Cloud Seeding in Idaho: What You Need to Know

by Courtney Meyerhofer

Did you know Idaho has a cloud seeding program?

Idaho’s Department of Water Resources (IDWR) has a cloud seeding program that is operational November 1st to April 30th annually.

What is it?

Cloud seeding is a weather modification protocol that changes how a cloud forms and precipitates. The goal of cloud seeding is to increase annual rain and snowfall.

What does cloud seeding do?

The IDWR’s monitoring show that the cloud seeding program has on average increased rain and snowfall by 10%.

image by Idaho Power Company

The IDWR’s cloud seeding program involves spraying an “inert” silver iodide (AgI) into the atmosphere. Silver iodide is chosen because it has a hexagonal shape similar to ice and it serves as a surface where snowflakes form inside the cloud.

In this way, cloud seeding mimicks a naturally occuring process — that is, water freezing and growing into a snowflake on a dust particle. Only, instead of naturally occurring atmospheric dust, cloud seeding augments nature by providing silver iodide.

What are the risks to cloud seeding?

From the Wikipedia page on cloud seeding:


“With an NFPA 704 health hazard rating of 2, silver iodide can cause temporary incapacitation or possible residual injury to humans and other mammals with intense or chronic exposure. But several detailed ecological studies have shown negligible environmental and health impacts.[19][20][21].

The toxicity of silver and silver compounds (from silver iodide) was shown to be of low order in some studies.

These findings likely result from the minute amounts of silver generated by cloud seeding, which are about one percent of industry emissions into the atmosphere in many parts of the world, or individual exposure from tooth fillings.”
— Wikipedia's page on Cloud Seeding

This excerpt from Wikipedia highlights how the use of silver iodide, while generally recognized as safe, is mostly unknown.

This is one of the many unknowns in the cloud seeding program:

  • how much silver iodide is released each year?

  • how effective is it and how do we know it’s effective?

  • how might silver iodide affect wildlife habitats and soil quality?

  • how is this program being monitored for human health effects?

Cloud Seeding Program Administration

Idaho’s cloud seeding program is funded by participating counties and was authorized by Idaho House Bill 266 in 2021.

Closing thoughts

For the potential benefits of additional precipitation, spraying a substance (AgI) that may cause health issues or environmental degrade without the public’s informed consent is at best risky.

There is also difficulty admitted among climate scientists in assessing how well cloud seeding works. It’s not straightforward to see if a cloud that’s seeded will actually produce more than expected. This means it’s challenging to meaningfully measure how well a cloud seeding program is performing aside from comparing annual precipitation in treated zones from year to year.

The issue of cloud seeding shows how our local state representatives, legislators, and decision-makers have an undeniable impact on our health and environment. Yet the modern media would lead you to believe that the Presidential election is the most important event of every 4 year cycle.

If you’d like to get in contact with your legislator, you can find who applies to y our zip code at the Idaho Govt website here.

Resources

Cloud Seeding Fact Sheet

Idaho Power’s Cloud Seeding FAQ

Idaho Power’s Cloud Seeding Overview

Small Business Saturday on Nov. 30

Small Business Saturday is upon us!

Small Business Saturday is on Saturday, November 30. This is a time to support our local community by spending dollars locally.

Big box stores take a bigger share of our dollars than ever. This comes at a cost — namely, small businesses struggle to keep the lights on and our food network is more fragile than ever.

An easy way to shop locally for the remainder of 2024 is to do your holiday shopping locally!

3 Reasons to Participate in Small Business Saturday

  1. Research shows spending dollars locally keeps those dollars local for an average of 7 additional transactions. In contrast, spending the same dollars at a multinational company immediately removes those dollars from the local community.

  2. Local businesses, especially agriculture and food business keeps our food infrastructure stable and secure.

  3. Build relationships and tell small business owners what matters to you. For small businesses that are food producers, tell them that organic and free range are important to you. Get to know them and their farming practices.

We are currently sold out of beef. Call or email to get on the waitlist!

Beef and Pumpkin Panang Thai Curry

by Courtney Meyerhofer

I went through a phase where I was obsessed with Thai food. Coconut-milk based curries with kabocha squash or pumpkin were my jam.

This recipe was like a trip down memory lane. The rich curry, the creamy pumpkin, the hearty local beef…this one hits the spot!

This recipe was modified from a Cook’s Illustrated volume.

