►
Description
Dugan Tillman Brown and his mother, Beth Tillman, have operated Firefly Farms in North Stonington, CT since 2011. The farm specializes in humanely treated and organically fed livestock such as cows, pigs, ducks, and chickens. Moderated by Lee White, Dugan and Beth discuss how they run their farm. This program was recorded at the Groton Public library on June 18, 2019.
A
B
B
C
Thank
you
so
much.
We
appreciate
being
here.
I
know
some
of
you
here
and
will
will
probably
carry
on
like
we're
just
having
a
conversation.
I
think
that
might
make
the
most
sense.
We
started
our
farm
because
my
husband,
Dugan's
father,
had
Lyme
disease
so
badly
that
nobody
could
understand
how
he
remained
alive.
We
could
find
organic
vegetables
that
we
trusted
as
being
truly
organic,
but
we
could
not
find
what
we
consider
to
be
extremely
nutrient-dense
very
carefully
raised
meat,
so
Dugan
and
I
sort
of
looked
at
each
other
scratched.
C
Our
heads
found
a
piece
of
property
up
in
North
Stonington
and
decided
that
we
would
start
raising
some
animals
that
would
meet
our
specifications
and
help
mr.
van
get
well.
So
we
were
privileged
to
have
Craig
Floyd
as
one
of
our
friends
a
long
time
ago.
We'd
followed
him
and
his
farm
footsteps
farm
and
he
took
us
under
his
wing
and
we
started
off
with
ten
try
heritage
pigs
from
him
when
you're
going
into
farming
and
I
had
not
been
around
farm
animals.
Since
I
was
a
child.
C
My
father
was
an
animal
nutritionist,
so
I
had
been
heavily
involved
with
the
vet
medicine
group
at
Oklahoma,
State
University,
and
just
going
with
him
to
various
feed
mills
and
feed
Lots,
and
he
was
involved
in
everything
from
the
grandmas
side
on
up
for
animals
so
fast
forward,
a
long
time
law
degrees.
And
here
we
are
so
we
got
our
first
ten
pigs.
We
did
well
with
our
first
ten
pigs,
so
we
got
15
pigs
from
Craig.
C
After
we
had
raised
all
of
those
out,
we
decided
we
would
specialize
in
a
very
rare
endangered
heritage
breed
of
pig,
and
that
is
the
mule
foot
hog.
They
are
descended
from
the
IB,
Rocco
ham,
hogs
of
Spain,
and
if
you've
ever
read
about
Ivy
Racal
hams,
you
know
that
they
are
the
most
expensive
and
most
coveted
hams
in
the
world.
C
They
are
out
of
this
world
as
far
as
flavor
is
concerned
good
evening
honor,
so
we
had
to
go
to
Michigan
to
get
Milford's
because
they
are
truly
very
rare,
very
endangered,
and
we
had
to
prove
to
the
gentleman
from
whom
we
purchased
these
pigs
that
we
could
actually
care
for
them
and
keep
the
breed
alive
so
fast
forward.
Again,
some
years
later
here
we
were
with
300
mule
foot
hogs
and
decided
we
needed
to
cut
back.
C
C
We
then
were
very
active
in
the
livestock
Conservancy,
which
is
a
group
that
began
in
1974
in
Vermont,
specifically
to
track
and
keep
Heritage
Farm
breeds
alive.
So
we
discovered
the
Randal
well,
there's
there's
depending
on
which
registry
you
want
to
use
there.
Is
there
Randal
line
back
or
Randal
cattle?
We
sort
of
alternate
between
the
two,
because
we
have
some
animals
that
are
on
one
registry
and
we're
actually
hoping
to
migrate
over
to
the
other
registry.
C
But
at
any
rate
they
are
an
old
Vermont
land
raised
breed
triple
purpose
good
for
homesteads,
so
that
triple
purpose
means
meat,
dairy
and
draught,
and
the
claim
to
fame
for
Randall's
is
that
the
ancestors
of
our
cattle
ad
matched
pair
pulled
Cannon
for
George
Washington
in
the
Revolutionary
War.
So
they
are
a
an
American
breed
with
a
lot
of
history.
The
animals
are
still
used
as
most
of
the
pulling
oxen
you
see
at
fairs
is
Randall
and
they
are
a
small
short
leg
animal
very
barrel.
C
The
Bulls
are
actually
very,
very
nice
animals,
there's
only
one
that
we
have
on
the
farm
who
likes
to
take
potshots
at
the
other
bulls,
and
so
we
figure.
If
he
does,
that
with
the
other
bulls,
he
just
might
decide
to
do
it
with
the
humans.
So
we
always
keep
our
eyes
on
him,
but
the
other
21
that
we
have
are
absolutely
docile
and
wonderful.
B
C
C
Maybe
we
should
give
you
a
chance
to
look
at
some
of
these.
