On July 10, 2004, Cynthia Creech and her herd of 100 plus Randall cattle arrived in their new home in Connecticut's Litchfield Hills. After a sojourn of nearly 19 years, the Randall breed's largest herd had at last returned to their native New England. Cynthia and her "girls" had come to accept a position as the resident farmer on Rock Cobble Farm. Rock Cobble Farm is a consolidation of several smaller, contiguous farms, a well watered mixture of woodlands, pasture, and hay land. The topography and climate of the farm is similar to the Randall's original home in Southern Vermont, a classic New England hill farm.
For many years Cynthia had been working toward returning the cattle to New England, realizing early on that her native Tennessee, with it's heat and humidity, was not the sort of environment for which the Randalls had been bred. She had been leapfrogging northward with "girls" in tow, most recently working as the herdsman for a farm in Northern Virginia. When Cynthia heard that there was a possible situation available at Rock Cobble Farm, she wrote the owner, and the pieces fell into place. After a few difficult months getting her affairs in order in Virginia, two semi "possum belly" trucks and Cynthia's truck and trailer finally struck out for Connecticut bearing Cynthia's belongings, more than 100 head of cattle, and high hopes for the future.
The initial challenge is to bring the farm's infrastructure in line with the needs of a large herd of cattle, a big job which is now underway. Fences needed to be built, along with handling facilities and structures for animal housing and hay and equipment storage. The work proceeds as everyone settles in to the new arrangement. Plans are being made for marketing grass and milk fed "rose" veal to restaurants, developing a market for ground beef, and eventually establishing a value added milking set-up to fully utilize the dairy heritage of the Randalls.
The farm also offers many different pasture options, enabling Cynthia to continue her genetic work begun so many years ago which has resulted in a herd of fewer than 20 total Randalls blossoming to its present total of over 200. Future efforts will focus on the strengthening of the rarest "founder" lines, as well as some line breeding to ensure that the several distinctive "types" are not lost. Cynthia's herd represents the largest resevoir of genetic material in the Randall universe, and keeping and enhancing the diversity it contains remains her highest priority.
Cynthia's efforts on behalf of the Randall breed (for which she was awarded The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy's "Conservationist of the Year" award in 2000), is one of the true success stories in rare breed conservation. All of the present Randall herds have been established from seedstock that came either directly or indirectly from Cynthia's herd, now 25 herds strong in 15 US States and Canada. Cynthia also serves as President and Registrar of The Randall Cattle Registry, Inc.
To learn more about Cynthia's work to rescue and rebuild the Randall breed, please visit her website, Cynthia's Randall Cattle Pages.
For many years Cynthia had been working toward returning the cattle to New England, realizing early on that her native Tennessee, with it's heat and humidity, was not the sort of environment for which the Randalls had been bred. She had been leapfrogging northward with "girls" in tow, most recently working as the herdsman for a farm in Northern Virginia. When Cynthia heard that there was a possible situation available at Rock Cobble Farm, she wrote the owner, and the pieces fell into place. After a few difficult months getting her affairs in order in Virginia, two semi "possum belly" trucks and Cynthia's truck and trailer finally struck out for Connecticut bearing Cynthia's belongings, more than 100 head of cattle, and high hopes for the future.
The initial challenge is to bring the farm's infrastructure in line with the needs of a large herd of cattle, a big job which is now underway. Fences needed to be built, along with handling facilities and structures for animal housing and hay and equipment storage. The work proceeds as everyone settles in to the new arrangement. Plans are being made for marketing grass and milk fed "rose" veal to restaurants, developing a market for ground beef, and eventually establishing a value added milking set-up to fully utilize the dairy heritage of the Randalls.
The farm also offers many different pasture options, enabling Cynthia to continue her genetic work begun so many years ago which has resulted in a herd of fewer than 20 total Randalls blossoming to its present total of over 200. Future efforts will focus on the strengthening of the rarest "founder" lines, as well as some line breeding to ensure that the several distinctive "types" are not lost. Cynthia's herd represents the largest resevoir of genetic material in the Randall universe, and keeping and enhancing the diversity it contains remains her highest priority.
Cynthia's efforts on behalf of the Randall breed (for which she was awarded The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy's "Conservationist of the Year" award in 2000), is one of the true success stories in rare breed conservation. All of the present Randall herds have been established from seedstock that came either directly or indirectly from Cynthia's herd, now 25 herds strong in 15 US States and Canada. Cynthia also serves as President and Registrar of The Randall Cattle Registry, Inc.
To learn more about Cynthia's work to rescue and rebuild the Randall breed, please visit her website, Cynthia's Randall Cattle Pages.
Farm Profile:
Rock Cobble Farm
Cynthia Creech, Farm Manager
Litchfield County, Connecticut
Rock Cobble Farm
Cynthia Creech, Farm Manager
Litchfield County, Connecticut
Clicking On Any Photo On This Page Will Pop Up a Full Sized Version
A Randall cow in the Litchfield Hills
A round bale for the "girls"
"Patti" contemplates whether to step off the trailer into her new home
"Jules", the first of Cynthia's herd to set foot in New England
Waiting to off-load
Early winter grazing
Cynthia arrives in Connecticut
"Clarice" and her calf "Ginger Rogers", born the day after arrival in CT
Getting right down to the serious business of grazing
Memories of an 8 hour trailer ride are fading fast
Happy in their new home
A biiiig stretch
More contented cows
The Randall Cattle Registry, Inc.
The Official Website of Randall Cattle
The Official Website of Randall Cattle