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 Tbsp lard, tallow, or cooking oil

  • 2-3 lbs Saint John’s organic grass fed beef sirloin

  • 2 - 4 Tbsp thai red curry paste

  • 1 15 oz can coconut milk

  • 2 tsp sugar

  • 2 Tbsp fish sauce

  • 3 cups peeled and cubed pumpkin, cubed into 1-2 inch cubes

  • 5-7 kaffir lime leaves or zest of 1 lemon and 1 lime

  • extra salt to taste

  • chopped peanuts

METHOD

Several hours, up to 24, before it’s time to cook, slice the meat into thin strips and salt and pepper generously. Cover and refrigerate.

Remove meat from refrigerator 30 minutes before beginning to cook.

Heat a skillet on medium-high heat. You want it really hot to get a good sear on the beef.

Add cooking fat of choice and get it smoking hot.

Add 1/2 of meat slices to pan, less if you’re using a smaller pan. You don’t want to crowd the pan because that will steam and not sear the meat.

Once the meat is nicely browned, after 3-5 minutes, transfer meat to large bowl to rest.

Turn heat down to medium and add curry paste. Cook and stir for 3 - 5 minutes, until the paste is a deep brick red.

Add coconut milk, sugar, and fish sauce. Stir to combine. Taste to see if you need to add salt or more curry paste depending on your preference. I ended up adding 1 tsp salt and 2 additional Tbsp of curry paste.

Add pumpkin and bring to simmer.

Add meat and continue to simmer for 10 - 15 minutes, until meat and pumpkin are done.

Once meat and pumpkin are done, add kaffir lime leaves or lemon and lime zest. Simmer for 1 - 2 minutes and then serve!

Serve with rice and garnished with chopped peanuts if desired!

Does Having Your Own Cow Save You Money?

by Claire Dill

What do you spend every week on dairy products?

Milk, cheese, butter, cream, yogurt, ice cream, etc... A lot of people average $25/week on dairy.

Our family uses a lot of dairy, so our number would be way higher, but I'm going to try to run some average numbers here.


For your own cow, here are some things and numbers to consider, than I'll run all the numbers at the end.


Start up costs 


Fencing (before you get your cow!!!):

For a very simple basic small enclosure, you could probably get a decent set-up for about $300, with an electric fencer, hot wire, tposts, and insulators.


Barn or shed:

Depending on where you live, you may need or want a barn or shed for the cow to get out of the weather during cold, hot or super wet seasons, and also for you for a dry place to do the milking. Lots of factors here, but $1000 ought to get you a simple dry place for a start, even one wall and a roof will help a lot, unless you get extreme cold for long periods of the winter. And a headlocking stanchion, or a narrow alley to use as a chute, is very handy.


Milking supplies:

If you handmilk, into a bowl or bucket that you already have, and use coffee filters or cheesecloth for straining, and rags and soapy water for cleaning her teats, this can be very economical. If you want to use paper towels and iodine and plastic gloves and industrial filters, these costs climb. Single unit milking machines look to range from $300 - $1500,  but you could probably get a pretty good one for $500, and unless you want to handmilk, the investment is usually worth it. A kick bar (applied judiciously during milking to shut down most kicking action), is a very worthwhile expenditure to have as an option, around $25.

 
The cow:

These days, prices range from $1000 - $5000. A young or middle-aged cow, who has had babies and been milked already, is gentle and socialized, halter broken, all four teats in working order, healthy and sound, bred back for the next baby, in milk or close to freshening, is organic, is A2A2, is used to eating grass and has genetics bred to thrive on grass (will save a lot of feed costs, if you have pasture available and she can thrive while utilizing the grass), etc, will cost a lot more than a first calf heifer or an old cow, unproven or wild or ornery, one or more teats malfunctioning, chronic mastitis, having hoof or eye or other health problems, not breeding back or staying bred, etc., etc. For the sake of the average, I'll calculate with a $3000 cow, but know that depending on where you live and what characteristics you prioritize, it could be very worth spending more.


Startup costs total: Ballpark $4800. Divide by 8 years (average cow lifespan), $600 a year, equaling about $11.50 a week.      

