As a farmer, it’s hard to not draw comparisons between our animals’ veterinary care and our family’s medical care. Just like we take our kids to well-child visits and keep up with their vaccinations, we practice prevenative care with our cows, too. This week was full of opportunities to do just that.
I like to consider myself a pretty decent cook; my family seems to agree, so we’ll go with it. That said, I suck at recipes. I love to read recipes. I have books full of them and search google for ideas regularly, but in reality, I never follow them. I substitute and make adjustments often based on what I have or what I like as well as Dominic’s allergies. I’m writing this as a recipe, but it’s really intended as a guideline for how to make a meal that fits your family, which is where the (ish) comes in.
This year has certainly been one for the books. Between the COVID monkeys and the cocaine pigs, there has been a bright spot, besides more family time of course. Many … Continue reading COVID’s Bright Spot: Live Music at Home
I’m in a few Facebook groups focused on feeding kids, and I see this question daily. There are so many options available. There are even dozens of versions of cows’ … Continue reading What milk do you give your kids?
If you’re looking to make pickles without gardening, without spending days on the process, and without actually canning -THIS is the recipe for you!
Previous editions of Bovine Basics cover proper cattle terminology and breeds of cows (specifically those at our farm). Another thing we talk with our kids about a lot is what the cows eat, but I’ve covered that in previous posts. The last thing the boys are already learning is cow anatomy. We pay a lot of attention to our cows’ form. How their body is put together actually has a pretty big influence on their health, including their milk production.
Friday David and I celebrated 10 years of wedded bliss (plus all those other emotions that married couples experience). David is a fantastic partner in farming, parenting, and life in … Continue reading Our First Decade
When most people think of a cow, they probably picture that Chic-Fil-A Holstein. The irony is that while many Holsteins do enter the beef supply, they are not considered a beef breed. Cattle come in countless different breeds with two primary purposes. There are dairy breeds focusing on efficient milk production, beef breeds focusing on efficient beef production, and dual purpose breeds which feature characteristics of both beef and dairy breeds.
Society as a whole has decided to call all cattle/bovines cows, and that alone has made it harder for farmers to have conversations about what we do because it almost creates a language barrier. In order to talk to consumers, we also end up calling most of our animals cows, but it can be a struggle because when we’re here at home, or at an industry event, they’re definitely not all cows.
This week social media has been rocked by racially charged events in Minnesota. Unfortunately, this is just one in a string of similar events, but this one seems different.
