agri-Culture - Ep 072 Bonnie Hall: The Notebook. No, not that one.

Ep 072 Bonnie Hall: The Notebook. No, not that one.

07/20/20 • 27 min

We’re still in the Northeastern United States on our Great American Cattle Drive. This is the area where much of our country’s important paperwork is kept. The Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the documents in the Hall of Records, and the Milking Devon Herdbook, Volume 8. We just had to add that last one and take another little teasing dig at John Hall, President of the American Milking Devon Cattle Association, who owns the only copy (we know of) of that particular book. Those documents we just mentioned sound pretty impressive, don’t they? But really, when it comes down to it, paper and the things written on it are just carbon and words. Dead trees and ink. So why is it such a big deal to keep records, and preserve them over time?Writing things down serves to remind us of the meaning and value that might be lost when we forget, and need a little nudge. When one generation fades away, and another rises. When the initial excitement of a new business fades, and gives way to daily transactions and difficulties. It’s a contract between parties, that clarify an understanding of terms, like purchasing a car or getting married. The documentation of the specifics of value, like a certificate of authenticity on an important piece of artwork. The family tree that decides who lives in Windsor Palace and gets to wear the big hat. Our written words -- or the electronic equivalent these days –are the formal representation of the meaning and value of things that people shed blood, sweat and tears to establish. They are kept to remind us of those things in the present and the future.So when we're dealing with our agricultural breeds and seeds, with the food that nourishes us, that keeps us alive, that represents hundreds or thousands of years of culture and history and evolution, doesn't it make sense to dedicate a little paper to that? And who's going to do that thankless task? The registrars! Every breed organization has one, and they are custodians of one of the most important jobs any breed organization has: Documentation.
Today, we bring you Bonnie Hall, who valiantly volunteers her services for this important (and often thankless) task for the American Milking Devon Cattle Association. We know that someday, 200 years from now, someone will want to buy or sell a Milking Devon. They will have a paper trail to follow, and Bonnie's name will be on that book.

Links:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/423156.King_of_the_Wind#:~:text=King%20of%20the%20Wind%20is%20the%20perfect%20example,itself%2C%20they%20simply%20added%20its%20heart%20and%20soul.
https://www.amazon.com/King-Wind-Story-Godolphin-Arabian/dp/1416927867
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_of_the_Wind
https://www.milkingdevons.org
http://www.maplebreezefarm.com/

Support the show

Links:

Support the show

Previous Episode

Ep 071 Rollie Johnson: O Pioneers! Part 1 – It’s All About the “Godless” Drive, Baby.

We made it! We have completed our cross-country trip west to east for the first leg of The Great American Cattle Drive (“GACD” has a distinctive ring to it, don’t you think?).

We start the film shoot with the American Milking Devon Cattle Association in New England today, but it was fitting that we began our run with a podcast recorded halfway across the country, in Monument, Colorado. We stopped for 24 hours to have a conversation with Rollie and Paula Johnson of Three Eagles Ranch, and to hunker down our new (used) trailer Bessie in their driveway. The socially-distanced hospitality didn’t end there, as they not only ran a cord for us to have power, but they thawed an amazing steak for us to experience on the back porch, overlooking the road that is now a modern one, but that many took in the early days of the expansion of this country.

The next day, Rollie and his hardworking ranch hand Dulce gathered the largest team of oxen I have ever seen at that close distance (the sheer mass was amazing), hitched it to an actual 1800’s wagon, and he, his wife Paula and Dulce donned their period costume and set out driving the oxen and wagon across across the back pastureland. All this, so we could get the real experience of what it was like on the cattle drives and pioneer movements of the old days. I was exhausted after 10 minutes in the heat and dust (and a shoe-full of burrs), and I was just holding a camera. My admiration for the fortitude of the people in the 1800’s increased with every moment, especially since Rollie said that in real life, the people walked. All the way.

The Milking Devons used as oxen were the perfect animal for this time, and Rollie will tell you why. Next week, we’ll bring you Part 2, where Rollie tells of the history of the people moving across the country, and how — whether it be the commonality of Indian attacks, the lack of oxen, or the riding in the wagon part — the movies didn’t always get the facts right. And he would know, as you can tell if you look for him in Netflix’s “Godless.”

Because in that day and age, whether you were Gus and Col on the arduous trek north, the pioneer filled with fortitute headed west, or the dirt farmer that stayed in place and fed both as they passed through, it’s all about the drive, baby.

Links:
www.flyingw.com
www.facebook.com/americanmilkingdevoncattleassociation
www.threeeaglesranch.com
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5516154/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105038/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/140963.O_Pioneers_

Support the show

Next Episode

Ep 073 Hi-Ho The Dairy-O, The Farmer Is The Dales (Freiers, that is)

We're still GACD - Great American Cattle Drive, that is.
Today, we'll bring you a visit with a family that we think is peachy keen, absolutely fabulous, and the cat's meow (and yes, there were cats there, too). Three generations of the Freier Family hosted us for a delightful morning at Every Season Farm, learning about life on a dairy farm (and mini science lab) in the rolling hills of Seneca Falls, New York.
With the patriarch starting the milk jug rolling, and a pediatrician and an E.R. physician in the next generation, it's no wonder that the third generation of Freiers wowed us with their current progress and future potential in both agriculture and science. Two budding veterinarians, a potential agricultural engineer and a future ag law environmental specialist bustled about in the milking barn while we grilled (interviewed) Dr. Dale (Jr.).
The whole family has "truly likeable overachiever" written all over them. While we were there we were treated to a draft display by two teams and two Frieres and a grant writing discussion from a lad young enough to have recently received his driver's license. We learned that there is the intellectual equivalent of a "poultry bowl" Jeopardy! competition, at which one Freier excelled (humble though he was about it). A blue-ribbon bunch all around, and not just with the Virginia State Fair and showing their Milking Devons. We will definitely have a Part 2 Podcast of this get-together, but...
After all that, we felt it was important to cover the "milking" part of "Milking Devons," and this was the perfect place to do it. Dr. Dale and his intrepid crew are in the midst of studies on the output, content and nutritional values in the milk they gather, and the information might just bring some interesting insights into variances of production due to genetic diversity, even within a single breed.
We hope you enjoy listening to the hustle and bustle of a milking barn, filled with kids, kittens, cows and camaraderie. What a joyous time we had.
P.S.
Got Milking Devon?
Links:
www.everyseason.farm
www.milkingdevons.org
www.livestockconservancy.org

Support the show