Jared and Mark England have embarked on a new venture in scenic Nephi, Utah.  Their 1 year-old Cedar Ridge Dairy is the home to 530 head in which 2/3 are Jerseys which are milked in a 36 stall rotary parlor.  The 180 Holsteins are owned by the England”’’s while a majority of the Jerseys are owned by Jared”’’s father-in-law.  Jared and Mark are not new to the dairy industry, they previously had a dairy in Ogden – north of Salt Lake City.  Mark noted that the move was triggered mostly by the rapid urban sprawl from Salt Lake City.

The England”’’s are currently using Aspen, Affirmed, Dundee and Roy on the Holsteins and Comerica, Sultan, and Country on the Jerseys.  The pens are filled with beautiful framed cows with great udders…truly a treat for those who appreciate good cattle!
Their current location is Central Utah is as pretty as they come! The farm is located on a large hillside overlooking the town of Nephi and a gorgeous mountain serving as a backdrop.  I was fortunate enough to see the sunset in this beautiful area!

Central Utah’’s Double Tree Dairy in McCormick, UT is owned and operated by Bill & Josh Wright.  The Wrights are no strangers to the showring.  Their previous B-Bar prefix earned many All-American and All-Utah nominations throughout the years.  In fact, they owned, sold were partners in an All-American animal for 6 years in a row at one time!  The Wrights previously farmed in Alberta, UT and built their current 500 cow facility three years ago.

Bill served as my tour guide, while his son Josh answered more of my questions the next day at the Canyon Breeze Sale in which he was serving on the sales crew.  Bill mentioned that they took about a 10 year break from the showring and other Holstein activities. Bill served as a Utah Senator for 20 years.  He was quick to note that keeping active in day-to-day activities on the farm while serving his term kept him true to his roots.  However, he felt that during that time they lost some interest in showing cattle.  “We are now starting to get back to where we want to be.” explained Bill.

The herd of 500 milk cows was quite exciting!  The corrals were full of Roy, Talent, Dundee and Drake daughters that looked great.  Another new favorite is Mac.  The heifer pens were equally as impressive.  Bill showed me the 5 heifers that he had pulled aside in separate pens to get ready for the shows.  In there was a super fancy and stylish Lou March calf the should be out this fall.  Another highlight was seeing their Derry 4-Year-Old that done very well in in the showring for the family as well as a very promising Dundee Two-Year-Old.

On my recent trip west for the Canyon Breeze Elite Sale, I was fortunate enough to visit a few herds in west-central Utah. My first stop was Eskdale Holsteins. It took over 4 1/2 hours of driving north east up the Great Basin Hwy to reach my destitination from Las Vegas! I started getting worried when Eskdale failed to come up on my GPS! The very remote community is located right on the Utah-Nevada border. However, the long haul was well worth it!

John and Ben Conrad run the day-to day management of the 250 head Holstein herd that is owned by the Eskdale Community. The Community also owns and operates 1100 acres which is mostly in hay. All corn and cottonseed is purchased. The annual rainfall is approx. 5 inches! Currently, approx. 60 people reside in the Eskdale Community.

Ben served as my tour guide for the day as he pointed out his favorite individuals and gave me the run down on all their pedigrees. The corrals are full of Talent, Roy and Dundee daughters that look to be working well in the herd. Descendants of Dellia and Hilliary are a few of the favorites. Merchandising is very important. An intensive flush program is in place with over 1/2 of the calves born being ET’s. They are able to flush frequently due to the fact that John is an AETA certified vet. In addition, they also market all of their bull calves to local dairymen in nearby Delta, UT and also sell quite a few to Idaho. Plans are being made to expand from 250 head to 500 in the future.

I was very impressed with the quality of cattle that I saw during my visit. Eskdale shows at the Western National and at shows in Utah. This spring at the show in Richmond, UT, Eskdale sold the Grand Champion (Stormatic 4-Year-Old) to Mike and Sheryl Deaver, WI. Watch for more from this herd – or go check them out for yourself!