 
Up keep


Hay:

For a fullsize cow, we feed about 40 pounds of hay a day, 6 months out of the year. If you have grass available, you may need less hay. But I'll run with this number, because its a pretty solid average. Hay considerations are grass vs alfalfa, small bales vs large bales (do you have a tractor to move 600 -1000 pound bales?), organic hay or not... An average number of about 10 dollars for a small bale is what I'm figuring, and an 80 pound bale. So, 15 bales a month, 6 months a year, would be $900 for hay.


Grain:

We don't feed grain, on our farm, but a lot of people figure 3 pounds of grain for every gallon of milk the cow gives. If you choose to feed grain, it will probably be a ballpark of $1200 for the year. (Our Brown Swiss have been eating grass and hay only for generations now, and give 4-10 gallons per milking at their peak. But mini cows will give a lot less, cows used to grain will typically give much less milk and lose body condition if they don't continue to receive grain, and factoring in the grain history and production expectation is important.)  


If you have grass, you may need to spend more on fencing to be able to safely access the grass. Also, irrigation could be a factor.


Hoofcare:

There are hooftrimmers who will come to you to trim your cow's feet. Some cows need trims a lot less frequently than others, but I would plan 2 trims a year, at $50 each.
Veterinary visits are hard to predict. The farm call is around $75, and then labor and products are charged in addition. If you like researching health care and home care, or have neighbors or people in your circle to help you, many years you won't need any veterinary assistance, but it is a lot safer to budget for a couple of visits a year, because they add up fast when you need them. I would plan for two visits a year, at $100 each, for a safety net.


Bull options for next year's calf:

You can take your cow to a bull, if you have a trailer. Paying a stud fee will vary widely on the breed you choose, the regsitered status, and whether you know the owners or not... but I would plan on $100 for a stud fee, and it may take multiple trips to get her settled. You could hire a bull to come to your place, but that is not my personal recommendation! The risk there is higher than I would want to gamble with. A.I. (Artificial Insemination) is a pretty good way to go for one cow, you can choose from a wide variety of really nice bulls all over the country, the straws of semen cost $25 -$40 each, and A.I. techs will come to you for $40 or $50 a trip, but it may take several trips to get the cow settled. With one cow its harder to know when she comes into heat, and while A.I. can work well, it often takes a few tries. You can buy hormone regulators to bring her into heat on your schedule, but that costs more... Planning $200 to get her bred would be my number.

$2600 for upkeep for the year with these numbers would be $50 a week.


Other considerations:

Having your own milk, knowing what goes into the milk, having it fresh every day, the homesteading feel, cows can be nice and friendly and good pets as well as working animals, you can sell the calves or raise them and eat them, you can sell extra milk or feed pigs or chickens or other pets, you can use the manure as fertilizer for your garden, you can send the cow for beef when she gets to the end of her life... those are all pretty good on the one side. However, the injury risk with a large animal is not negligible, the schedule limitations and hassle of milking every day (even if you milk once a day, instead of twice a day, you either don't travel as a family, or you have to find someone trustworthy to milk for you every day that you want to be gone when she is in milk), she will need to dry off and rest from milk production for a couple of months before calving again so you'll need to freeze milk or get another cow or find another milk source, there are definite potential liabilities if she gets out on the road and causes an accident or damages property at the neighbours, major financial loss if she dies suddenly, maintenance costs for months or a year with no milk if she gets hurt/goes dry/doesn't breed back quickly/breaks a lot of fences...


So, with these average numbers, $61.50 a week for a milk cow seems a pretty safe budget.

There is always room for altering numbers, and you can probably bring the cost down drastically many years, but there is also always the possibility of having to replace your cow a month after acquiring her, and all of the variables that come with life.

Hopefully this will have been an interesting read, and helpful to understand some of what goes on behind the scenes.   

The Importance of Touch for Humans and Animals

by Claire Dill


Healthy loving physical touch and contact is a pretty important part of life.

There have been studies and articles about humans needing physical contact, babies and grownups both, and it makes sense because humans were made to be in community.

Hermits and recluses are extremely unordinary in humanity. Historically, a hermit or recluse was either called by God to make that sacrifice and to live alone in prayer, or was mentally unstable and a social outcast.

Humans are designed to be together. Even hardcore introverts are very lonely if they don't have their small group of close friends available.


For human babies, being held and snuggled makes a huge difference in their emotional state and their physical health, day by day and also for the rest of their lives. Particularly snuggles from the mother, or main caregiver.

