to biologists Rick and Pat Blaney and Heidi Reinhardt at Suwannee Horse Ranch in Live Oak, Florida.  We’ll find out more about these wonderful little equines with stamina, quickness, intelligence, and a beautifully-smooth running walk gait.  And you don’t need a three-foot mounting block to get in the saddle, either.

And unlike some horsepower of Spanish lineage, they turn on a dime (that’s a gentle dig at the Mustang car).  A car joke – Rick can be so proud.

 
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/Galicenos-of-Suwannee-139480129479917/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel
https://livestockconservancy.org/index.php/heritage/internal/galiceno
https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/fossil-horses/scientific-names/
https://www.galiceno.org/index.html

Introduction:

We’re on the road again (albeit with a little bit more “distance” in our distance these days).  This week we’re celebrating our new favorite color – “Gotland Gray.”  We’re bringing you a conversation from last year’s Sheep and Wool festival in Rhinebeck, New York, where Amy Corey of Little River Farm told us a little bit about the characteristics and history of the Gotland – the petite-with-a punch-sheep.  And Amy is pretty good at pronouncing those Swedish/Viking/Russian words, too.

Well, maybe these guys are considered a medium-sized sheep, but they gain quite a bit of attention in the pasture, no matter what size you think they are.  The striking coats come in 50 shades of gray (we won’t go there), with a lustrous curl that is as soft as it looks.  And yes, we got to touch one, so we know for sure.  You don’t need to take our word for it if you want to see one for yourself; just go to our Backyard Green Films YouTube channel to see them “in person.”  Our wallets will be a bit lighter after a visit to the Shepherds Lane farm store, because we’re bringing some of that gorgeous color wool home to roll around in (again, we’re not going there).  Elara is planning her socks already.

In an upcoming podcast we’ll speak with Martin and Joy Dally here at Shepard’s Lane in Oregon, to tell you a little bit more about what it takes to get a Gotland -- and other breeds of sheep -- across the pond to the U.S. these days.  If you’re not bringing them on Viking ships, that is.

 Links:

https://sheepandwool.com/
https://www.littleriverfarmstore.com
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gotland_sheep
https://americangotlandsheep.org/
https://spinkandco.com/7-properties-of-wool/
https://www.livescience.com/52755-sheep-facts.html#:~:text=%20%20%201%20Ovis%20ammon%20%28argalis%29%2C%20with,nivicola%20%28snow%20sheep%29%2C%20with%20four%20subspecies%20More%20
http://www.sheep101.info/sheeptypes.html
https://www.sheepandgoat.com/
https://extension.umd.edu/agsploration/students/resource-links
http://afs.okstate.edu/breeds/sheep/
https://www.britannica.com/animal/sheep
https://www.shepherdslane.com/ 
http://www.toprams.com/  

Justin Morgan DID have a horse.  And it was a beauty.  One of the quintesenntially American breeds, the Morgan horse sprang from the loins of a stallion named Figure, a.k.a. Justin Morgan(‘s) Horse.  And that was not the only Spring that Sprung, as anything that trots or drives in North America probably can thank Mr. Morgan, piano teacher and blacksmith on-the-side for participating in the cancellation of debt through livestock trading, leading to a subsequent horse breeding career (for Figure, not Justin, mind you).  Standardbred, American Quarter Horse, and Tennessee Walking Horses have all been influenced by Figure, not to mention the Hackney in jolly old England.  This little horse was cleanly-built muscle, but could pull all day and still not seem tired.  Logging?  Check.  Racing?  Check.  Trotting?  Check.  And boy, did those genes carry forward, for both temperament and looks.  

Today is Part 2 of the Morgan Horse Story.  Well, Part 2 of what we now know might be 427 parts, but we’ll save those for future podcasts.  We won’t go down the lineage rabbit hole today, but will take a few minutes to talk about one line:  The Government Morgan.  We visited the historic barn at the UVM Morgan Horse Farm in Weybridge, Vermont, where we spoke with Sarah Fauver and Kimberly Demars about the goals of a Morgan Horse breeding program.  We also stood and admired the absolutely gorgeous Willoughby, in the stall and in the ring.  He patiently took time away from his busy beauty pageant and stud schedule just to meet with us (or we’d like to think so).  Just like a Morgan Horse – a cheerful disposition, no matter what kind of work he has to do.

