About Bardwell Farms
Brief Overview
Bardwell Farms is family owned and located in Remsen, NY. Our farm is a relatively new farm originating from a small oxen hobby that slowly grew herd numbers to over 85 (and continuing to grow), this makes Bardwell Farms the largest American Milking Devon farm in New York State and possibly the world! We raise and breed American Milking Devon cattle, for breeding stock, oxen, milk production, and beef. Click Here to view our Beef Products. Bardwell Farms is also working hard to repair the damaged genetic code that came from the near extinction of the breed. With the diligent use of selective breeding we have been successful at getting the breed back to what they once were. For more detail on that topic, Click Here. Along with raising cattle, Bardwell Farms also Raises Honey Bees. We cover most aspects of beekeeping, from teaching beginning and advanced beekeeping classes, rescuing honeybee swarms, raising honeybees for sale (supplies limited), harvesting and selling honey and beeswax products. Click here to view our Honey and Beeswax Products.
Recent Activity on the farm
The most recent activity on the farm has been the purchase of a new location(pictured here in the background), less than a mile from the original farm this property has plenty of acreage to handle the ever growing herd. Being the old "Banner Dairy Farm" this property comes with many facilities to spoil our cattle by giving them shelter from the harsh NY winters. Even though the American Milking Devon Breed is a very rugged and tough breed, I am sure they will not turn down a nice place to get out of the weather. The past year of the farm has been dedicated to fixing and cleaning the barns and structures on the farm to better suit the needs of our cattle. Everyday the farm looks better and better! As the locals know, this farm has been quite the eye sore in the community and we can only hope the locals see the hard work my father and I have put into bringing the farm back to what it once was. The purchased farm has a long history to itself and we are honored to now own it. To learn more about the old "Banner Dairy Farm" Click Here.
History of The American Milking Devon
American Milking Devon Cattle were the first breed of cattle brought to the United States. Originally from Devon England and called North Devons, The cattle were renamed ‘American Milking Devon Cattle’ by the Association that registers them in the USA. Once numbering in the thousands, these cattle tri-purpose were used for meat, milk and oxen. They were the cattle that broke the New England forests, uprooted rocks clearing the way for farms, pulled plows, built roads, hauled wagons, provided food for the settlers and even hauled the cannons during the Revolutionary War. Once oxen were replaced by tractors, and America switched to factory-style, high-production, mono-culture farming, the high-quality butterfat of a Devon’s milk was replaced by the high-production volume of a Holsteins bag and the prized ruby red Devon meat that marbles and flavors so well solely on grass was replaced by Herefords and Angus that could be more cheaply produced by feeding them only corn and grains. As a result, Devon Cattle became rare and endangered.
Description of the Breed
The American Milking Devon (North Devon) is a medium sized triple-purpose breed adapted to survive on a low-quality, high forage diet under severe climatic conditions. They are healthy, long lived, and thrive on good care and management. The characteristics of the North Devon or Milking Devon are compactness and general beauty, hardiness, activity, intelligence, docility, aptitude to fatten, and quality of milk. Straight, broad, level backs, roundness of form, fineness of bone are descriptions all associated with this beautiful animal. The breed is red in color and because of this they often are nicknamed "Red Rubies," varying in shade from a deep rich red to light red or chestnut color, but no black is admissible. They may only show white on the tail switch, udder or scrotum. The skin is yellow to pink in color, visible around the eyes and on the nose. "The head is adorned, in case of the female, with particularly elegant, creamy white, sharp pointed, black-tipped horns of medium length, having good elevation at the junction with the head and curving upward. In the bull the horns are shorter in proportion to thickness, straighter, and less raised.
Today, Devon's are still sought out for use as oxen. Those qualities so highly prized by the colonists can still be found in today's Devon's. Devon's were highly valued as oxen in the establishment of the American Colonies, due to their great strength, intelligence, fast pace, and endurance. In 1858, William Youatt a noted expert in the field of cattle stated that "the Devon as an aboriginal breed of cattle is a very valuable one, and they seem to have arrived at the highest point of perfection." Today's breeders strive to maintain these very same qualities in the modern Milking Devon. The Milking Devon cow is especially elegant with her compact rounded form, and when treated with kindness, possesses a docile temperament. They have very few calving difficulties and adequate milk production to raise a calf and for use on the small farm. The Milking Devon bull is noted for his ease of handling and even temperament, when treated kindly. Devons were highly valued as oxen in the establishment of the American Colonies, due to their great strength, intelligence, fast pace, and endurance. Today, Devons are still sought out for use as oxen. Those qualities so highly prized by the colonists can still be found in today's Devons. Today's breeders strive to maintain these very same qualities in the modern Milking Devon.
