Securing the Future of our Family’s Milk: A Fathers Mission

A couple of boys and I are driving over 300 miles to pick up one animal that is key to the future of our farm, our family's milk, which is the centerpiece of our farm. It's absolutely crucial and we got to keep it going. We need this one animal. And it's not a milking cow, but you couldn't have a milking cow without it. Let's go.

That's nice.

Gideon built a fire. He won't be here to enjoy.

What a gentleman.

We are going to get a new bull. You see, Milk is half of the breeding program, even though he may be one, and we're eventually gonna have up to 4 milk cows. He's the patriarch. So far so good. Arrival ETA 10:37. But we must stop every 2 hours, stretch our legs, keep our body moving, circulated. But we should have plenty of time. I love an early start.

Love an early start.

Haven't always loved an early start, but it helps to go to bed early. Every night. 9-ish. Eventually you get rested up and you like early starts. We replaced our old faithful Stud Muffin with He-Man. We had high hopes for He-Man, but one, he stepped in the water. Two, he would knock the waters over. And three, the last straw, strike three, he was picking up the fence and getting out. Big guy. Got his license. You got it?

Yep. You got this. Look who's called. Hey, hey, what's going on? Henry wants to see you.

We're all here. Yay!

Even Jonah.

Jonah's just on the other side.

We thought about doing AI artificial insemination. It would be cheaper, but then you've got to hire a tech, you've got to be organized, you got to recognize their heat, and I just feel more secure as a father providing for this family to have our source here on the farm. It just feels more sustainable. So we're going for this bull. Keep left. Rest area. Let's stretch our legs, y'all. Not natural to be sitting that long. Do you even feel it? Are you sore? Are you stiff? A little bit. Under— okay, that makes me feel a little better. How are you? You, you stiff at all? You stiff at all? You gotta go to the potty? Gotta go to the potty.

Hey, what's this?

Snack.

Y'all couldn't make it? I'm not eating, I'm just fasting. It's easier, it's healthier. We're not doing nothing. Why do you guys need to eat? You ain't doing nothing. Boys are staying warm in the car. This old man's got to stretch a little more. Shall we? Shall we? Should we?

Should we?

I don't know if we should have, but we did. So why are we driving 300 miles? It's over 600 miles to get a bull. Why not just get one local? I insist on quality. We have Jersey cows. They're prolific milk givers. They can be a little bit of a high maintenance. So I like the American Milking Devon breed, which is— hey, that's the breed that the pilgrims chose to bring over. It was an ox, it was a beef cow, it was a milk cow. Tri-purpose breed. They're heritage breed, they're super hardy. They're out— they also had that milk constitution, meat constitution. So I think mixing them, I believe, and we've been doing this for years— Stud Muffin was an American Milking Devon. When you mix that American Milking Devon with the Jersey, you're gonna get kind of the best of both worlds. Maybe it won't give as much milk, but it'll be more hardy, have this amazing meat constitution. I think the perfect. I'm excited for that. I can't wait to see this bull, for you guys to see the bull, tell more of the story. It's cold. We should get back. We should get going.

Where'd I go?

Here I am.

Okay, I'm feeling a little saucy.

A little dad joke here on this brisk morning. On the road again.

You feeling good?

Rested?

Yep.

Energized by that bar?

Yeah. You doing okay?

You're sitting up. Continue on I-81 north for 54 miles. You getting tired? If you're getting tired, don't be a hero. We'll switch.

What?

Should I get off here? Uh, yeah, let's see. Yeah, this would be a good one. All right, everybody stretch. Everybody out. Move around. Move around. Even the youngins.

Whoa!

Virginia's got mountains. The American Milking Devon is rare. They are few and far between. Kaden, you want to learn how to pump fuel?

Yes.

Lift this up, put that up, and push that button.

Go for it. Does that make sense? You think you can remember how to do that? Yeah. Okay, how do I do it? Walk me through it. What?

Wait, you put the credit card in?

Yeah.

And then you press that button when— I forgot what it was called.

Which one?

I forgot what it was called.

