A new kind of John Deere….

Meet the goat site’s tractor(s), John and Deere.  These two oxen are the closest thing there is to a tractor in and around the village.  On the way out to the village, every plot of land we passed had a man out plowing it using two oxen.  For all my farmer friends, no matter how old your tractor is, I bet it still involves less manual labor for you than this : )  According to my information source (the vet), they usually plow the land three times – up/down, across, and then diagonally – before planting.

By the way, if you didn’t know this, an ox is simply a steer (neutered male calf) used for work.  Somewhere along the way, I got in my head that oxen and cattle were two different species (like cattle and water buffalo), but learned while I was at the goat site that they are both cattle, the difference is in what their purpose in life is – work versus meat or milk.  I’m ashamed to admit I didn’t know this before, but have a good feeling most of you didn’t either : )  To be fair, how often do we interact with oxen in America…..pretty much never.