Today, Devon's are still sought out for use as oxen. Those qualities so highly prized by the colonists can still be found in today's Devon's. Devon's were highly valued as oxen in the establishment of the American Colonies, due to their great strength, intelligence, fast pace, and endurance. In 1858, William Youatt a noted expert in the field of cattle stated that "the Devon as an aboriginal breed of cattle is a very valuable one, and they seem to have arrived at the highest point of perfection." Today's breeders strive to maintain these very same qualities in the modern Milking Devon. The Milking Devon cow is especially elegant with her compact rounded form, and when treated with kindness, possesses a docile temperament. They have very few calving difficulties and adequate milk production to raise a calf and for use on the small farm. The Milking Devon bull is noted for his ease of handling and even temperament, when treated kindly. Devons were highly valued as oxen in the establishment of the American Colonies, due to their great strength, intelligence, fast pace, and endurance. Today, Devons are still sought out for use as oxen. Those qualities so highly prized by the colonists can still be found in today's Devons. Today's breeders strive to maintain these very same qualities in the modern Milking Devon.
Farm History (in more detail)
Bardwell Farms is the result of two hobbies that went nuts; Beekeeping and Oxen!
The beekeeping "seed" was planted in the early 1980’s, when my wife and I took our first beekeeping course. With the responsibilities of veterinary college, work, and family, we never seemed to have the time to work with bees in any serious capacity. At about the time we began planning for retirement life, Mother Nature decided to "plant" a colony of feral honey bees in an old building we were about to demolish. Longing to become serious beekeepers and aware of the Colony Collapse Disorder problem resulting in dwindling numbers of honeybees, we quickly converted the demolition plans to honeybee rescue plan. It was this feral colony that served as the foundation of our new apiary.
Oxen are a long story, but the short version starts back in my younger days, when I logged with draft horses. Having reached retirement, I longed to be back in the woods, but thought it wiser to pick a slower draft animal. I've been tossed on my head a few times twitching logs behind horses. I also know I don't bounce on the ground as well as I did when I was younger. Oxen seemed to fit the bill perfectly. A trip to the Fryeburg Fair in Maine found us face to face with our future yoke of Oxen, Harry and William. They were a handsome pair of well trained American Milking Devon working steers. Before I could even ask my wife if we could buy them, she had already written the previous owner a check. She fell for them faster than me in our courting days! The bug had bitten. Since more is always better, I unsuccessfully searched long and hard for a set of calves to train. Thinking I was being resourceful, I was able to find two American Milking Devon cows, but then needed a Bull to produce calves, and well the rest is history. As I write this, we are home to about 70 head of American Milking Devon cattle! (Guess I must have fallen asleep during those animal reproduction classes!)
The beekeeping "seed" was planted in the early 1980’s, when my wife and I took our first beekeeping course. With the responsibilities of veterinary college, work, and family, we never seemed to have the time to work with bees in any serious capacity. At about the time we began planning for retirement life, Mother Nature decided to "plant" a colony of feral honey bees in an old building we were about to demolish. Longing to become serious beekeepers and aware of the Colony Collapse Disorder problem resulting in dwindling numbers of honeybees, we quickly converted the demolition plans to honeybee rescue plan. It was this feral colony that served as the foundation of our new apiary.
Oxen are a long story, but the short version starts back in my younger days, when I logged with draft horses. Having reached retirement, I longed to be back in the woods, but thought it wiser to pick a slower draft animal. I've been tossed on my head a few times twitching logs behind horses. I also know I don't bounce on the ground as well as I did when I was younger. Oxen seemed to fit the bill perfectly. A trip to the Fryeburg Fair in Maine found us face to face with our future yoke of Oxen, Harry and William. They were a handsome pair of well trained American Milking Devon working steers. Before I could even ask my wife if we could buy them, she had already written the previous owner a check. She fell for them faster than me in our courting days! The bug had bitten. Since more is always better, I unsuccessfully searched long and hard for a set of calves to train. Thinking I was being resourceful, I was able to find two American Milking Devon cows, but then needed a Bull to produce calves, and well the rest is history. As I write this, we are home to about 70 head of American Milking Devon cattle! (Guess I must have fallen asleep during those animal reproduction classes!)
Honey Bees (in more detail)
The beekeeping "seed" was planted in the early 80’s, when my wife and I took our first beekeeping course. With the responsibilities of veterinary college, work, and family, we never seemed to have the time to work with bees in any serious capacity. At about the time we began planning for retirement life, Mother Nature decided to "plant" a colony of feral honey bees in an old building we were about to demolish. Longing to become serious beekeepers and aware of the Colony Collapse Disorder problem resulting in dwindling numbers of honeybees, we quickly converted the demolition plans to honeybee rescue plan. It was this feral colony that served as the foundation of our new apiary.
We hope to do our small part to reverse the decline in the population of honeybees. Using our scientific education and 30+ years of experience as veterinarians, we're actually seeing some progress. We've seen the evidence that good husbandry practices and biologically based management can strengthen our colony's and eliminate chemical exposure for our bees and ultimately human beings. Also, we're excited with our breeding program and it's production of winter hardy and disease resistant colonies. It's also inspiring to see the resurgence in new beekeepers and happy that we are helping to train these new beekeepers.
We hope to do our small part to reverse the decline in the population of honeybees. Using our scientific education and 30+ years of experience as veterinarians, we're actually seeing some progress. We've seen the evidence that good husbandry practices and biologically based management can strengthen our colony's and eliminate chemical exposure for our bees and ultimately human beings. Also, we're excited with our breeding program and it's production of winter hardy and disease resistant colonies. It's also inspiring to see the resurgence in new beekeepers and happy that we are helping to train these new beekeepers.