On my recent trip west for the Canyon Breeze Elite Sale, I was fortunate enough to visit a few herds in west-central Utah. My first stop was Eskdale Holsteins. It took over 4 1/2 hours of driving north east up the Great Basin Hwy to reach my destitination from Las Vegas! I started getting worried when Eskdale failed to come up on my GPS! The very remote community is located right on the Utah-Nevada border. However, the long haul was well worth it!

John and Ben Conrad run the day-to day management of the 250 head Holstein herd that is owned by the Eskdale Community. The Community also owns and operates 1100 acres which is mostly in hay. All corn and cottonseed is purchased. The annual rainfall is approx. 5 inches! Currently, approx. 60 people reside in the Eskdale Community.

Ben served as my tour guide for the day as he pointed out his favorite individuals and gave me the run down on all their pedigrees. The corrals are full of Talent, Roy and Dundee daughters that look to be working well in the herd. Descendants of Dellia and Hilliary are a few of the favorites. Merchandising is very important. An intensive flush program is in place with over 1/2 of the calves born being ET’s. They are able to flush frequently due to the fact that John is an AETA certified vet. In addition, they also market all of their bull calves to local dairymen in nearby Delta, UT and also sell quite a few to Idaho. Plans are being made to expand from 250 head to 500 in the future.

I was very impressed with the quality of cattle that I saw during my visit. Eskdale shows at the Western National and at shows in Utah. This spring at the show in Richmond, UT, Eskdale sold the Grand Champion (Stormatic 4-Year-Old) to Mike and Sheryl Deaver, WI. Watch for more from this herd – or go check them out for yourself!

Congratulations to the Gillins Family of Canyon Breeze Holsteins for hosting a wonderfully successful Canyon Breeze Elite Sale on Saturday, September 1st! I had the opportunity to visit with Steve today to hear how the event went. Here are a few highlights:

76 lots averaged $6,073
Cattle were sold to over 10 different states with many animals heading to CA, ID, UT, WI & IA.

High Seller – Lot 79, Canyon-Breeze O-MN Ericka sold for $34,000!
Ericka is an up and coming star with an 8/07 CTPI of +2089. She is currently the #25 CTPI cow of the breed and is scored VG-85 VG-MS. In her 2-yr-old lactation she made 36,200M 3.5F 3.2P and is due to calve 10/22/07 to Fortune. She sold with numerous contracts to Richard Jordan of Kuna, ID.

2nd High Seller – Lot 1, 1st Choice Durham Female x Canyon-Breeze EM Ashley 3E-94 DOM sold for $23,500
Milk Source, LLC from Kaukauna, WI will have their choice of 4 Durham females from Ashley herself! This was the first offering from Ashley ever to sell at public auction and they will be born 9/07.

3rd High Seller – Lot 42, Miss Allen Melvina-ET sold for $19,700
The high selling guest consignment, Melvina is a recently fresh Allen daughter of Miss Lee Majestic EX-91 DOM. She was the consignment of Butz-Hill and Marvin Schluter, IA, and is now owned by Warren & Kevin Winter of Hillsboro, KS.

4th High Seller – Lot 17, Canyon-Breeze S Aracelis-ET sold for $10,300
Aracelis is a 2/06 Shottle from a VG-85 VG-MS Morty and then the popular bull mother herself, Canyon-Breeze Blw Alice VG-87 GMD DOM. Aracelis was bred 6/1/07 to Pronto and is now owned by Legend Dairy Farms, Ron Pietersma of Chino, CA.

Aracelis was not the only purchase made by Pietersma that day…she was one of 24 consignments that will now call Legend Dairy Farms home! This added a unique and memorable element to the day as the matriarch of the Canyon Breeze herd, Clarney WC Mark Abigail 2E-91 GMD DOM, was an animal that Steve had purchased from Pietersma many years ago!

Again, congratulations to the Gillins Family and all of the guest consignors to this sale! Look for more information and full sale results to come in an upcoming issue of the World.