Links:

https://www.uvm.edu/cals/morganhorsefarm/staff
https://www.uvm.edu/cals/news/breed-apart
https://www.uvm.edu/cals/news/historic-uvm-morgan-horse-farm-announces-new-leadership-and-new-opportunities
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6690/justin_morgan
http://afs.okstate.edu/breeds/horses/morgan/index.html/
https://www.storey.com/
https://livestockconservancy.org/index.php/heritage/internal/morgan
https://www.uvm.edu/cals/morganhorsefarm/history

This week is the first part of two on the indomitable little powerhouse horse known as the Morgan.  Justin Morgan probably would have done just fine as a composer and the local town clerk, but he did have an equine that became much better known than he was (thank you, Marguerite Henry).  

We met up with Pam McDermott of Dawn Wind Morgans in Myrtle Creek, Oregon in the summer of 2017.  Pam graciously sat down and spoke with us about the connection she feels with this little horse with a big heart, and why she does her best to help to save this endangered breed.  

Next week we’ll continue the story with another Morgan interview from the opposite side of the continent, but the western half of the U.S. is feeling the pain of raging wildfires this week, so our hearts are in Oregon with Pam and her fellow Oregonians, even if we are not.  Please join us in sending positive thoughts to all those agriculturalists and foodies we’ve met with over the last few years that are feeling the pain of potential evacuation, even as we speak.

Karen, Bide a Wee Farm (Newberg, OR) http://www.bideaweefarm.com
Harless, Cozine Springs Ranch (McMinnville, OR) http://www.cozinespringsranch.com
Joy and Martin, Shepherd’s Lane (Lebanon, OR) https://www.shepherdslane.com
Bill and Lori, Shasta Ranch (Klamath Falls, OR) http://www.shastaranch.net
The Shockeys (Applegate, OR) https://ferment.works/
Adam Danforth (Ashland, OR) https://www.adamdanforth.com
Camas Davis (Portland, OR) https://www.pdxmeat.com/about
Jared Flood, Brooklyn Tweed (Portland, OR) https://brooklyntweed.com
Emily, Twisted Yarn (Portland, OR) https://twistedyarnshop.com/
Tyler and Elizabeth, Heart 2 Heart Farms (Sherwood, OR) https://www.heart2heartfarms.com
The Portland Highland Games (Portland, OR) https://www.phga.org
Mother Earth News Fair (Albany, OR) https://www.motherearthnewsfair.com
Tillamook Factory (Tillamook, OR) https://www.tillamook.com/visit-us/creamery

Links:

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/13/inslee-wildfires-climate-change-413593
https://gacc.nifc.gov/nwcc/information/firemap.aspx
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armillaria_ostoyae
https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/pendleton_woolen_mills/#.X1_IYot7kkk

As we watched the news and saw the fires ravaging over one million acres in California this past week, all Elara and I could think of were some of the people we've met along our journeys, and their proximity to the danger zone.
 The fires in the west have only gotten worse each year.  Whether you believe in climate change or not, there is one thing for certain...weather patterns are changing. If it's severe rain and flooding, hurricanes, earthquakes, or fires...it not only affects people, but their livestock, crops and their livelihood. This in turn affects you...the consumer. So, today we are bringing you a couple of interviews from two people who raise livestock in Northern California.  As we release this podcast, they might have to evacuate their home or place of business at any minute.

Links:
https://www.metzerfarms.com
http://www.klearyfield.com
https://www.fire.ca.gov
https://livestockconservancy.org

We’re back!  When all was said and done, the Great American Cattle drive chalked up 8,500 miles, 22 states, 38 days and a partridge in a pear tree.  And everything the caretakers (nieces and nephews) were in charge of was still alive upon our return – plus a few extra as-yet-to-be-determined biting things inhabiting the house.  We still don’t know what those are, but we do know that when things change in nature – subtractions (us) and additions (the kids) – it can sometimes impact everyone’s general environment until the balance is once more restored.

The Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah, Iowa is working on just this “balance” concept.  This non-profit organization not only saves seeds, grains, fruits, berries and other crops, but it redistributes them, too, so their diversity can bring the elasticity needed to not only a healthy ecosystem, but a healthy food supply.  One of the things they do well is to look at the big picture, which is why their Homestead Farm also is using heritage animals as well as plants.  In this case, the animal breed is one that we’ve been wanting to see for about 3 years now, and a cross-country trip through Iowa was just the opportunity. 

