January 8, 2025: Cattle smitten

If we mention Texas Longhorn Cattle, the first thing that comes to mind is probably not Western Massachusetts, but today, we’re going to take you on a tour of a farm in Granby that may change your mind about that. Cote Cattle Company, (also known in some parts as Double C Ranch) switched its beef herd to being a purely Texas Longhorn dedicated operation and since have become nationally trusted stewards for the breed despite being one of a handful of locations raising this particular animal in the commonwealth. In addition to getting the story on how proprietor Charlotte Cote and her family came to this direction of agriculture, we get a hands-on tour of their farm’s innovative pastures, and absolutely adorable and astounding head of cattle. Hooray for happy cow stories! Unless you are a vegetarian, for there is much smiting, it is a beef farm after allBut where smiting is concerned, we could be talking about affection or fighting, which seems like a good time to bring in Word Nerd Emily Brewster, senior editor at Merriam-Webster, to look at the etymology and usage of the word Smite. Not just for all of you paladins and clerics out there, and the people smitten with them.