These
pictures,
the
the
Randalls,
come
in
four
different
color
patterns.
This
is
what
I
call
a
roan,
it's
a
kind
of
a
sparkly
red,
there's,
a
solid
red,
then
there's
one,
that's
totally
black
cited
if
Dugan
can
find
one
of
those,
probably
in
that
group
ya,
see
the
ones
that
are
totally
black
sighted
and
then
there
are
the
blues
which
are
the
sparkly
black
ones.
So
four
basic
types:
the
red
is
about
a
10%
recessive
gene
for
them.
C
So
there
are
the
the
thing
you
have
to
watch
for
when
you're
dealing
with
these
old-fashioned
breeds
is
that
you
don't
skew
the
genetics
of
them
by
going
for
a
single,
trait
and
we've
had
to
discourage
someone
who
borrows
Bulls
of
ours,
because
they
wanted
to
go
all
red
and
we
said
no,
that's
not
the
way.
It's
supposed
to
be
it's
a
10%
recessive
genes,
so
you
may
not
have
red
bulls
constantly
so
and
that's
not
the
energy
drink.
D
C
So
the
poultry
we
to
get
our
feet
under
us
raising
poultry,
decided
to
do
industrial
breeds
but
raise
them
on
pasture
with
organic
feed
and
I've
got
to
tell
you
that
when
you
do
it
that
way,
they
don't
taste
anything
like
the
mushy
stuff
that
goes
off
to
China
to
be
processed
and
sent
back
to
whatever
grocery
store
they
get
sent
to.
They
have
a
firmer
flesh.
They
have
flavor
the
birds
exercise
which,
as
you
know,
from
caged
environments
of
industrial
processing,
they
don't
get
any
exercise
whatsoever.
C
So
we
have
done
red
Rangers,
which
are
a
more
old-fashioned
type
industrial
bird
with
long
legs
and
and
not
as
much
breast
Cornish
cross,
which
is
it
is
ubiquitous
in
every
grocery
store.
There
is
which
have
the
large
breasts
and
little
short
legs,
and
if
they
are
not
properly
raised,
they
actually
can't
support
their
own
weight
because
the
breasts
are
so
large.
We
have
done
bard
rocks,
which
are
a
heritage
breed.
C
C
They
were
the
preferred
bird
of
the
Roman
Empire
and
wherever
the
Romans
conquered,
these
chickens
were
left
behind
and
the
reason
we
have
them
as
d'or
Kings
in
this
country
is,
they
ended
up
in
England
and
a
little
Count
town
called
darking,
which
then
changed
its
name
to
Dorking.
So
when
the
settlers
came
here,
they
brought
their
Dorking
chicken
with
them.
They
are
smaller.
They
take
a
long
time
to
grow
out,
but
they're
absolutely
exquisite
and
their
flavor,
and
they
were
the
preferred
Birds
of
emperors
and
kings.
C
C
B
C
There
are
other
name
is
Tennessee,
fainting,
goat
and,
yes,
they
do
when
they're
startled
and
the
little
ones
are
more
prone
to
the
paralyzation
and
falling
over
as
they
get
as
they
get
more
adult
they
kind
of
go
humans.
Please
you
don't
need
to
clap
at
me,
I'm
not
going
to
fall
over.
So
at
this
point
have
I
forgotten
anything.
Do
we
have
a
lot
of
different
types
of
livestock
on
our
farm
and,
as
you
might
expect,
we
sort
of
have
to
specialize
a
little
bit.
C
So
Dugan
is
more
of
our
cattle
person
and
a
partial
poultry
person
and
I
am
the
pig
whisperer
and
also
a
poultry
person.
I,
never
dreamed
in
my
wildest
I
having
done
at
the
vet
college,
when
I
was
a
senior
in
high
school,
there
were
some.
There
was
a
pregnant
sow
whose
babies
needed
to
be
in
a
sterile
environment
to
test
out
some
new
procedures.
C
C
We
decided
as
well
that,
rather
than
go
for
an
organic
certification,
we
would
go
for
a
humane
certification,
so
that
entails
each
each
different.
Animal
has
an
application.
That's
about
this
thick
when
you're
starting
off.
Now
that
we've
been
certified
humane
for
five
years,
I
think
five
years
it
the
process
has
become
more
streamlined
because
the
vet
who
comes
to
do
all
of
the
inspections
knows
us
knows
that
we're
doing
things
correctly
and
we
it
it's
a
little
bit
faster
than
it
used
to
be.
D
D
Think
it's
fair
to
say
that
typical
inspection
is
two
to
three
hours.
We
have
so
many
different
breeds,
so
many
places
that
she's
there
for
for
a
day
and
a
half
in
Houston
in
two
days.
