All Breed Access: What has been the most challenging aspect of working in the registered dairy cattle business and what opportunities do you foresee in the future?

Ryan Barrett: BSE has been a major challenge for the dairy industry in Canada; however, both the Jersey and Milking Shorthorn breeds will come out of this period stronger then when it started. The Jersey breed has taken off with dramatic fashion, with membership and transfer levels as high as they””””””””ve been in many years. With the US border closed to live animals, it has allowed individual herds to improve through selective culling, but has also helped to grow the domestic market across the country, by making quality genetics available at a reasonable price.

With regard to Milking Shorthorns, it is always a challenge working in a breed with a small population and membership. To add to this, between 2002 and 2004 we lost at least 5 of our best herds due to retirement and other issues. However, these herds dispersed, and this access to top genetics attracted many more new breeders getting into the breed. In the past few months, demand for cattle has often been higher than cattle availability. Also helping this is an increase in availability of Milking Shorthorn AI sires, with most AI companies offering a selection of quality sires. The CMSS is also involved in getting more Canadian sires sampled, and there is an expectation to have the first sire from this program released later this year.

All Breed Access: What elements of marketing does the Canadian Milking Shorthorn Society and Jersey Canada provide for its members? What things have worked well and been the most beneficial to the membership?

Ryan Barrett: Our main marketing activities for the CMSS include:
- publication of our annual magazine, The Improver, with both a domestic and international distribution
- we help broker private treaty sales, primarily to new breeders looking for a reputable source for genetics
- we aid in marketing embryos through our website at www.cmss.on.ca
- we organize a National Sale each year in September featuring top genetics from across the country
- we do select advertisements in industry magazines to promote the breed to the dairy industry

In terms of Jersey Canada, our main marketing efforts include:
- support of our regional associations, who are doing fieldwork in our four main geographical regions
- publication of the Canadian Jersey Breeder magazine
- publication of the Jersey Insider newsletter
- maintenance of our bilingual website at www.jerseycanada.com
- direct marketing to all of Canada’s dairy producers through annual marketing brochure campaign, distributed with popular press magazines

Holstein World: Share with our readers a little bit about your background. What experiences and achievements have brought you to your position as the Secretary – Manager of the Canadian Milking Shorthrn Society and Publications Editor for Jersey Canada?

Ryan Barrett: I am from a family farm in Belmont, Prince Edward Island on Canada’’s east coast. For years we have had a high-performance herd of Milking Shorthorns, and have recently added a few Jerseys. We currently milk about 38 Shorthorns and 5 Jerseys, with 8 of the Milking Shorthorns classified Excellent. The farm is Oceanbrae Farms and you can visit our website at www.geocities.com/oceanbraefarms.

I have always been very interested in the Milking Shorthorn breed, thoroughly convinced that they have a definite place in the dairy industry. When doing my Bachelor’’s Degree at Nova Scotia Agriculture College, I was able to become involved in the CMSS in a communications role, initially responsible for the Society’’s website. After completing my Master’’s degree in Animal Breeding at the University of Guelph (where my project dealt with international evaluation of Milking Shorthorns), I was appointed as Secretary-Manager of the CMSS. I had also applied for a fulltime position with Jersey Canada as publications manager, and I was lucky enough to get that position. I continue to work full time as the publications editor for Jersey Canada, with my Milking Shorthorn duties being a part-time responsibility on evenings and weekends primarily.

Holstein World: What are the current stats of the Canadian Milking Shorthorn Society – approx. # of members, cows, etc.? What are the key responsibilities of the association to its members?

Ryan Barrett: The CMSS currently has about 60 members, and this number is growing in recent years. Given the size of the Canadian dairy industry, this size is proportional to the size of the breed in the United States. The CMSS registers between 250-300 head per year, but this is also increasing, as more breeders gain interest in the Milking Shorthorn breed.

The main responsibilities of the CMSS to it’’s members are to provide registry for their animals, as well as helping to market the breed and grow markets for their breeding stock.

Holstein World: What do you look for when selecting your heifers or cows for the upcoming show season? Are there any exciting prospects on the horizon for 2007?