Babies with plenty of healthy touch have much more interest in life, self regulate as babies and children much better, and have good trust mechanisms and bonding in relationships. Healthy touch has been shown to improve the baby's immune system, and helps with pain management and pain reduction.

 
Human adults don't grow out of the need for physical contact.

Have you noticed how people almost always light up when a friend gives a hug? Or the aura of determination and joy when someone slaps a shoulder in recognition or praise; or the encouragement when someone lays a hand on the shoulder of someone grieving, and simply squeezes for a few seconds, with no words?

 
I think about this a lot when I'm feeding bottle calves. Especially the ones that have tight tendons and can't stand for a few days until their legs loosen up.

Cows are herd animals, they are also "designed to be in community". So it makes sense that they also need touch to thrive.

A mama cow dries her baby off by licking it, immediately after birth. And cows spend considerable time with their babies, and with their friends, not only playing and grazing together, but also licking and grooming each other. Nearly every time after a calf nurses, when it is full, it will meander up to its mama's head and get some grooming and attention. The calf will sometimes play at butting heads with its mama, and run in crazy play circles, but nearly always will settle in for at least a few minutes of stretching and relaxing while the mama licks its neck and sides. Often, mama cow will also be reaching around and licking her baby while it nurses, as well.

 
So, I try to pet and play with a bottle calf, at least once or twice a day, extra and beyond whatever handling is necessary for feeding the bottle, especially if it's the only calf in the pen, to simulate a little of the physical contact it would have with the herd.

When we get a second calf in the pen, or a nurse mama, then my need to fill that job goes away.

But in particular, I have noticed with a sick calf, or one who can't stand at first, that if I give a few minutes of extra attention, rubbing my hands on their head and neck and sides several times a day, they respond pretty drastically with improved interest in life, bonding, ability to nurse from the bottle, and relaxing their tight muscles and not worrying about things so much.