So
it
is
a
long
and
in
depth
boots
on
the
ground,
going
through
every
piece
of
paperwork,
every
feed
tag,
every
building,
every
registry,
every
log
of
every
herd
and
every
breed
for
two
days.
It's
a
big
deal.
C
Yes,
that
is,
that
is
a
current
part
of
farming
and
probably
for
dairy
farms.
That
was
always
part
of
the
process
was
keeping
the
records
and
we
have
a
cattle
book.
A
pig
book,
a
poultry
book
and
everything
that
happens
on
a
daily
basis
goes
into
those
books
and
are
available
for
the
humane
swordfire
to
peruse
we
have
to
when
any
animals
are
kept
in
a
coop
type
situation
at
night.
We
have
to
show
the
ammonia
levels
in
the
coop
so
that
they
don't
exceed
what
is
good
for
the
animals
to
be
around.
C
So
where
does
all
of
this
get
us?
It
gets
us
to
the
fact
that
we
have
animals
who
rate
at
the
top
of
every
taste
test
they've
ever
been
entered
into.
Their
fat
is,
unlike
any
fat
you've
ever
eaten
before
in
your
life.
It's
actually
exceedingly
good
for
you,
chock-full
of
omega
threes
and
sixes
and
I
forgot
to
bring
my
Lord
my
lord
handout,
but
we
make
we
make
lard.
Lard
is
an
amazing
source
of
vitamin
D
as
well
as
Omega,
threes
and
sixes.
C
So
the
fact
that
Crisco
took
over
the
marketplace
after
World
War
two
because
it
was
a
it
was
a
machinery
grease
and
they
didn't
know
what
to
do
with
it
after
after
World
War
two,
they
decided.
Oh,
let's
mark
it.
It
is
something
that
is
cleaner,
nicer,
better
than
lard
and
President
Eisenhower
had
heart
attack
at
that
point
after
the
war,
and
so
everyone
thought
it
was
plain
they
should
blame
it
on
fat.
C
So
that's
also
when
fat
began
to
be
stripped
out
of
animals,
which
is
probably
one
of
the
greatest
mistakes
we've
ever
made
in
our
farming
techniques,
because
without
fat
there
is
no
flavor.
No
flavor
at
all
I
have
steven
schloss
berg
has
been
a
client
of
ours
at
the
Stonington
village
market
for
some
time
and
if
you
own
those
Stephan
from
his
writing
in
the
day
in
the
Sun
and
the
and
the
different
shoreline
papers,
you'll
know
he
can
be
a
little
bit
of
a
difficult
character.
At
times,
I've
I've
known
him
forever.
C
I
respect
him
I
respect
him
immensely,
but
he
can
be
a
difficult
guy
and
he
said
Beth.
This
pork
has
too
much
fat
and
I
said
no,
it
doesn't
Steve,
it
doesn't
have
enough
fat
and
without
the
fact
you
don't
have
any
flavor.
So
he
did
some
comparisons,
he
had
to
say
darn
it
you're
right
and
then
he
went
and
spoke
with
some
chefs
who
use
our
veal
foot
and
they
are
over.
The
moon.
C
Dan
miser,
who
owns
the
oyster
Club,
says
it's
the
best
pork
he's
ever
eaten
Jim
Blair
at
the
which
of
the
he's
in
one
of
the
mystic
markets.
Mystic
market
East
absolutely
adores
our
pork
we
had
and
and
for
flavor
again
when
we
were
just
starting
with
the
Randall's
Scott
Mickelson,
who
was
the
head
chef
at
Paragon
at
Foxwoods,
became
interested
in
us
and
he
was
the
first
chef
to
buy
a
whole
hog
from
us,
and
then
he
got
excited
about
the
Randall's.
C
So
he
got
seventeen
of
the
chefs
from
Foxwoods
together,
dougen
brought
some
of
our
rib
eyes.
I
think
I
think
it's
done,
though
it's
been
a
long
time
ago,
but
at
any
rate
and
they
were
cooked
beautifully
and
they
all
sat
down,
and
they
said.
Oh,
my
god.
This
is
the
best
beef
we've
ever
had
and
they
decided,
though,
because
we
couldn't
show
the
marbling
in
it
yet
that
they
could
not
buy
it
for
their
high
rollers.
C
C
D
Marbleization
and
beef
and
so
number
one-
it's
typically
done
in
a
feed
law
where
they
finish
and
we
call
them
finishing,
Lots
or
feed.
Lots
finishing
is
the
long-lost
art
of
farming.
Everyone
just
takes
animals
from
pasture
and
throws
them
at
the
butcher.
We
don't
most
animals
that
you
get
are
still
juveniles.
Ours
are
not.
Ours
are
fully
mature,
sexually
reproductive
animals.
Why?