Natzke Family: When selecting our show heifers we look for stylish dairy heifers with the potential to make good cows. The last few years we”ve been trying to buy heifers out of the breeds” better cow families. We know there are no guarantees that they will calve to be show cows, but we feel with sound type and deep pedigrees the potential is there to merchandise them and/or their offspring. We look forward to every show season with 2007 being no exception. It might be too early to tell, however we have several off age calves including an October Red Distrigene from 6 VG & EX. The best calf we currently own is a December calf in partnership with Chad & Mark Ryan and will be selling in the Dogeramma on April 7th. A Gibson Fall Yearling, which consistently stood in the top 10 last year is looking good, as is Kyle’’s Red Advent Fall Yearling. Lylehaven Gypsum-VG-86, the Reserve Jr All-American Fall Yearling in Milk 2006, was First Fall Yearling in both the Open and Jr Shows at Louisville last fall and is due in late July with a Stormatic heifer calf. Her January Roy calf is also one we are keeping an eye on.

Holstein World: Is there anything else you”d like to share?

Natzke Family: We would like to thank all of the people who house and care for our cattle on a daily basis. Without them, none of the success our cattle have achieved would have been possible. We would also like to say thank you to the Holstein World for allowing us to share our story and comments as a guest blogger. This truly was an honor.

Holstein World: Kristin & Kyle, you have experienced a lot of success in the show ring during you junior careers. What advice do you have to share with other juniors looking to compete at the next level and developing show heifers and cows?

Kristin & Kyle: First of all, success doesn”t come over night. It takes a lot of work and patience along the way, most of which is done at home. Your calves need to get off to a good start, you need to pay attention to detail, and don”t hold back on anything. Then learn how to feed your show heifers to keep them growing, but maintain the right show condition; train continuously so you and your animals work well together; wash your animals regularly to keep new hair growth and also make a snowy white and velvety black appearance. It’’s all about staying on top of your game and going that extra mile. Attend fitting and showing workshops or Badger Dairy Camp, go to shows and keep your eyes open as to how the successful show strings do things; listen to the judges comments; participate in showmanship contests. No matter how old or experienced you are, you can always pick up something new to make yourself better.

Our parents have always taught us that you can have the best typed heifer with the best fitting job, but if you don”t present her properly in the ring all of your hard work could be in vane, and in the big shows you only have a short time to have your animal catch the judge’’s eye, so you always have to pay attention and do your best until the last ribbon and reason is given. That is why showmanship is so important to us. Another thing Dad has really stressed is the fact that every animal on the farm IS for sale, and although it hasn”t always been easy to part with that favorite show heifer or cow, it’’s part of the learning process. We”re not saying there won”t be tears as she’’s loaded on the trailer, but you have to give each animal on the farm a value and if you are offered that price you should be satisfied; don”t look back as to what could of been… consider it the right decision. Believe us when we say it hasn”t always been easy and we”ve had many disappointments along the way. We have, however, learned from our mistakes, learned never to give up, and we”ve taken pride in what we”ve done. Although not always easy, we”ve learned to be a gracious loser and humble winner, and most importantly we”ve achieved our successes together as a family.

We’ve kept in touch with Major Ken Main, an Air Force Major who grew up on Mainwood Farm in Connecticut, and until 1993, was very much involved in the dairy industry. (See feature story in the February issue of Holstein World, page 66). When we wrote the article, Ken was stationed at Scott AFB in Belleville, IL, but since that time, has been deployed to Balad, Iraq, about 50 miles north of Baghdad. Ken and his team of 12 Contracting Officers supporting the Air Base have numerous construction projects going on. This is Ken’s first time in Iraq, being previously stationed in Afghanistan. He hopes to keep in touch with us and give us updates from time to time. We asked if there were supplies that the troops needed or things that they
missed from home. “What we need, we actually have a Base Exchange and can get just
about everything we need there. I wish we had more interaction with the Iraqis, but we don’t. If we did, I would do what we did in Kosovo – You could send us old soccer balls & stuffed animals for the local kids. But we’re not there yet — I don’t know when we’ll be in a position to do that.”