Well, don't hit this one. The diesel. And then what? One more step and then you put it in. Good job, buddy. I saw an American milking Devon bull being posted on the Abundance Plus platform for sale, which I think I can trust since that's my own platform. Form. It's people just like you, but very serious about growing their own food. One of the really cool things about that is I know this animal— and I did vet it some more— but I know this animal is going to be raised how I would raise it. It's going to be grass-fed, it's going to be grass-fed genetics. Has it ever had any vaccine? No, it has not. Has it been dewormed? No, it has not. I don't want that. We don't want to eat that stuff. Only the best for my brood. And I've noticed lately well, along our whole farm journey is we have to go far to get the quality that— should I say we deserve? That my— certainly that my family deserves, right? That our bodies as the temple deserves. Hey, you haven't moved yet, buddy. Come on, get shaking it out. Shake it out, buddy. Shall we do the chicken dance?

No, no, no, no.

Come on, walk around, walk around. Do me a little favor when you get on the road, make this vlog a little more interesting.

What?

Um, I want you to give me a tour of your setup back there. Give me the kid cam, give me the kid cam. Yeah, you can do it. Just say, since I'm gonna drive, you're gonna have to get a few shots. Is that okay? Just, yeah, 2, maybe 3 shots, something interesting. All right.

This is my setup back here. I got these pillows for resting and a blanket and rodeo boots.

Rounding us off, Josiah's bringing us a quarter mile turn left to our new home. You guys excited to see your bull, the new patriarch? How's it going?

Good to see you.

Good to see you. It's a good sign when you go to a farm and they have this. They have Premier One netting.

That means you've got a regenerative—

more than likely you've got a regenerative the farm. And a chickshaw. A chickshaw. OG.

OG.

So this is your patriarch? Yeah, that's your breeding bull?

Yep.

He's, um, that's the dad.

He's not the dad of him. Okay, they should be half brothers.

Oh, okay.

The big one I sent you a picture of? Yeah, the big bull, that's his dad. And I think it's his dad too.

You ready for some girlfriends? Here you have a corral-ish Yeah, you're gonna shut him in that. So I'll back up to this gate, you'll corral him in here, and he'll have nowhere to go but into the trailer. You think he'll lead into the trailer? Is he as hooked as these guys are? These guys might— would go in a trailer with half off.

That's why I wanted to get him by itself, because they'd be underfoot.

Is that bull half as tame as this one?

This one?

Yeah, not—

he's not as tame.

He's getting— he's getting half as tame. Half. Yeah, I think we're gonna get him some water. What's his name? This bull? Oh good, we're gonna have to think of some macho name for him. We have Beefcake. We're kind of running out of macho names. There's Mr. T, the Incredible Hulk. Oh, I got one, I got one! Hulk Hogan! Hulk Hogan! Your grandbaby's calling you, buddy. I'm screaming for you, man. Come on. Is every day bringing your grandkid to work day on the farm? Does he go on you?

We're not buddies.

He give you kisses?

We're not buddies.

Hey, you gonna be able to reach your girls yet? Hmm, might be 6 months, but maybe not. This isn't the cheapest option. $500 wear and tear there and back. The bull, $1,500. But We're not in this to be cheap. We are in this for our health, the best health for myself and for my family, for myself so that I can be strong and endure and be there for my family. So this is super important. As you can see, this trailer is dark and foreboding, and this bull has never been on a trailer. It's a step up. It's dark. Nobody's in there. That's quite the task. It's going to be quite the feat. We're going to have some trouble. If not a lot of trouble. So let's just hope for the best. But first we've got to settle in, uh, let the night fall and get up early and do this thing. Look at this nice little cottage. Nice. And a nice Christmas tree.

It's coming along. Look at this.

Our host and bull seller have been spectacular. Not only did they feed us They gave us some homemade soap.

There's tallow balm.

Heck yeah!

There's 4-in-1 soap.

What's the website?

Uh, sincerelyregency.com.

sincerelyregency.com. Okay, what's this?

That's your sourdough starter.

Oh, this is sourdough starter for brown rice sour gluten-free sourdough. This is one of your soaps?

Yeah.

For part of the trade— I mean, this bull would have been more— is to coach him in YouTube And I'm proud of him. By the time I already got home, he already posted his first short.

Do chickens get a snow day? Well, they didn't come out all day.

They stayed cooped up inside with their feed.