D
Because
the
lost
ingredient
is
time
time
to
metabolize
time
to
collect
different,
essential
fatty
acids
from
the
food
that
they
eat,
that
are
in
exceptionally
limited
quantities
that
take
a
long
metabolic
time
to
get
into
the
fat.
So
you
can't
make
this
instant.
This
is
the
true
art
of
slow
food,
finishing
or
marbling
doesn't
happen
in
a
finished
law.
D
The
last
o
on
grass
six
months
of
life,
have
to
have
a
caloric
excess
to
allow
those
cells
to
swell
that
keeps
all
of
our
trade
secrets
behind
closed
doors,
but
allows
you
note
the
metabolic
process
and
development
that
you
can't
just
take
an
animal
and
feed
it
too
much
and
expect
it
to
finish
appropriately.
They
will
get
what
what
you
will
see
is
a
thick
slab
of
fat
around
the
outside.
D
It's
called
a
cap,
but
it
won't
be
inside
the
muscle
that,
inter
muscular
fat
is
a
slow
metabolic
process,
it's
the
first
one
to
be
metabolized
and
the
last
one
to
be
deposited,
because
a
hard-working
muscle
requires
fat
in
close
proximity
so
that
when
it's
burning
hard
and
working
hard,
there's
energy
nearby,
most
of
the
energy
doesn't
come
through
the
blood.
It
was
pre
stored,
stored,
either
as
fast
action
as
glycogen,
which
is
a
sweet,
flavor
or
slow
release
as
fat.
C
B
C
C
Since
we've
gotten
into
the
finishing
and-
and
you
heard
grass-fed
grass-finished,
the
grass
finished
is
the
most
important
aspect
of
our
beef,
and
that
is
because
ruminants
are
supposed
to
be
alkaline
systems
when
they
go
into
feed,
Lots
and
they're
fed
corn.
They
become
an
acid
system
when
they
become
an
acid
system.
Any
and
all
bacteria
they
pick
up
is
totally
and
absolutely
transmissible
to
humans,
because
we
are
acid
based
creatures.
C
D
B
D
Taste
as
good,
but
it
does
make
the
world
go
around.
I
left
oil
and
gas,
not
because
I
didn't
like
that
job,
probably
the
coolest
job.
Besides
this
one
I've
ever
had
the
hours
were
miserable
I
didn't
like
the
climate,
not
the
environmental
climate,
the
social
climate
of
where
I
was,
and
it's
just
too
fast-paced
too
showy
too
flashy
too
boozy,
and
that's
not
me
so
the
reason
I
felt
the
farming
well
one
my
father
was
ill.
D
This
was
a
conscious
choice
to
find
a
profession
that
I
couldn't
bark
on
where
I
had
access
to
family
I
grew
up.
Far
away
from
my
grandparents
I
wanted
to
be
near
my
parents,
winning
if
I
was
fortunate
to
have
children.
I
wanted
a
job
where,
when
I
was
young,
I
thought
by
God,
if
I
have
a
degree.
So
too
shall
my
wife
and
she's
gonna
have
a
job.
Then
I
dated
a
couple
of
women
with
children
and
started
realizing.
D
You
know
what
there's
probably
not
a
job
better
in
the
world
than
being
a
stay-at-home
mom
and
I
ended
up
becoming
jealous
of
the
wife.
I
didn't
have
for
the
kids
that
I
didn't
have
that
she
was
raising
for
me
and
why
was
I
in
the
office
all
day
long
and
not
with
the
kids
and
I'd
leave
before
they
woke
up
and
come
back.
This
is
all
the
stuff
I
don't
have
by
the
way
it
does.
D
All
this
been
thought
process
and
so
I
went
through
all
the
different
professions
that
were
available
and
finally
came
down.
That
farming
was
one
of
the
few
professions
that
I
could
have
where
I
worked
from
home
well
outside
the
home,
but
there
I
was
available
at
any
time
for
kids
and
because
farming
is
24
hours,
it
doesn't
really
matter
when
I'm
there
and
when
I'm
not
there.
If
there's
a
soccer
game
or
a
ballet
game
or
or
whatever
I
can
go,
you
know
you
just
plan
the
animals
around
it.
D
B
D
Easy
a
tree
fell
on
me.
There
was
super
super
easy.
We
had
an
ice
storm,
2011,
2011
and
I
was
clearing
the
widow-makers.
The
twisted
tops
from
the
ice
storm
that
came
through
and
was
cutting
this
tree
over
here
and
that
tree
dropped.
A
Widowmaker
on
me
and
I
was
in
hospital
with
a
leg,
turned
around
backwards
and
steel
plates
and
pins,
and
all
that
and
well
here
you
go
mom.
There's
12
pigs
take
care
of
him
because
I
can't
so
that's
how
I
got
her
into
farming.
There
was
no
other
option.
It's.
