| IN THEIR OWN WORDS: We
have been married since 1972 and have four wonderful grown children
and five grandsons. Our son Joshua works steadily on the
farm alongside Dave to keep the work manageable. We began raising
sheep and a few beef cattle in 1974 on a much smaller farm in West
Windsor, Vermont. We had no background in farming and had much to
learn about the land, machines, and animals. We sold hay and freezer
beef locally, learned to build good fences (and be good neighbors),
to plow and to seed, and to strengthen the land and expand our herd
and flock. We were drawn to polled Herefords for their temperament
and natural compatibility with our climate and available grasses,
and we bought our first registered animal in 1984: a wonderful brood
cow who lived to be sixteen. From that simple beginning, we made a
long-range commitment to build an all-registered cow/calf operation,
annually improving bloodlines through carefully selected sires in
order to produce high quality heifers and a few exceptional young
bulls. |
| In
1987, we bought our current 180-acre farm in Norwich, Vermont, and
by 1994, our herd was fully registered. We converted an old dairy
barn to house our cows so they could calve in January and February.
With protection from our harsh winters, the calves could nurse for
three or four months before taking full advantage of the flush of
spring pasture along with their mothers. Our calves routinely reach
a weaning weight in the fall of 650-750 pounds. |
| With
help from our younger sons and many of their friends, we worked every
summer to make thousands and thousands of bales of hay for the animals
and to sell for extra income. We used to make all square bales, but
adding round-bale technology allows us greater flexibility, especially
in rainy summers, and makes winter feeding easier. In 2007, our wonderful
old barn was burned down, robbing us of our hay storage facility.
We
built a new, much simpler barn which is far better suited to our beef
herd, but we now almost
exclusively make wrapped bales. (see
Barn Building)
|
| We raise 30-35
calves each year. About half of our heifers and cows are bred artificially,
with careful attention to raising EPD's and strengthening our stock;
the rest are turned out with our select herd bulls. We do not have
the time, money, or temperament to show our cattle; nor do we flush
or transplant. But we do believe that we produce some of the best
calves in the area. We handle all our cattle, including our calves
while they are in and around the barn for several months after calving,
so they also can make exceptional 4-H animals for young farmers or
ranchers; a calm temperament is a goal as well as high production
numbers. Many local breeders have discovered the quality of our animals,
and many of our bulls have "worked" around the state either
through sale or rental for a few months at a time. (See 2015
Bulls) |
|