Jim Edrington, the Facilities Manager at Seed Savers, took us right into the fields with the wonderfully (somewhat still) wild Ancient White Park Cattle (We’re not sure he had all of those cute calves out there just for great footage, but we’d like to think so).  This very rare breed is one of the most genetically distinct in the cattle world.  It has a history in the thousands-of-years-range, and the recent stuff in their lineage reads like an action thriller as well.  That’s pretty apt, as they’re still one of the less-domesticated domesticated breeds of cattle out there, and are definitely not for beginners.  Their calm but wary demeanor was in full view when we visited, and it was easy to imagine these beauties on the pastures and in the forests of England eluding the nobles that hunted them as game.  Self-sufficient, thrifty, great foragers, excellent mothers, and apparently not cowed (ha) by an ATV carrying a film crew in their pasture.  These are the perfect pasture restoration and conservation grazing animals for the Seed Savers Exchange, and they are doing that job beautifully.

Links:

https://exchange.seedsavers.org/
https://www.seedsavers.org/visit
https://www.seedsavers.org/contact
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jim-edrington-2b8b1340
http://www.bbar.com/Stewardship/white-park-cattle
https://www.rbst.org.uk/white-park
http://afs.okstate.edu/breeds/cattle/whitepark/index-2.html
http://afs.okstate.edu/breeds/cattle/britishwhite
http://afs.okstate.edu/breeds/cattle/americanwhitepark/index.html/
https://livestockconservancy.org/index.php/heritage/internal/ancient-white-park
https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/life-uh-finds-a-way

Belgium is a beautiful place in the Low Countries of Western Europe.  Rich with art, culture and a globalized economic worldview, it has had more than it’s fair share of trauma throughout its history.  It has been known as both the Crossroads and the Battlefield of Europe, and the strategic importance of this country has caused it to be used as either a tactical objective or a runway throughout its history (Just ask the Romans, the French, the Germans, the British, the Americans, the Germans, and the Americans.  Napoleon, too.).

Today, Belgium is still a crossroads, and is a leader in Europe’s globalized economic and political engine (and has great food, wonderful history, phenomenal art, waffles, and, of course, beer).  It is also said that Belgium has a more populated ratio of people to land, for it’s size.  

This might explain why the Brabant – the origination of our very popular Belgian Draft horse here in the U.S. – was what it was.  For small-scale sustainable farmers who want a very gentle draft horse that can pull more than almost any other, pound per pound (did we mention it was the heaviest of all draft breeds?), this I said to be the one to pick.  It's gorgeous and massively stocky and hits just the right note at a renaissance fair.  Unfortunately, their calmness and strength have also put them at the top of the list for things like carrying Richard the Lionheart’s knights into battle, or towing cannons and artillery to the front lines in Russia for Napoleon.

During the World Wars, the shutdown of shipping corridors caused major limitations in importation of new livestock bloodlines, which had a huge impact on Brabants here in the U.S.  Selection for trait in genetic isolation gave a fast rise to the dominance of the new breed that is now known as the Belgian Draft horse, a favorite at horse shows and with Amish farmers everywhere.  But it all started with the Brabant.  In Bruge (okay, maybe in Brabant, but it sounds good).

Exhilarating is not a word that might usually be used to describe a draft horse experience, but at Steve and Eunice Ward’s beautiful Colorado ranch, we spent an amazing afternoon that was just that.  My heart still hasn’t recovered, in more than one way.

Links:

https://www.facebook.com/eunice.ward.73
https://www.theamericanbrabantassociation.net/
https://livestockconservancy.org/index.php/heritage/internal/brabant-horse
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWRscujkPxU
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgian_horse
http://www.belgianduccle.org/belgian-duccles.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgium
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ardennais
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draft_horse
https://www.storey.com/books/storeys-illustrated-guide-to-96-horse-breeds-of-north-america/
http://imh.org/exhibits/online/breeds-of-the-world/europe/belgian-draft-horse/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Belgium
http://stablemade.com/horsecare/horsebreeds/belgian.htm

As we come to you on this Memorial Day 2020, we would like to pay remembrance to not only the men and women who have given their lives in service of our country, but also to the animals who did as well. Up until the last century, horses probably took the brunt of the wartime hit, and most severely in World War I.