B
C
Just
to
do
this
is
a
heck
of
a
lot
more
fun
than
sitting
in
an
office
all
day
in
front
of
a
computer
with
people
who
didn't
plan
ahead.
Who
expect
you
to
solve
their
problems
when
there's
times
not
any
way?
You
can
solve
problems,
so
this
is
a
lot
more
fun
and
animals
are
much
more
appreciative
of
whatever
you
do
for
them
than
most
humans.
C
D
I
want
to
divert
this
monologue
a
little
bit
to
go
back
to
what
the
name
of
tonight's
program
is,
which
is
food
for
thought.
We
are
food
providers
now
I
need
to
inspire
you
with
some
thought,
because
there's
a
few
things
coming
into
the
world
that
I
consider
grave
threats
to
agriculture.
One
of
them
is
the
meatless
meat,
the
vegetarian
meat,
which
is
a
really
cool
product.
When
you
stop
to
think
about
it
except
and
we'll
go
into
the
except.
D
So
what
they're
developing
right
now
is
vegetable
proteins
that
have
the
same
protein
structure
as
actual
animal
protein
derived
and
it's
to
get
the
spongy
texture
they've
figured
out
ways
to
chemically
cause
it
to
wind
itself,
up
its
built,
predominantly
out
of
peep
out
earth,
and
things
like
that
that
we
can
put
into
a
machine
and
massage
and
through
the
magic
of
chemistry
and
science
turn
into
a
synthetic
foam.
Eat
way,
the
heck
better
than
the
texture
of
vegetable
protein
soy
based
stuff.
D
But
why
do
I
feel
like
this
is
not
a
good
thing,
and
this
will
go
into
why
you
should
embrace
stock
farmers
and
know
the
stock
farmer
conventional
agriculture
tillage
agriculture,
which
is
predominantly
mono
crop
GMO
agriculture
is
highly
destructive
to
the
environment.
Why
and
how?
Well
we
donate
a
couple
of
million
tons
of
topsoil
every
year
to
runoff
from
rain
that
falls
after
we
tell
our
fields.
Ok,
fine!
So
who
cares
about
that?
No
big
deal?
It
just
goes
into
the
Gulf.
D
If
we
can
go
with
that
being
not
a
problem,
we
go
to
the
next
bit
as
soon
as
we
start
cutting
through
the
surface
structure
of
soil,
that
lovely,
fresh
tilled
earth
smell
is
death.
Is
the
death
of
the
soil
structure?
Is
the
death
of
the
fungi
and
the
soil
bacteria
that
lovely
tilled
compost
smell
is
bad.
It's
rotting
corpses
just
Micro
rotting
corpses.
D
You
can't
see
it
also
destroys
a
product
called
glomalin,
which
was
the
lost
protein
in
soil
that
we
were
unable
to
find
for
centuries,
but
knew
it
was
there
whenever
we
did
our
oven
tests
on
soil.
So
why
does
this
have
anything
to
do
with
that
formed
soot
of
fake
meat,
every
product
that
goes
into
the
fake
meat
is
actual
food,
so
the
biggest
problem
people
have
with
conventional
livestock
AG.
Is
we
take
food
to
feed
to
an
animal,
to
make
food
to
feed
to
a
human?
It's
inefficient?
D
It
is
just
as
inefficient
to
take
food
that
we
can
feed
to
a
human
to
put
inside
a
machine
to
make
food.
Now,
okay,
fine
I'll,
go
with
the
fact
that
really
we
didn't
remove
any
energy
from
this.
We
just
transformed
the
form,
however,
we're
using
the
regular
food
crops,
so
we
haven't
gained
anything
we've
just
made.
Someone
feel
better
about
what
they're
eating.
Is
that
a
bad
thing?
I
don't
know?
D
It
certainly
is
when
we
start
making
up
rules
about
methane
farts
for
cows,
and
things
like
that
and
putting
catalytic
converters
in
the
back
of
cows
in
California
and
people
bringing
out
metrics
as
to
how
cows
are
ruining
the
world.
This
is
a
really
big
topic
right
now.
Cows
are
ruining
the
world
when
you
feed
cows,
inappropriate
food,
like
Beth,
spoke
about
all
of
the
data
and
the
metrics
that
come
from
the
methane
production
of
Agriculture
come
from
intensive,
AG
or
finished
Lots,
which
is
the
easiest
place
to
go
measure
cows.
Why?
D
Because
they're
stuck
in
a
pen,
they're
fed
things
that
are
not
appropriate
and
they
are
producing
large
point
sources.
Toxic
wastes,
large
amounts
of
methane
and
they
are
consuming
a
huge
quantity
of
food
that
should
go
for
humans,
corn
and
soy
beans
are
human
food.
Let's
just
be
honest,
however,
grass
is
not
human
food
and
there
is
more
land
in
America
that
can
be
grazed
than
there
is
any
land
in
America
that
can
be
tilled.