Saint John's Cow Family Lineage

Family lines, Cow names, and Saint John's history
We started a herd book when we moved back to the farm in 1997, with a page/s for each year, and as each calf was born, its name and number would be written on its own line, with its date of birth, its mother's name and number, sire's name, a place for the State required Bangs number, and room for a few notes about anything out of the ordinary. I (Claire) spent many hours reading and studying and memorizing the Cow Book, I absolutely loved the lineage tracing, and looking for patterns in families...
That first year, my mum recorded 11 heifers born and named. My dad named Yuri, Gretzky, North America (because of the near perfect white patch of a North American map silhouette on her shoulder) Wilma, and his longtime favorite, Dusty. Aaron had Gnome and Lightning, I picked Seven, and I think Mum named Boo and Sunny. There was a two year old when we moved to the farm, a little jersey cross that we named Sweet Pea, who was another definite favorite and mother of a line of favorites.
In 1998, four year old me named two heifers Blackie and Brownie, and a steer that caught my eye, Whitey. There was a bull we kept, that had four or five names, because everyone wanted to name the herd bull... but baby JJ's choice of Art was the young bull's primary name.
In 1999, things started getting more exciting, because the first calves that we named were now two year olds and having calves of their own! Aaron's Lightning had Boomer, and his Gnome had a heifer, Pixie. Dad's Dusty had Marigold, another longterm queen. We had 22 heifers that year, and about 20 bull calves. There were a lot of calves named names like Winnie the Pooh, Buckaroo, Eyeore, SpunkyRoo, Bianca, Leaf, Bambi, Dragonfly, Cute, Flopsy, Tiny, Jack and Jill (twins), Faline, Duck, Rosie, Kitty (one of my pets, she had a patch of white on side that looked like an upside down cat? :) ), Hershey Bar, Dash, Molly, Tulip, and Charley.
In 2000, my Blackie's first calf, Clown, was sold to the neighbor at a month old to be a bottle baby. I was slightly heartbroken, to learn that pets didn't stay forever, and that calves could just be sold away, but it is an important lesson to learn, and a part of life, that nothing stays forever in this world, except God. (I didn't learn the God part until later... :) )
2001, our literary names got a little older.  While we still named Curious George, Piglet, Balloon, Kanga, Emmett, and Frosty Thunder, we also had Rumblebuffin (from Narnia), Matthias and Mattimeo (from Redwall),  Misty and Sea Star (the Misty of Chincoteague books), Michael (probably Peter Pan), Pippi, and John Wayne (my dad's choice, from his Gretzky)
2002 we started getting more intentional about naming a calf a name like the mother's name, making it easier to trace family lines... Ray from Sunshine, Millie and Tillie (twins) from Molly, Flash from Lightning, Sunflower from Violet, Sacajawea from Pocahontas, Bob from Babe, Christopher from Pooh and Robin from Winnie (born two days apart :) ), and Geronimo from Moon Lily. Also more Narnia names, Trumpkin, Reepacheep, and Peepiceek; Yoda, from watching StarWars, and Mrs Pollifax and Duchess from Dorothy Gilman's Mrs Pollifax series. Also, my dad's mum wanted us to name a calf after her... so when a cute Jersey cross heifer was born with a heart shaped star of white on her head, we named her Louise. However, she was not more than a few months old before she earned a T in front of her name (for Troublesome), and she kept the T for the rest of her life. T Louise had Lively, Helen, Ballor, Aladyn, Leo, Dagoba, Valentine, Fritz, and finally Mrs Whatsit and Tumnus. A calf every year, and then her ninth and final pregnancy, twins. :)
2003, had upwards of fifty calves. While all the cows are technically my parents cows, we each had families of cows that we had naming rights on, and then the family would collaborate and have to agree to name the unclaimed cows. Pretty exciting as the years went by, and "my" collection of cows to name grew!
2004, we were rolling with Svetlana from Yuri, Snowflake from Frosty, Thunder from Lightning, Sunburst from Cloud, Merlin from Gnome, Seba (Arabic for 7) from Seven, Huck Finn from Blackberry, Cornflower from Cornstalk, Roo from Kanga, General Lee from Audrey (Audrey named for a girl intern from Virginia...), Garlic from Salt, Sky Boy from Balloon and Dixie from Pixie.
2005, I took over the Cow Book, very exciting to be the one writing in the entries!
2006, Mum and Dad got to name a few, but the boys and I were definitely the main namers. Johanna Spyri names (Alida, Stefili, Russli, Marta), Chief Seattle, Fezic, Winchester, Mendanbar, Mars, Jupiter, Sixty, Poseidon, Taran, and Shaker (from Salt). I guess that year, I was more excited about the bull calf names...
2007, we started naming the boys names that correspond to their id tag. We tag the heifers 701, 702, 703, etc, in order of their birth, and the steers 7A, 7B, 7C, etc... So this year we had Archibald, Ballor, Cnowman (had to get a little creative, because it snowed that day!), Dolphin, Ent, Freddy, Giant, Hotshot, Inigo Montoya, JarJar Binks, Sir Kay, Leonard, Moose, 'Nenome, Orion, (P and Q were twins out of Songbird and I think Q got the short end of the stick because while we named P Pavarotti, Q was called Quack...), Rynelf, Samson, etc... :)
2008, we had sold quite a few cows, so we only calved out 32 this year. On the 3rd of January, Tulip, out of Violet, out of Sweet Pea, had a heifer calf that we named Blossom, and Blossom was a favorite for all of us. A super sweet gentle excellent cow, nice to work with, grand in the barn, and her daughters all quite "typy", following in her footsteps. The granddaughters and great grands and great great grands have gotten a little diluted and hit or miss, but the Blossom line has been a high priority favorite choice for cows to go into the milk barn.
2009, Gnome and Gretzky still going strong at 12 years old, and Sweet Pea at 14. Back up to 42 calves.
2010, a small year of only 19 calves! The bulls were Abercrombie, Bentworthy, Cadbury, Dagoba, Eckelstein, Fitch Finn MacCool, Gandalf, and Honorary G Major. :)
