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By CAROLE SOULE

Could you live well without electricity? A few days on an Amish farm in Ohio showed me how it’s done. Earlier this month, husband Bruce and I delivered a cow to Harley and Sarah, who invited us to stay on a bit.The Amish people want to keep themselves...

By CAROLE SOULE

After a 10-day getaway in New York and New Jersey, I was glad to get home to the farm. While I was away, husband Bruce and industrious farm workers Diane Hersey and Matt Roach fed the cattle, kept water troughs free of ice, and checked twice a day for...

By CAROLE SOULE

Every year, about this time, Mother Nature declares war on Miles Smith Farm. Her weapon is ice.Winter is a constant battle to keep my livestock hydrated. Cows have natural insulation to keep warm but can’t live without water. Some farmers believe...

By CAROLE SOULE

For New Year’s Eve, the weather was all warm and balmy with shirt-sleeve temperatures, no wind, and pretending it didn’t try to kill us the week before. I was on vacation in Georgia when the Arctic weather descended. Below-freezing temperatures,...

By CAROLE SOULE

At Miles Smith Farm, we have two kinds of cattle: Scottish Highlanders and Angus/Hereford cross-breeds. There are many differences between these breeds, but one is particularly striking. The Highlanders, both males, and females have enormous horns,...

By CAROLE SOULE

I was a vegetarian for five years, mostly because I didn’t want to support massive feed-lot operations which corral 150,000 cattle or more and can process 3,000 a day. I didn’t have any plan to save the planet from beef. But I did – and still do –...

By CAROLE SOULE

If a farmer wants to breed her cows, then at least one bull is required for “natural breeding.” We like our calves to be born in April and May when it’s warmish, and grass is growing, so breeding takes place nine months before then – in July and...

By CAROLE SOULE

‘How many cows do you have?” is a seemingly straightforward question that I get all the time. But I seldom know the answer because cattle are hard to count, and it keeps changing all the time.When I meet ranchers from Utah or Texas, they don’t...

By CAROLE SOULE

‘What type of cow is that?” asked Jane, a visitor to the farm, pointing to Belle.When I told her Belle is a Milking Short Horn, Jane asked, “And when do you start milking her?” Astonished by the question, I realized that maybe Jane didn’t know why...

By CAROLE SOULE

The day-old calf had vanished. Yesterday the black-and-white heifer had been up and walking, and her Scottish Highlander mom, Laverne, had been cooing and fussing over her. The next day the calf had disappeared. The strange thing was that Laverne did...

By CAROLE SOULE

The dandelions disappeared as my cattle munched their way across the pasture. They snatched up the yellow flowers, which they seemed to prefer over the tall, green grass. Within hours the dandelions had been all eaten up.Even though our cattle are...

By CAROLE SOULE

Topper’s horns were wedged tight in the metal hay feeder. While reaching for a tasty bit of hay, he pushed his head into the feeder and turned his horns just so. Like a Chinese finger trap, the feeder wouldn’t let him back up. But he didn’t panic; he...

By CAROLE SOULE

Kelsie struggled a bit in the squeeze chute as she settled in for her yearly pedicure. With a rope attached below her “dew claws,” we gently lifted her hoof, fastening the line to a bar at the top of the chute so that we could safely trim her long...

By CAROLE SOULE

The fair season is over, and the Highland Riders 4-H kids and their ribbon-winning animal associates can look back on it with satisfaction. I call the cattle “associates” because the kids don’t actually own them. None of the Highland Riders live on...

By CAROLE SOULE

Brittany’s baby was small. Her white bull calf weighed only 45 pounds (half the weight of most Scottish Highlander calves), but he was walking and nursing within hours of birth. His mom keeps him clean and runs to him when he calls. They are a good...

By CAROLE SOULE

Stash looked at me through his fringe of shaggy hair as I shouted, “Walk on!” He just stood staring at me with a puzzled look on his face. I was standing about six feet in front of him and using the voice commands I thought he’d learned. But he was...

By CAROLE SOULE

As we unrolled an 800-pound round bale of hay, a dead fawn fell to the floor of the feed bunker. The fawn was all in one piece and must have been accidentally scooped up by the hay baler.I’m sure the farmer would have tried to save this fawn if he had...