Two Men and a Truck:
On the Road with Ridge & Gearld
by Steve Campbell (New Meadows, ID)
Edited by Laurel Hoffman (New Bethlehem, PA)

Gearld and Ridge invited me to travel with them in March during their quarterly “embryo-flushing” trip. I had read about the Devon heifers from New Zealand and also heard Ridge and Gearld describe them in a number of different talks, and here was my golden opportunity to see them first hand. I met them and Susan Beal, a homeopathic veterinarian, at the airport in Hartford, Connecticut. We drove to Wayland, Massachusetts, that evening.

The next morning we met Tim Henderson at the Mainstone Farm, where he is the manager. After the cows were flushed, and Ridge and Gearld were sorting through the magic with their microscopes, Tim and I headed out to look at the rest of his herd, including the mother of the embryos we purchased last spring. Even at the tail end of a droughty winter, she and her herd mates were in excellent flesh, as turned out to be the case at all of the farms we visited over the next 5 days. After a wonderful venison stew, cookies and taking a few pictures of Tim’s bull, we loaded the equipment in the truck to head to Rhode Island to meet the Minto’s, and see the Watson Farm.

When we arrived, Don and Heather Minto were just finishing sorting the cows and calves. Wow, more really thick animals. We took a pasture walk that evening and then enjoyed Heather’s marvelous cooking. That evening, Ridgeway told me that in the northeast, there is a local moving company called “Two Men and A Truck” and described how he and Gearld felt the same way on most of their flushing trips.

The next morning, after flushing, while Gearld and Ridge were sorting the embryos, Don, Heather and I got very familiar with the linear measuring tools and the hide and hair indicators on a number of their cows and calves. The soft hide and fine hair feel like velvet in your hands.

In the early afternoon, we went out to the pasture to look at the rest of the animals on the farm and view the Atlantic ocean that is the southern border of one of the paddocks. (for a bit of fun) I could not find any of those three legged, one-eyed animals Gearld keeps mentioning come from these line breeding programs. We left around 4:00 to take the 4 hour + drive to Bath, New Hampshire to see Tom Cope at the Woodburne Farm. Gearld and Susan renewed their ongoing “discussion” about animal health. We should have had a tape recorder. A book could probably have been written. We arrived in Bath, just in time for dinner, with milk (from their family cow)… and cookies.

Standard operating procedure says the first order of business on each farm is to flush all cows that are ready. Ridge and Gearld are very efficient with set-up and how they work the animals through. If one of the cows seemed a bit fussy, Susan would put a dab of one of her “concoctions from her apothecary” on the nose and the cow would settle down within a minute.

We sorted off all of the purebred Rotakawa bulls that Tom has on his place in to run through the chute for linear measurement, testicle evaluation, ultrasound and weight. Gearld has talked about docility before.

However, to see it in animal after animal almost made me think they were drugged. If I remember the conversation correctly, there will be a few bulls for sale in the fall. We helped Ridge pack up the “truck” and he headed back to Hardwick to get ready for the field day scheduled for the next day at his farm. That evening, Susan, Gearld, Tom and I had home grown chicken dinner with…. more cookies.

We arrived in Hardwick to find the Minto’s, Robert Cope, and Mike Scannell and Joan Harris already in attendance. We then proceeded to set up to weigh and measure the purebred Rotokawa yearling bulls. These animals were even more docile than the 18-month-old animals at Tom’s farm. After a full evaluation, it was decided to let them mature until 2 years of age before offering any for sale. The quality of the meat, both in New Hampshire and here at Hardwick, as indicated with the ultrasound and those visual indicators Gearld keeps talking about, was exceptional.

We went back to the house for a lunch of, soon to be world famous “Rotokawa Stew” (spellcheck keeps wanting me to say rutabaga). Gearld spoke to us about the challenges that the group had overcome over the last 2-3 years. His words are always kind and encouraging. Everyone there expressed how this project has “put new wind in their sails” about the future of Grass Farming.

The next morning we went to Devon Lane Farm in Belchertown, Mass. Will Shattuck met us at his implement dealership. During the flushing of 7 thick and docile cows, Gearld shared with me the story of how Will and this farm started Gearld on the search for superior Red Devon bulls. Without Will asking the right questions, Gearld may have never gotten to New Zealand and met Ken McDowell. These cows added 32 embryos to the total for the trip.

That evening, on the way back to the house, we stopped by the land trust farm Ridge is leasing. A lot of work is being done including water development, fencing, reseeding, etc. to get it ready for livestock this spring. The stonewalls that were uncovered by the “brontosaurus” are just amazing in size and quality of workmanship. Ridge's commitment to "this program" (other words here... sustainability,environment, etc.) is evidenced by the effort he is putting into converting his own farm and this land back to grazing.

Over a pork steak dinner, purchased from Mike and Joan’s farm, the decision was made to flush one cow in the morning at Hardwick and then do the microscope work at Mike and Joan’s. When we arrived in Schodack Landing, New York, Mike gave me a quick tour of the barns and horse drawn equipment. I saw some items I had never heard of before.

After lunch with more cookies, we went down to look at their thick, docile cows and calves. The hide here was just like at all of the other farms, thick, soft, pliable, and easy to move around on the animal. Gearld added the “Escutcheon”, under the animal’s tail, as another visual indicator to add to the list after reading some information, which Joan Harris found in a book written in 1892. Size, uniformity side to side, and hair “fineness” are the important terms here.

Before I knew it, it was time to leave for the airport. I said many heartfelt good-byes. Wished Gearld God’s help through his knee surgery next month, and Ridge and I were headed off to the airport in Albany. I had come to the Northeast with the intention of seeing those Rotokawa heifers (now cows) that I had only been able to picture in my mind’s eye. As impressive as they are, I was more impressed with all of the people I met there. As Ridge and I parted company, I could not help but think about “Two Men and a Truck” spreading hope for the future of small grass farming everywhere they go.