All right, let's see if we can get him in the trailer. Remember, they don't just walk in on auto. Let me see what we're backing up to. Okay, so I'm needing to back right here. This is our chute. Then I can open this, and then this is our chute. Okay, so he's— okay, that's good. Okay, stop, Papa. What we have to do is we got to get a single chute right here, so his only option is to go straight through, and then you have to funnel him with a more physical barrier. Can you stand there? There you go, Jim. Good, good. Now you guys come in behind him. Yep, just keep him in that corner. Nervous. He'll get excited and he'll bust right through that. So that's why we're going to put a physical chute. If I actually— look, look, look, watch this, watch this. If I actually put the trough— oh my gosh, are you kidding? Yeah. What just happened? What just happened? Oh, you did? Yeah, the alfalfa was in there. Hey, we got him! Never in my life— well, once— the sheep walks right into the sheep pen. What? How is this happening? This doesn't just happen. No chutes or nothing. I'm having a— I'm having a lucky year. Thank you for getting in there like that. You're incredible.

Feet up in there.

Thank you, Jim. Thank you, sir. Pleasure. Yes, sir.

You too.

You think you got this, Josiah?

Yeah.

How's the trailer feel? Good, actually. Does it? Yeah.

We loaded it good.

Yeah.

500 lb bull, probably 1,000 lbs of feed. You got this. It's 1,500 lbs.

Yeah.

2-hour check-in, stretching our legs. Let's see how the bulls Good.

How are you?

How are you? Hey, scariest day of your life. Well, it's also going to be the happiest day of your life cuz you're about to have— you're going to get 3 girlfriends right away.

Hey bud.

Hey, look at you, snow boots and sweater.

Hey pretty lady, my feet are I've been, I've been making sure you're not cold.

Yeah, I am.

It was colder than this in Virginia. Look, she senses him. Come down here and back all the way in. We don't— no risks. Let Mom come back with the— wait, now who's, who's equal to him? I don't think anybody. So this should come in pretty— he should come in pretty easy. Austin and Waylon watching the show.

So then I decided he's king.

It's exciting when you get a new bull, but she's got to wait in line. You're ready. You're the one that's ready. I'm going to get Honey out of the way so we can get the cow out. Oh, look, here he comes. Look, he'll get out. Come on, guys, move. Look, there he goes.

Baby!

I am so glad he is smaller than all of them. When they're more of equal size, this is what happens. Oh, the other one's trying. He looks—

the problem is they both go at him at the same time.

He knows you're the boss. Look at the steer. Pecking order is getting established. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. We have 9 cows. That's him, and this is our cow that needs bread. Not so much shorter. What is this? No, honey, they don't care. The young ones got to sort it out. Look at Honey, she looks great. The 600-mile round trip is complete, and it's a few days later. Oh look, that's who needs to get bred right there. No, that's not him.

That's him. He is sure.

That's not him. I know Hulk when I see him. I have learned That's the key to homesteading. I mean, if we want milk in— well, she needs bread. Vanilla, the vanilla meat needs bread. She's in milk now, but she's gradually slowing down. And if we want milk in— I don't know, he'll breed her in a couple of months, a year. Uh, she's pregnant for 9 months. We've got to get the bull now, get him grown up, get him bred her. So it's constant. Homesteading is constant. Constantly giving gifts to your future self. Nature hour! As a man, I'm so excited to provide for my family in this tangible way. It's a work that I can do with my family that they can see. It's tangible. I can show it. Look, I went on this trip. You guys too, you made sacrifices at home to keep it going. We went on this trip. And now we have this prize for it. And before we know it, we'll have milk and butter and yogurt and cream and sour cream and buttermilk and cheese and beef cows coming from his offspring and other milk cows. There's one more thing we got to do before we wrap this up. Very important. Let's go see— let's go see Josiah real quick.

Hey!

You did an important work. What? Going with us to get that bull, getting the drone shots, helping document it. Here he comes. It's very handy that I can have boys that can do things like that. Where should I put him? I'm gonna put him on that bank.

Okay. Hey.

All right, he's out. He's getting ready to take all these wood chips we got and spread them over our old hurricane pasture See, it's just sand. You're going to turn it into rich soil over time. He won't stop, he won't stop, not even for a compliment. Probably years down the road, cuz it's going to take a while for all those wood chips to turn into soil. The boys and I drove over 600 miles to secure the future of our family's food and farm. The family bull, so to speak. I mean, some men bring home the bacon. I mean, I bring that, I bring that too, but In this instance, it was bring home the bull. That feels really good as a husband and father to provide that way. Our new patriarch, grass-fed genetics for years to come. And already he has a much better composition— is that the right word for it, Austin? The trip was full of excitement, traveling, meeting new people, seeing our bull for the first time, and figuring out how to load him and bring him home. Cheers for more food independency, optimal health, and ultimate freedom. La la la, let me be free.