D
You
can
do
that
and
you
can
expand
it
and
start
showing
that
sure
conventional
AG
with
big
tractors,
on
lots
of
spaces
that
are
ruining
an
environment
and
soil
runoff,
with
lots
of
bad
fertilizers
to
make
things.
It
should
be
human
food
to
go
into
a
cow
that
takes
36
thousand
calories
of
food
to
make
one
pound
of
cow
right.
Well,
that's
36,000!
Calories
of
corn
that
should
never
have
been
produced,
that's
being
produced
with
government
subsidies
from
your
tax
dollars
for
less
than
the
cost
of
sale.
Okay,
so
grass
is
free,
it's
incredible!
D
It
grows
outside
you
just
put
water
on
it.
Grass
is
free
cows
that
eat
36,000
calories
of
grass
to
make
one
pound
of
beef
have
just
turned
36
thousand
calories
of
stuff
that
you
could
not
hope
to
eat
into
something
that
you
can
eat
and,
at
the
same
time,
they're
putting
away
oh
Jesus.
We
have
60
acres
of
hay
field
that
we've
been
doing
these
studies
on
with
200
cows,
1,700
tons,
oh
I,
don't
know
40
to
50
tons
of
carbon
dioxide
per
cow
per
your
stump
into
soil.
I
mean
come
on.
D
This
is
why
it's
important,
so
what
kind
of
agriculture
for
what
kind
of
farm
is
important?
If
you
are
concerned
about
the
environment
and
you're
thinking
that
cows
fart
and
we
shouldn't
eat
them?
What
no
the
thing
is?
Cows,
don't
fart
enough,
because
people
aren't
growing
in
the
right
way,
so
we
need
to
get
more
cows
because,
honestly,
if
we
start
appropriate
agriculture,
the
kind
of
cattle
farming
we
do,
which
is
super
super
cool,
goes
buy
a
hundred
thousand
names
of
people
trying
to
make
a
name
for
themselves
to
become
famous.
D
But
the
concept
is
cows,
eating
grass,
which
is
nutritionally
appropriate,
moved
at
a
time
space
for
the
grass
that
is
appropriate
for
the
grass,
his
growth
cycle
and
recoveries,
meaning
wildebeest
buffaloes
Serengeti
animals.
Do
they
sit
in
one
spot
all
day,
long
and
eat?
No,
that's
modern
man
trying
to
control
an
environment.
Wild
animals
come
trampled
move
and
they
don't
come
back.
So
we
synthesize
that
on
the
farm
and
through
doing
it
on
the
farm
in
a
controlled
environment,
we
can
actually
overclock
the
farm.
We
can
get
more
productivity
out
of
it.
D
All
right
so
here's
a
question
right
so
what's
too
much
land
and
then
what
we
have
to
say
too,
is
all
right
if
that
land
is
better
suited.
So
if
we
talk
about
this
is
the
Town
Hall
version
of
highest
and
best
use
right,
so
you're
gonna
transfer
a
piece
of
land
into
something
and
we
got
a
value
at
based
on
the
highest
best
use,
which
is
a
subdivision
or
a
high-rise,
or
something
like
that.
D
Well,
if
we're
talking
pure
agriculture,
land,
highest
and
best
use
would
probably
be
a
tillage
crop
of
some
sort
that
we
can
get
a
lot
of
money
for
Brown
in
Connecticut.
The
highest
and
best
use
would
be
tobacco,
that's
the
highest
tax
bracket.
We
have
on
it.
That's
not
it's
absolutely
a
good
food
crop,
but
if
we're
going
for
land
valuation
that
would
be
tillable
a
cows
don't
need
tillable,
a
they
can
do.
Pasture
F
cows
can
be
on
a
hundred
percent
grade.
Covered
in
rocks
doesn't
need
to
be
clear
in
stone
pic.
D
Why
does
the
cow
can
walk
around
the
rocks?
It's
okay,
so
we
can
use
the
worst
most
god-awful
healy,
Rivini,
craggy,
piece
of
junk
land
out
there
that
can't
do
anything
and
I
can
put
fifteen
hundred
tons
of
carbon
per
year
into
that
soil
by
growing
grass
and
appropriately
grazing
it
with
cows.
You
want
to
solve
global
warming.
You
wanna
solve
co2
in
the
atmosphere,
one
convince
people
who
are
growing
your
food
crops
to
go
to
a
no-till
method,
because
when
we
stir
that
soil
we're
breaking
everything
no-till
at
least
doesn't
ruin
the
surface
structure.
D
So
we
don't
get
the
runoff
to
take
your
scrub
lands
all
of
your
pasture
F's
and
you
turn
that
into
appropriately
rotationally
grazed
livestock.
This
is
not
a
new
concept.
