Our cows and calves are (mostly) a breed called 'Beefmaster' - the first distinctively American cattle breed, first named in the 1940's - which is a blending of Hereford (the classic dark-red and white British beef breed, for cold tolerance and muscling), Dairy Shorthorn (for mothering and milking), and Brahman (the Hindu sacred cow - for heat tolerance and gentle temperament).
They are wonderful: intelligent, hardy, hard-working, easy to handle. We have known most of them since their births and can usually tell you who their grandmothers were - it's an incredible relationship. In fact, it's the relationship that makes it all work: the tie between humans and their animals is ancient and inexplicable, born of trust, mutual need, and reverence.
We feel ourselves to be part of an ancient cycle, part of a pattern woven long ago, and our hope is to be true to this Plan, we humans and the creatures in our care.
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