With this blog, we hope to continue telling the story of one (of just numerous) members of the Holstein industry serving our country. “Unless people have family that deploy, it is difficult for many people, I think, to make a connection.”

What are the names and birthdate of Carol McComb’s new twin grandsons?

That’s right, the dairy Jeopardy lady herself and very excited grandma was happy to share the arrival of these new bouncing baby boys! Parents of the twins are Bill & Kathy Swift of Florida. Reports are that Matthew David and Elliot Parker are doing great and mom is recovering well. The McCombs were making plane reservations last night! Congratulations!!

Holstein World: What is Cassie & Clasy’’s current status? Milking, flushing, etc. Do you have any offspring on the way from either of them? Perhaps a third generation Jr All-American.

Natzke Family: Cassie calved in December of ”02 with a Stormatic bull. In March of ”03 she was raised to EX-94-EX-95MS at 5-00. The following week she had 150# for the milk tester and exactly three weeks after scoring EX-94 got a twisted intestine and we lost her. Unfortunately, she had no more daughters.

Clasy had a major set back in early November. She spent a week at the Vet Hospital in Madison where she had a six inch wire removed from her stomach and then abscessed. Miraculously, she pulled through surgery and remained pregnant with an ultra sound heifer calf by Durham. Due to this set back she is currently dry and due in early July. Clasy also has one Durham embryo that will be implanted soon.

Holstein World: What are the current stats at Crestbrooke? Family members involved, number of animals, location, type of facilities? Sires being used? Other Cow Families being developed?

Natzke Family: Crestbrooke Holsteins and Jerseys of rural Fond du Lac, Wisconsin is a small operation with the motto; “Where Quality not Quantity Matters”. Concentration is put on show quality and being able to merchandise. We currently don’t own and operate a milking facility so cows are farmed out in tie stall operations throughout the state of Wisconsin. Our herd currently consists of 16 Holsteins and 9 Jerseys. Eight of our Holsteins are classified; 3 EX-91 and 5 VG 1st lactation cows. Four of our Jerseys are milking and all have stood in the top 7 at either World Dairy Expo or the North American in Louisville, including Glenyle Jude Madonna – EX-94 Intermediate and Reserve Grand and Reserve Supreme Champion of Jr Show – World Dairy Expo 2003. We all take an active part in the day to day operation as well as the showstring.

Our family consists of: Tim, a self employed professional fitter who thrives on buying and selling cattle of all breeds, including Yursden Kite Caramac-Red-EX-92, RRK Red Marker Rizz-EX-94, both being Grand Champion Red & White at World Dairy Expo. Barb, a Risk Management Specialist for Farm Credit, Kristin, 19, a freshman at UW-Madison double majoring in Dairy Science and Agricultural Journalism; and Kyle, 16, a sophomore at Winnebago Lutheran Academy who is following in his dad’s footsteps. All show prep, showing, and cattle care at the shows is done as a family.

Current sires being used are: Durham, Advent, Damien, Shottle & Roy.

We are currently working with members of the Gidget family of Lylehaven, Saturday family, and a grand daughter of Ranger Tina. This past year Kyle bought a red and white Advent fall calf that was third and Reserve Jr Champion of the Red & White Jr Show at World Dairy Expo. Her 5th Dam is Wildina Royal Fire-Red-EX-95-3E 2x World Dairy Expo Red & White Champion. The current highlight of the herd is Ms BMS Durable Adorable-TV-TL-VG-87 at 2 yrs. She is a Durham grand daughter of Shoremar S Alicia-ET-EX-97-3E and her dam is an EX Lee full sister to BKB Affirmed. Adorable has a fancy Advent daughter born in April, a November Goldwyn daughter, and pregnancies by Goldwyn, Carisma, and transfers by Shottle.

Holstein World: To have two Junior All-Americans in your show career is exciting. To have both of those nominations be homebred is even more impressive. But, to have two generations of homebred Junior All-Americans is down right phenomenal! Crestbrooke Encore Clasy-ET and Crestbrooke Milan Cassie achieved this feat in 2006 for Tim, Barb, Kristin & Kyle Natzke of Fond du Lac, WI. Congratulations!!