2011, JJ and I had the brilliant but ridiculous idea of complicating the naming requirements as follows. The boys started with A and ended with Z, then B and Y, C and X, etc, so we got Azaz, Bugs Bunny, Colorado X, Double Trouble W, Ev, FigureTru, Giant, Horatio Biggs, Isildur, and Jaq.  The girls were the mirror of that, starting with Z and ending with A, then Y and B, etc, etc. AND as if that wasn't enough, the girls also needed their mother's names initials inside their name... The fifth heifer, out of T Louise, is the only real success from that year, thanks to Dad. She got to be Valentine. All the rest were pretty silly...
2012, Blossom had her second heifer. She would have a total of five heifers, Willow, Daffodil, Sunshine, Rosebud, and Rose. Willow would have Cherry (one of Dorothy's favorites), Bambi,  Cedar and Magnolia. (I'm not listing the bulls, just Blossom's female descendants). Cherry would have Carrots, and Alberta. (Bambi we sold as a milk cow, her first calf Faline, and Carrots, Cedar and Magnolia were all Red Devon crosses, so they went for beef. Alberta is a coming two year old this year.) Daffodil would have Angelica and Russet. (Angelica has Chamomile and Begonia.) Sunshine had Moonbeam and Rey. (Rey would have Reina, a coming two year old.) Rosebud had Flower and Clover. (Flower would have Violet, Trillium, and Blondie. Trillium had Larkspur in 2023. Clover had Selenia and Iris.) Rose had Dahlia, Rosalia, and Primrose. (Dahlia had Morning Glory) These cows also have had 31 bull calves in the 15 years since Blossom had her first calf. 34 heifers and 31 bulls, that's 65 calves from one nice cow in 15 years!
2013, we took a break from the alphabetical naming. :) the first bull calf was enormous and I wanted to name him Sherman, for the Sherman tanks of World War 2. He was one of our last Galileo babies, and then we started having Sitting Bull babies.
2014, one of the years we didn't get a set of twins. Usually we get one to three sets. Twins are more likely to have trouble and not survive birth, but cows tend to handle having twins pretty well in general. Jack and Jill in 1999, Flip and Flap, and Salt and Pepper, in 2000, Millie and Tillie in 2002, Raspberry and Olympia, and Ivy and Burl, and Thief and a dead twin in 2003, Leah and Rachel in 2004, Chili and Jalapena in 2005, Solo and Duo, and North Dakota and South Dakota in 2006, Pavarotti and Quack in 2007, Lily and a dead twin in 2012, Mrs Whatsit and Tumnus in 2013, Babe and Ruth, and a set that didn't make it, in 2016, Dae and Thia, and a set that didn't make it in 2017, Mona Lisa and Michaelangelo in 2018, Orlando and Cornflower, and a set that didn't make it, in 2019, Asdrubal and Snowball, and a set that didn't make it in 2022, Hal and Henrietta, Mimsy and Mac, Nick Saint and Nina in 2023, and we've only had one cow calve so far in 2024 (writing in May), with a single, so we'll see what happens yet!
2015, calved out about 40. I thought it would be fun to reuse some old names from over the years, so we had all the heifers listed as "so and so the second" this year. Pennyroyal, Marionberry, Moonbeam, Faun, Victoria, Primrose, Pixie, Boudicca, Seacht (Gaelic for 7), Firefly, Frosty, Pippi, Sally, and Marigold.  The boys were Abner, Byron, Centrip, Denver, Ernest, Finn, Geronimo, Hector, Iggy, Jethro, Kassidy, Leslie, Magnus, Nuno, Ollie, Phileas, Quincy, Rafael, Sylvester, Topper, Ulysses and Victor.
2016, JJ and Dad are Seattle Mariners baseball fans, so we named a lot of calves baseball names... Babe and Ruth, Aoki, Felix, Gutierrez, Ichiro, Jamie, Kirby, Leonys, Martin, and Nelson.
2017, quite a few more baseball names, and literary names, and a few flowers and things. Clover from Rosebud, Bing from Cherry, Poppy from Pansy, Polly from Faun, Llonio from Anwara, and Danny, E-Rod, Fernando, Gaviglio, Haniger, and Iwakuma...
2018, had a dozen Black Angus cross calves at the end of the year. JJ's Lily had a jet black heifer that he promptly named Cottonball. (Later the mother of Snowball and Asdrubal... Asdrubal is the name of another baseball player...)
2019, 45 or so calves, all by Red Bull, all but one were red in color! I named 95% of them a red based name. Fun challenge, but I gave myself a little wiggle room on a few. Shirley (Anne of Green Gables), Ruby, Scarlett, Clifford, Dracaris, Carrots, Frank (Seven Brides for Seven Brothers), Gimli, Ivan, Russet, Jalapeno, Strawberry, Coral, Copper, Merida, Lawry, Mick, Cedar, Shiara, Sheelagh... Eureka! didn't need a red name, because he was Holly's first VBAC (Vaginal Birth after C-Section), and I'd spent a week checking her every two to four hours around the clock... (I got really good at the somnambulent trundling through the fields in my pajamas and boots for the 11pm, 2am and 5am checks... Climbing gates, finding Holly and checking her by starlight, all while trying to be awake enough to make the check accurate, but still sleepy enought to be able to sleep again when I got back to the house... )
2020, 42, again all red except for two black ones! Fiona, Calcifer, Flanders (from Poppy), Posy, Calvin, Lightning, Rosalia, Roy, Smoit, Trumpkin, Sasha, Snapdragon, Annie...
2021, Brown Swiss babies again!!!!! Except for a few by Red Bull (The Red Peril, Red Velvet, Astrid, Titania, Tango...) So nice to have gentle, tractable, blond and white and bluegrey Swiss calves again! Valerian from Pennyroyal, Fig Newton from Snickerdoodle, Trillium from Flower, Cosmos from Rose, Sunflower from Holly...
2022, I've been in full charge of naming for several years now. The boys and my parents suggest names sometimes, but they seem to have slowed down on name ideas and desire to think about it, while I still enjoy it. Peppermint from Patsy, Periwinkle from Pennyroyal, Alberta from Cherry, Iris from Clover, Cumulus from Raindrop, Serena from Tiria, Florian from Posy, Tundra from HuckleBerry, Princess from Queen...
2023, three sets of twins! And a pretty bull heavy year. Usually its fairly even by the end of the year, but this year we had 18 bulls to 11 heifers, and several of the heifers had complications and didn't make it. Alder from Cherry, Bannock from Snickerdoodle, Coll from Tiria, Elf from Pixie, Faymarr from Rey (from the movie, Safety), Gus from Nala, Impatiens from Chamomile, Kingfisher from HuckleBerry (gorgeous big bull calf), Lupine from Sunflower, Rosie Woodsorrel from Valerian...
And so far in 2024, we've got Aciano from Clover!