Though they were used primarily in cavalry units in prior wars, and still used in that way later, they were most commonly used for logistics - supply wagons, draft horses for ambulances, and as messengers. The value of horses, and the increasing difficulty of replacing them, was such that by 1917 some troops were told that the loss of a horse was of greater tactical concern than the loss of a human soldier.

By 1917, Britain had over a million horses and mules in service, but harsh conditions, especially during winter, resulted in heavy losses, particularly among the Clydesdale horses, the main breed used to haul the guns.  During the First World War, thousands of these horses had been conscripted for the war effort, and after the war, breed numbers declined as farms became increasingly mechanized. This decline continued between the wars. And following the Second World War, the number of Clydesdale breeding stallions in England dropped from more than 200 in 1946 to 80 in 1949. By 1975, the Rare Breeds Survival Trust considered them vulnerable to extinction, meaning fewer than 900 breeding females remained in the UK.

War not only affects mankind, but our four-legged friends as well. So on this Memorial Day we thank everyone - human and animal - who sacrificed their lives.

Links and references:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horses_in_World_War_I
https://www.yprespeacemonument.com/horses-and-ww1/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clydesdale_horse
https://www.thebrooke.org/get-involved/every-horse-remembered/war-horse-facts
https://www.rbst.org.uk/
http://www.history.co.uk/shows/the-real-war-horse/articles/history-of-horses-during-wwi
http://spartacus-educational.com/FWWhorses.htm
http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2014/03/horses-world-war/
http://www.bl.uk/world-war-one/articles/animals-and-war
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horses_in_warfare

The Six Degrees of Separation concept didn’t start with Kevin Bacon, believe it or not.  We can thank Hungarian writer Frigyes Karinthy in 1929 for that idea.  But regardless of who started it, it’s very much a home truth that humankind and all of the things in our periphery seem to be connected in some way with just a few steps, if you just look to see how.

In walks Mary.  Mary Carter McConnell, that is:  Anthropologist, historian, research specialist, horse and dog breeder, specialist in the study of humankind, and just about the reference for good reading material I’ve ever met.  She has plenty of manure on her shoes by the back door, so she’s not just a book-learning-only type girl.  Much of our interview was conducted in the field, Mary with a bucket in her hand and her Cherokee and Choctaw herd surrounding her.  She explained each animal to us -- genetic line, physical attributes and behavioral characteristics, and talked about why the horses were regionally selected over hundreds of years.

We came away from this interview with a new respect for the breeding savvy of the Native American peoples, the historic significance and history of these beautiful equines, the human and agricultural losses during in the Trail of Tears, and, of course, worshipful adoration of an amazing woman who is one of the nation’s top preservationists of history, both conceptual and biological. 

Links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropology
https://web.archive.org/web/20160719000140/http://www.imh.org/exhibits/online/what-we-theorize-when-and-where-domestication-occurred#
https://whatscookingamerica.net/History/PotatoHistory.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potato
https://www.history.com/topics/immigration/irish-potato-famine
https://www.nap.edu/read/1398/chapter/1
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frigyes_Karinthy
https://web.archive.org/web/20080908122706/http://www.cipotato.org/pressroom/press_releases_detail.asp?cod=55
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080129160727.htm
https://www.midsouthhorsereview.com/articles.php?id=5109
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Famine_(Ireland)               
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestication_of_the_horse
https://www.pressreader.com/usa/rappahannock-news/20190221/281530817299432
https://www.google.com/search?channel=tus2&client=firefox-b-1-d&q=mary+popping+song+something+about+mary
https://en.actualitix.com/country/amsu/south-america-potato-import.php

The whole planet is in the midst of an eruption of disease.   Agricultural occurrences are no different than human epidemics, in terms of potential damage.  

The British Isles are on the list of places that come to mind when the words “agriculture” and “outbreak” are put together, not because they have any more than the rest of the planet, but because their battles over the last 30 years have been a particularly media-rich affair.  Bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly known as mad cow disease, and Scrapie (another transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, or TSE) hit Britain.  They’re pretty powerful examples of the destruction that occurs in our food and economic systems from something like this. 