There
was
a
small
poem
written
by
a
Scotsman
and
about
1500
that
they
didn't
have
good
fencing
back
then,
but
he
said
that
any
pasture
that
could
be
suitably
divided
such
that
the
animals
were
in
one
position,
only
long
enough
to
eat
what
they
needed
and
to
move
to
allow
the
land
to
recover.
They
would
be
able
to
produce
what
a
family
would
need.
Now.
D
This
is
close
to
500
years
ago.
800
years
ago
they
were
paying
taxes
based
on
the
productivity
of
cows
and
Ireland,
based
on
how
big
their
hearts
were.
We've
done
nothing
in
livestock
agriculture,
but
go
backwards
because
we
tried
to
out
think
the
system
and
specialize
in
one
thing:
specialise
in
milk
production
specialize
in
beef
production
cows
are
generalists
the
more
you
start,
rounding
them
out
to
a
general
animal,
the
better
off
they
are,
and
they
actually
will
out
produce
in
all
metrics
a
dairy
cow
right.
D
Now
we
just
broke
the
world
record
and
I
think
we
hit
through
40,000
pounds
of
milk
produce,
20
tonnes
of
milk
from
one
cow
and
one
lactation
typically
nine
months.
It's
absolutely
ridiculous.
A
beef
cow
which
produces
only
about
4000
pounds
of
milk
on
a
per
year
basis
produces
more
butter
fat.
Well,
we
buy
milk
based
on
butter
fat.
So
what's
the
point
of
this
like
racehorses,
it's
not
doing
something.
It's
making
white
water.
Now
that
is
opinion
me
population,
one
right
so
take
that
for
what
it
is.
D
But
we
have
so
screwed
up
modern
agriculture
by
trying
to
make
names
for
ourselves
and
become
the
person
who
gets
for
this
one
amazing
product,
the
one
bull
who
weighs
5,000
pounds,
a
one
cow
that
makes
40,000
pounds
of
milk,
the
one
stag
who
can
pull,
who
knows
10
tonnes
on
a
sled
at
the
fair.
These
are
not
good
animals.
When
you
start
looking
at
their
bodies,
they're
not
right.
Those
little
old-fashioned.
Cows
are
third,
the
size
of
a
modern
Holstein.
D
They,
if
I
put
one
Holstein
that
weighed
the
same
amount
of
them.
Next
to
that
cow
and
I
took
the
other
three
cows
of
mine.
That
would
take
to
be
the
same
weight,
but
for
volume
I
will
out
produce
them
on
the
butter
of
the
the
proteins
and
the
butter
fats.
With
my
three
little
ones.
I
will
also
under
eat
that
Holstein
3000
pounds
of
Holstein
3000
pounds
of
Randall
they
will
eat
less.
C
C
C
It
was
all
legs,
that's
how,
when
I,
when
I
was
kind
of
talking
about
breeding,
for
a
specific
trait
that
skews
everything,
these
animals
have
been
modified
so
that
they
can
live
in
an
extremely
dirty
environment
and
those
long
legs
keep
them
above
all
the
filth
that
they'd
normally
live
in.
So
it's
an
art
and
our
little
guys
know
they
get
rotationally
grazed,
so
they
don't
have
to
be
in
their
own
filth
and
so
their
little
short
legs
and
their
little
barrel
bodies
are
just
perfect
for
what
we're
doing
with
them.
D
Don't
we
that's
a
traumatic
experience
for
both
mom
and
baby?
We
don't
separate
them
into
different
pastures
and
if
it's
a
heifer
and
she's
born
she'll
be
with
her
mom
until
the
day
her
mom
passes
away
of
old
age
in
our
pasture,
the
the
steers
live
whole
lives
with
the
animals
until
we
finally
have
enough
of
a
waiting
list
that
they'll
go
to
market
we're,
not
just
I,
don't
know
not
proactively,
but
just
okay.
It's
time
whatever
they're
too
many
animals
off
they
go.
D
C
They
said,
okay,
so
just
so
long
as
you
have
a
structure
where,
if
there
were
a
three-day
blizzard
that
you
could
get
them
out
of
the
blizzard,
then
that
will
work
and
our
animals
from
when
we
do
have
winter
calves,
which
is
not
ideal,
but
every
once
in
a
while.
It
happens.
We
do
have
a
barn
available
for
the
mothers
and
the
babies,
because
the
environments
a
little
too
harsh
for
the
babies
in
midwinter.
B
D
They
should
be
calving
in
sync
with
nature,
but
for
a
few
minor
exceptions,
they
calve.
At
the
same
time
the
deers
have
their
fawns
so
true
spring.
So
when
there's
snow
on
the
ground,
no
and
the
reason
being
is
sort
of
when
we
talked
about
biologically
appropriate
foods
or
nutritionally
sound
foods
that
are
right
for
the
animal.