Why is Local Food Better? The Untold Costs of Big Box Organics

It’s no secret that we are all feeling the price crunch in the checkout line.

The food inflation rate is debatable, but we can safely say food prices have gone up substantially in the last four years.

It’s tempting to buy groceries at the cheapest location, but is there a greater untold cost to that decision?

Groceries used to come from backyard gardens, neighbors, and local small farms. Until recent years, it simply wasn’t possible to get substantial amounts of food imported elsewhere.

Now, we have the infrastructure to import foods from all over the world…the ability to buy broccoli at the drop of a hat or raspberries in January.

This is a terrific convenience, but it also has a cost.

Local farms are being pushed out of the market (or bought out) by their bigger competitors, and we aren’t, by and large, eating foods that are grown local to us.

So why exactly should we prioritize local food when it isn’t as convenient as going to the grocery store and is often more expensive than comparable grocery store items?

  1. Local food has a unique nutrient profile

Food grown in your area has unique nutrients and information that you need. Specific beneficial bacteria, pollen information, and information from sunlight in stored in the food.

Food grown at your latitude will have the correct information for your body. This is one reason why local raw milk and raw honey can be so beneficial for treating allergies. It has the information your body needs to heal itself.

2. Food is most nutritious right at picking time

Food is most nutritious when it’s picked at its naturally ripened time. After picking, many of the nutrients, like vitamin C, degrade. Strawberries, for example, lose most of their vitamin C within 48 hours of being picked.

Food that is being shipped in from South America or California simply can’t compete with food grown in your backyard or nearby.

3. Big box organics (Walmart, etc.) are crowding out small farms

During a recent podcast episode of the Real Organic Food Podcast [Lisa Held ROP#181], a food researcher and journalist relayed the following information about Walmart and their Organics program.

Walmart cuts costs by under paying farmers, and small farmers can’t sell at Walmart’s prices and cover their costs, much less make a profit.

Walmart cuts costs everywhere they can, and this artificially lower prices from what the true cost of food should be.

Walmart is the biggest vendor of organic food worldwide, and 1 in 3 grocery dollars in the US are spent at Walmart. This means that they have a huge power in setting the frame for what is a fair and reasonable price.

The truth is there aren’t any small farms selling to Walmart, and shopping with big box grocery stores can actively hurt the local economy.

4. Shopping locally keeps money in your local economy

It’s been shown that dollars spent locally tend to stay in the local economy for many more transactions than do dollars spent at multinational corporations.

The best way to build resilient food systems that actually serve our health is to shop locally and get to know your farmer.