But it’s not all bad.  Humans have some pretty powerful tools to work with, and top on the list are conceptual ideas like collaboration, cooperation, information, and resource diversification.  

Today we’re going to bring you a conversation with a guy that uses all of those tools in his daily life.  John Wilkes is a business consultant and journalist who uses his life experience and expertise from both sides of the Atlantic to produce a balanced perspective on commercial U.S. livestock production topics.  The first half of his life was on a traditional mixed farm in Shropshire, England, with a later stint in business and the restaurant industry.  He married a colonist (read:  American), and ended up living in Maryland, and writes a column for the UK Farmers Guardian called “View From The Hill.”  We caught up with him in November 2016 at the Livestock Conservancy Conference in Amhurst, Massachusetts, where he was attending both as a member of the Board of Directors of the Conservancy, but also in his role as the North American Ambassador for the UK’s Rare Breeds Survival Trust.  He has a broad base of knowledge about many areas of British and American agriculture, including commercial and small farm production, heritage and commercial breeds, import and export requirements, genetics, the food supply, and on and on.  We hope you enjoy our conversation with a man that truly understands the power of collaboration.

Links:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-wilkes-0b533a26
https://www.fginsight.com/
https://www.fginsight.com/news/top-stories/view-from-the-hill-us-talks-tough-on-trade-with-eu-77283
https://www.rbst.org.uk/
https://livestockconservancy.org/index.php/about/internal/board
http://www.rarebreedscanada.ca/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rare_Breeds_Canada
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Livestock_Conservancy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rare_Breeds_Survival_Trust
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandemic
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bovine_spongiform_encephalopathy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrapie
https://www.rbst.org.uk/news/rbst-join-up-with-the-greatest-online-agricultural-show

We have to admit – sitting at home is much more tolerable with the cool weather and rain we’ve had in California this year so far.  If California has a stay-at-home order in place, it’s much easier with a crackling fire and a warm sweater.  But we’re in mid-April, and those days are soon to be gone, so we’ll take this last moment to remember warm wools and thick sweaters.  

We bring you a visit with Jeri Robinson-Lawrence.  She and her daughter Irina run Flying Fibers, a brick-and-mortar yarn shop in Landisville, Pennsylvania, with an online portal for those of you who might want premium wool but don’t want to get on a plane right now.  Jeri and her daughter specialize in British fibers and breed-specific blends, grown both here and in that island from which they originated.  On top of that, she raises some pretty rare breeds of sheep, including Wensleydales, Leicesters, Shetlands and Teeswaters.

Jeri is an example of a person that has profoundly been impacted by the Covid-19 lockdown in more than one life area, so the going-into-her-store part is important.  You can’t actually do it, because she is one of those who had to close the front door (though the online portal is still busily filling orders).  If that wasn’t enough to deal with, they had to move their fiber classes online.  The ability to import or export products (including wool and genetic material) has experienced some disruption for most people in America, and she’s no doubt one of them.  Jeri is a teacher, so you can imagine the bobbing and weaving with the chaos in the educational system.  And she’s the volunteer go-to girl running the sheep barns for the New York Sheep and Wool Festival held every October in Rhinebeck, NY.  We’re sure that’s still up in the air, until further notice (and it’s not a little event, let me tell you).

So we are thrilled to bring attention to the basics of one of the most comforting stay at home things that we can possible imagine – the soft, warm (and sometimes cool), cozy, homey feel of wool -- at least until summer hits next week, that is.  

After the podcast, we urge you to please visit Flying Fibers to find out more about this wonderful farmer, shop owner, craftswoman, teacher, and tireless volunteer.  Thank you, Jeri and the Wensleydales, for a Grand Day Out at the NYS S&WF 2019.  

Links

https://www.flyingfibers.com/
https://www.flyingfibers.com/covid19-qa
https://sheepandwool.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wensleydale_sheep
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluefaced_Leicester
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wensleydale_cheese
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallace_and_Gromit
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104361/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2

We are constantly amazed at our agricultural system, and how fast and how far it seems to have come since the early days.  And when people use the phrase “early days” with regard to agriculture in America, the usual mental picture has to do with Pilgrims, a multicultural exchange, squash, corn, and a turkey.  But the turkey, although it is one of the few agricultural items in our food system that actually existed here before most of us, has not become the meat-producing animal that has come to represent America.  It seems that that particular title goes to the beef industry.  We can thank John Wayne, the Cattlemen’s Beef Association and Sam Elliot for indelibly stamping herds of majestic beef cattle in our minds as being part of our national identity.  It is what’s for dinner, anyway.