The
food.
That's
right
for
the
calf
is
three
months
of
mom
being
on
the
best
nutrition
available.
Oddly
enough,
as
soon
as
it
warms
up,
we
get
spring
flush.
D
You
notice
that
you're
mowing
your
lawn
every
every
other
day,
because
it's
growing
like
crazy.
Well,
when
that
flush
starts,
is
the
beginning
of
third
trimester.
Third
trimester
is
when
most
of
the
growth
of
the
fetus
occurs
humans,
cows,
all
the
same,
so
the
peak
nutritional
demand
for
the
calf
inside
mom
is
in
third
trimester,
which
happens
when
the
grass
first
starts
to
grow
so
that
it
can
get
appropriate
nutrition,
not
on
stored
fat
from
her
back
and
just
whatever
meager
scraps
she
could
find
in
the
natural
world
so
yeah
about
now.
D
In
this
June
time
after
we've
had
a
couple
of
of
really
beautiful
grass
is
when
babies
are
born.
It's
nice,
it's
soft!
It's
warm!
They
land
on
a
thick,
lush
grass
carpet.
Oh
and
they're,
born
with
a
spring
coat.
Their
hair
is
maybe
half
an
inch
long,
it's
kind
of
silly
to
have
them
born
in
the
winter
time
they
don't
have
a
winter
coat.
So,
yes,
there
is
a
time
the
calves
are
born
and.
B
C
D
If
you've
never
met
a
cow,
it's
a
wonderful
time
because
cows
are
not
I,
don't
know
what
your
stereotype
is.
I'll
just
tell
you
right
now:
it's
wrong
and
I:
don't
it
doesn't
matter
what
it
is,
because
if
your
image
of
a
cow
is
not
as
n
master,
the
most
grounded
and
happy
calm
creature
in
the
world,
whatever
that
image
you
have
of
a
cow
is
whether
it's
Ferdinand
the
bull
or
something
it's
wrong,
because
you
can
have
had
a
bad
day.
D
You
can
be
stressed
out,
you
can
be
heartbroken,
we
all
know
you
go
home.
Your
dog,
your
dog,
gives
you
those
nice
puppy
dog
eyes
and
leans
on
you
and
we'll
just
sort
of
sympathize
with
you.
A
cow
will
fix
you,
that's
the
awesome
part
you
go
with
them
and
they
are
so
calm,
so
grounded
and,
if
they're
pregnant
so
content
that
all
of
your
anxiety,
energy,
just
dissipates
and
that's
why
I
actually
changed
my
greatest
love
from
pigs
because
they
are
unbelievably
intelligent
and
just
active
and
curious
and
incredible.
D
Conversationalist,
yes,
pigs
talk
and
they
have
a
very
complex
language,
but
cows
are
calm
more
than
anything
else.
Cows
are
calm
and
they
are
so
happy
to
just
be,
and
so,
when
you
bring
them
into
a
new
pasture
and
they'll
frolic
and
be
excited
they're
noisy
when
they're,
hungry
and
angry
and
you
bring
them
in
and
all
of
a
sudden,
the
world
is
quiet
and
they
are
content.
D
And
all
you
hear
is
just
this:
ripping
of
the
grass
and
about
three
weeks
ago
the
cows
were
mowing
my
lawn,
and
it
just
happened
to
be
that
the
situation,
the
water
in
the
ground
was
just
right.
That
I
heard
the
subterranean
tremors
of
cow
grazing,
and
it
is
this
Basso
profundo
that
just
comes
through
the
foundation,
and
you
can
hear
them
grazing
like
a
quarter
mile
away.
It
is
the
most
incredible
thing,
so
I
guess
that
questions.
C
A
C
You
pick
this
up,
you'll
find
phone
numbers
and
email,
and
all
of
that
on
the
bottom
and
aside
from
the
website,
we
also
have
a
Facebook
page,
which
stays
very,
very,
very
current.
In
fact,
the
first
picture
of
the
first
calf
born
in
the
spring
has
been
posted.
Now
we
wait,
we
wait.
We
don't
post
immediately
because
things
can
go
wrong
and
we
don't
want
people
to
to
decide
that
they
love
this
one
little
animal
and
then,
when
despairs
they
get
very
unhappy.
C
At
the
last
camp
out,
we
had
a
young
heifer
who
had
probably
been
stepped
on
when
the
herd
was
moving
and
she
had
a
foot
that
she
was
limping
on,
horribly
and
so
the
vet,
our
large
animal
vet,
usually
comes
to
the
campout
with
his
daughter
and
a
couple
of
her
friends,
and
so
we
had
him,
bring
out
his
portable
x-ray
machine
and
do
a
whole
examination
of
her
foot
at
the
campout,
which
was
a
lot
of
fun,
is
for
everyone.
It
was
a
lot
of
fun.