250 of Utah’s Finest!
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!