The Pilgrims did bring cattle with them.  The Milking Devon, as we have found, came over in 1623, and is a wonderful bovine that produces milk, beef, and pulls that plow while it’s at it.  But the Plymouth colony wasn’t the first.  That honor goes to the Spanish, and they beat the Pilgrims by over 100 years.  

Spanish cattle arriving in this country in boatloads in the early 1500’s established what has become the quintessential American agricultural animal.  True to the landrace concept, those original foundation herds did what all of us did.  Arrived, adapted to the environment and thrived, or died trying.  The ones that made it started as one thing, but as they moved across the country over hundreds of years, they became something else.  In Hispaniola, Mexico and Texas, they became Texas Longhorn Cattle.  In Florida, they became the Florida Cracker Cattle.  

And in the southeast states of Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia, they became the Pineywoods Cattle.  Today, we are bringing you a conversation with Bruce Petesch of Tangled Oaks Farm in Siler City, North Carolina, who raises this endangered breed, one of the oldest in our history.  It was here before John Wayne, before the Angus, before the railheads, and before the Pilgrims.  Plus, it’s really good at handling not just the heat, but the humidity.  Georgia in August.  That’s the true measure of something to be admired. 

Links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criollo_cattle
https://www.ushistory.org/us/3a.asp
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Plymouth,+MA/@41.8881638,-70.7749408,11z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x89e4b9efe1b22d71:0xe99070cab6ea2e23!8m2!3d41.9584457!4d-70.6672621
https://livestockconservancy.org/index.php/heritage/internal/pineywoods
https://www.history.com/topics/immigration/america-promised-land-season-1-episode-1-spanish-ranchers-bring-cattle-to-texas-video
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_Cracker_cattle
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hispaniola
https://www.pcrba.org/
https://6b934cd0-f6fe-4ea6-a870-cb38602597f1.filesusr.com/ugd/9a1eae_583f1ccb7aac4d9f9319f8d52c192c21.pdf?index=true
https://www.pineywoodscattle.us/breed-history 

We are big fans of Wallace and Gromit, thank you, so we’d like to take this opportunity to say that “A Close Shave” is not going to be an issue here.  Shaun (read, “Shorn”) can rest easy on this one, as there’s no Knit-o-Matic in this episode.  How can that be, when we’re talking about sheep?  The St. Croix, to the rescue.

  The St. Croix sheep is a hair sheep, which was a new thing for us.  No wool at all.  It therefore is the perfect breed for ranchers and farmers wishing to raise lamb for consumption, but do not want to deal with the shearing part every six months or so.  On top of that, the breed is parasite resistant (including both worms and flystrike), has great teeth and hooves, likes to browse, and they have really, really cute babies.  Ask Elara, who got to hold one on her visit (check the pic).  If you don’t like them when they’re little for some reason, then check out the adults.  The females are year-round fertile and attentive moms.  The males not only have an extremely majestic roman nose in their profile shot, but they have a mane like a lion.  We are not making this stuff up.

  We met Bill and Lori Marion at the Mother Earth News Fair in Albany, Oregon on a baking-hot August day, and talked about the joys of St. Croix’s.  We had such a good time with these well-spoken people that they invited us (okay, so we begged) to come up on our next trip through Southern Oregon to visit them at Shasta Ranch, their beautiful spread on the California/Oregon border.  Amazing bird watching, interesting wildlife, gracious people, a ride on the four-wheeler, a respectful conversation with a guardian donkey, and it all was topped off by holding a baby lamb.  For us, it doesn’t get any better than this, and Elara almost went home with a new pet.  Maybe she’ll have more luck convincing Rick the next time they hit the Oregon border.