Holstein World: Share with our readers information about Clasy & Cassie’’s pedigrees, their achievements and any unique family attributes.

Natzke Family: This family started in 1983 with the purchase of Sterlingdale Triple Catlin, a VG Triple Threat coming with her second calf. Her dam, was an EX Apache, and her gr’dam, an EX-92 Triune Complete. Catlin went on to score EX-91-3E with 153,000 lifetime production and was first 4 Year Old at the Wisconsin Jr State Fair 1985. She was flushed to Glenafton Enhancer, resulting in three Red and White calves, two heifers and a bull which went to BCAI. She had one EX and four VG daughters. One of her Enhancer daughters, Crestbrooke E Candice-Red-ET-VG-85, was bred to To-Mar Blackstar resulting in Crestbrooke TMBS Cathy-VG-86. Cathy had a red son go to Select Sires. Her first daughter, Crestbrooke Leadman Charity-VG-88 EX-MS, was sold second calf mid lactation and short bred to Milan. She was sold with the agreement if she had a heifer calf we had first option to buy the calf back.

This resulted in Crestbrooke Milan Cassie-EX-94. Cassie was a nice March calf, a respectable yearling, but really came on as a Jr. 2 Year Old, and was named Reserve All-Wisconsin and Jr All-Wisconsin. Cassie was also our first Reserve All-Wisconsin Winner. That year she was also Reserve Jr All-American Jr 2 Year Old. Her first calf was a daughter by Lee and scored VG-86 as a 2 Year Old. Her second daughter by Rubens also scored VG-86 as a 2 Year Old. As a Jr 3 Year Old, Cassie was 4th at the Wisconsin Championship Show, Jr. All-Wisconsin, First at the Wisconsin Holstein Futurity, First and Grand Champion at Wisconsin State Fair, 4th at The Bill Graham Sweepstakes Futurity at World Dairy Expo, and Jr All-American Jr 3 Year Old. She was flushed to Encore resulting in only one pregnancy that resulted in Crestbrooke Encore Clasy-ET-EX-91, a 9th generation VG or EX.

Clasy was a very nice fall calf, and as a Fall Yearling became our first All-Wisconsin winner. She calved in March of ”05 with a Durham bull calf. At the Wisconsin Championship Show she placed 14th. She was 4th and Champion Bred & Owned at the Wisconsin Jr State Fair and 1st at the Open State Fair. She was 4th, Best Udder and Best Bred and Owned at the Mid West Fall National making her our first winning Bred & Owned at a National Show. She was first Jr, Best Udder, and Best Bred & Owned 2 Year Old of the Jr Show at World Dairy Expo and 14th in the Open Show. Clasy completed her 1st lactation being named Reserve Jr All-American Sr 2 Year Old. This year she calved in March with a Roy Bull. At the Mid West Spring National she was sixth and second Jr Sr 3 Year Old and Reserve Grand Champion and Best Bred & Owned of the Jr Show. At the District Holstein Show she was Grand of both the Jr and Open Shows, best uddered and Champion Bred & Owned. At the Wisconsin Championship Show she was fourth and second Jr., Wisconsin Jr State Fair she was second, Reserve Grand and Champion Bred & Owned, Second and first Jr., and Best Bred & Owned Wisconsin Holstein Futurity and second and Reserve Grand Champion of Wisconsin State Fair. At World Dairy Expo she was second and Best Bred & Owned 3 Year Old of the Jr Show, fourth in the Kingsmill Holstein Futurity and became our first milking Holstein to crack the top ten at Word Dairy Expo placing 10th and finished the year being named Jr All-American Sr 3 Year Old.

We feel it is rather ironic that both Cassie and Clasy were Reserve Jr All-American as 2 Year Olds, both 4th in World Dairy Expo’’s Holstein Futurity’’s, and both Jr All-American as 3 Year Olds!!! This is something we are extremely proud of!!!