Links:

http://www.shastaranch.net/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUzSanllyXU
https://weatherspark.com/y/398/Average-Weather-in-Albany-Oregon-United-States-Year-Round
https://www.motherearthnewsfair.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAfCzRrse2U
https://stcroixsheep.org/
http://www.stcroixhairsheep.org/about-st-croix/history-of-st-croix-sheep/
http://afs.okstate.edu/breeds/sheep/stcroix
https://livestockconservancy.org/index.php/heritage/internal/st-croix
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallace_and_Gromit

Dugan Tillman-Brown and Firefly Farm in North Stonington, Connecticut.  Our second Holstein Dilemma film interview ever, and the moment Elara fell in love.  

There were so many things we talked about on that lovely day in July, standing in that sunny and grassy pasture with a herd of amazingly picturesque Randall Cattle.  Birds chirped in the trees and the insects lazily buzzed about.  The cows, with their panda color points and horns curving like halos around their heads, were watchful of someone new in their paradise.  The little spotted young calves cautious, but curious of the newcomers.

Dugan spoke to me about the Randalls and how their thriftier nature, good mothering ability and easy keeping worked beautifully for small family farms.  How the pastures had become measurably healthier and drought tolerant with the cattle, their nicely dispersed manure, the free choice minerals, and dung beetles all helping to improve balance and increase soil elasticity and aeration.  And then, the moment happened.  It was as if my husband, the second camera man, and 250 pounds of audio and video equipment ceased to exist.  Love.  

I have always been enthusiastic about the opportunities nature gives us, if we just work with it instead of against it.  I am happiest when I am up to my elbows in healthy, vibrant, heavily amended soil, sitting in my garden with a chicken on my lap, or listening to horses or cattle munching on hay while inhaling the wonderful barn smell of animal, sawdust, manure and old wood.  But standing in that pasture that day, head next to Dugan as we bent over a pile of fresh manure and talked about how the dung beetles made such an impact, my passion for all of those things deepened into a long-term love affair with the potential agriculture has to change our lives in a hugely positive way.

Dugan showed us the whole farm that day, including pastures with Mulefoot and Guinea Hogs and Dorking Chickens.  We had a difficult time picking just one for our podcast, but we are taking a snippet a from the place it all started.  Here is a conversation about Randall Cattle, one of the rarest breeds in the world.  Less than 500 of these animals exist in the world, but the numbers are slowly growing, thanks to the valiant efforts of a group of farmers and ranchers who have decided to fight the good fight.  

One of the farms leading the charge is Firefly Farm in North Stonington, Connecticut, one of the vanishing number of small family farms in the country.  There is much to admire about Certified Humane status was not enough for this family farm.  It is a bastion of small breed preservation, and 

All this, and of course they named the farm Firefly.  No doubt, this family aims to misbehave (thank you, Joss Whedon) in the best possible way.

 
Links:

http://www.firefly.farm/about-us.html
http://www.firefly.farm/what-makes-us-special.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randall_cattle
https://certifiedhumane.org/firefly-farms-2/
http://www.cynthiasrandallcattle.com/
https://livestockconservancy.org/index.php/heritage/internal/randall
http://www.randallcattleregistry.org/
https://firefly.fandom.com/wiki/Quotes
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0303461/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

Estimate to date , 2016-2020.  Over…

50-75,000 ground miles

40 air trips

12 festivals, conferences and events

125 interviews

CA, NY, NC, VA, OR, CO, FL, CT, RI, WA, MT, WY, UT, ID, NH, NM, AZ, OK, AR, KS, DE, PA, KY, MD, MN, MA, NV, MO, NE, VT, WI, WV.  I’m sure we missed a couple here on the list, but we’ve seen them all.

We’re exhausted and happy, and will continue on that path in the future.  Thank you all for being a part of it.

Links:

https://backyardgreenfilms.com/ 

https://www.youtube.com/backyardgreenfilms

http://www.shastaranch.net/ 

http://www.pcrba.org/id17.html 

https://www.colonialwilliamsburg.com/ 

https://www.facebook.com/meganroxhensley 

http://www.livestockconservancy.org/ 

http://www.quinnfarm.qc.ca/ 

https://www.rbst.org.uk/ 

https://home.grassroots.co.uk/meet-the-team/ 

https://www.pleasantgroveakhaltekes.com/contact-us.html 

http://www.akhal-teke.org/ 

http://www.cozinespringsranch.com/ 

https://www.oneblubirdstudio.com/ 

https://www.facebook.com/Lazy-BD-Donkey-Farm-191729521010323/