If yesterday was the gray, soggy, foggy day for Legends of the Fall, today was the complete opposite with a gorgeous, sunny, warm autumn day that was the backdrop for a spectacular sale. Topping the event was Lot #1, Budjon-JK Gibson Enjoy-ET, the VG-87 Gibson daughter of Budjon-JK Linjet Eileen-ET (2E-96, DOM). Enjoy was consigned by the Enjoyable Syndicate and purchased for $82,000 by Lawson Bennett and sale host, David Tait. Following as a close second high seller was Scientific Gold Dish Rae-ET, the 12/06 *RC *TV Goldwyn daughter of Scientific Debutante Rae-ET *RC *CV (EX-92). She was consigned by Scientific Holsteins and purchased for $81,000 by Todd Stanek, with John George putting in the contending bid.

Other prices of interest:

* Choice of 2 *TV Durhams x EK-Oseeana Ambrosia (VG-89) $52,000

* First choice Zenith x Regancrest Jed Deborah (2E-95, DOM) $22,000

* Gloryland Lola Rae-ET (VG-87) - Roy x Gloryland Lana Rae $35,000

* Galestone Spicey-Red-ET (12/06 Advent x Scientific Rubirae Socks) $17,000

* Indianhead Adv Flame-Red-ET (2/07 Advent x Indianhead Raquel) $18,000

* Badger Boliver Pat 3356-ET (6/06 Boliver x Badger Durham Patsh-1429) $17,200

* First choice Goldwyn x Windy-Knoll-View Pimlico-ET $19,000

Long-time Maryland friends Douglas King and O.C. Smith drove the short distance to Virginia for the Legends of the Fall Sale.

Sale topper Budjon-JK Gibson Enjoy sold for $82,000.

Scott Culbertson, left, represents Todd Stanek as buyer of the second high seller, Scientific Gold Dish Rae. Holding the $81,000 heifer is consigner Matt Nunes. Matt was one of several northwest Wisconsin breeders in attendance, joined by Annie Hulle (a big country music fan I learned!) and Bob & Karyn Schauf.

Selling for $20,000 to New Yorker John B. George was Ms Rock-Home Gold Raquel-ET, a 3/06 Goldwyn from Milk & Honey Encore Raizel-ET (EX-90) then Hanover-Hill-R Raizel-ETT (2E-94, DOM).

The very tenacious and personable slip runner, Dawson Bennett!

A much more scenic day, Saturday proved to be a stunning day weather-wise, and provided visitors with very scenic views.

Normally, a dreary, rainy, foggy October day would be a bad thing, but in drought-stricken Virginia, everyone seems happy to have the rain that’’s been coming down for the last two days. Some visitors even came early to the beautiful Shenandoah Valley of Virginia to travel the world famous Skyline Drive and and Blue Ridge Parkway, only to be met with dense fog in the mountains.

However, the stage is definitely still set for tomorrow’’s Legends of the Fall Sale, hosted by David Tait and family of Grottoes. The sale will kick off with a complementary BBQ beginning at 11am, followed by the sale at 12 noon.

Part of the heifer lineup for tomorrow’’s sale is pictured here. Chris Reichard and crew had everything looking great for tonight’’s open house.

Joan Seidel and Nancy Powell Raggi discuss, among other things, the Viriginia Tech vs. Boston College football game that Nancy, and her new husband Nick, attended this week in Blacksburg.

Bob Schauf of Wisconsin and Kevin Winter of Kansas take a moment to discuss the sale lineup.

As usual, Annie Tait has orchestrated a beautiful display in the sale ring, as well as around the farm.

It’’s definitely Halloween-time…and you never know who’’s going to show up to help manage a sale!

Although it was a pretty rainy day for travel, Virginia is still breathtaking, as seen in these photos.

Did you know the following facts about Virginia?

* Virginia has 15, four-year public universities

* Virginia has many wineries, and right now, fall wine festivities are in full swing

* Virginia’’s poultry rankings in the U.S. are #4 for turkeys and #9 for broilers

* There are 1.7 million head of beef cattle & calves in the state

* There are also 105,000 head of dairy cattle in the state, with Rockingham county being the most densely populated (Grottoes is in Rockingham County)

Check back tomorrow night for sale information!

By Lana Olson, Expo Blogger

On the final day of World Dairy Expo 2007, I had the opportunity to visit with Dan Peterson and Tina Suhr of Global Genetic Resources (GGR) about the first year for this new AI company. At this time last year GGR was off the ground and running as a new player in the AI industry. Today, GGR has 23 bulls in their Holstein proven active line up, and 21 young sires. “We had to start off by carrying other proven bulls from other companies, just to get our name out there,” says Tina. “But eventually we would like to just have our own bulls that we have purchased and sampled ourselves,” she adds.

GGR carries bulls with a variety of strengths. Dan says, “We try to have something for everyone; whether it be type, production, net merit, whatever.”

Dan and Tina co-own and run the business together and that”””””””’’s what drives them to work as hard as possible. Tina shared, “When you know you are doing this for yourself it gives you that much more motivation.”

One change in the company since last year is how they have diversified. GGR has branched out into the farm products market and are currently featuring Optimizer Calf Gel, something their customers are very happy with. “It protects against more strains of viruses, is cheaper than the competitor and is produced locally in Kasson, MN,” Tina said.

Looking to the future, GGR is excited about some promising young sires. One such exciting prospect is Astrahoe Duplex Ro Rufus-ET. Rufus comes from the world”””””””’’s first 14th generation Excellent, Astrahoe Storm R Roberta, and is an early Duplex son.

To learn more about their lineup and their products, visit Global Genetic Resources online at www.ggresources.com.

A large, sociable crowd made their way to Indianhead Holsteins in Barron, WI on Saturday, September 22nd for the Wisconsin Holstein Association State Picnic. Whoever ordered the weather must be living right as it was a glorious, sunny autumn day in northern Wisconsin - perfect for the numerous activities available from hayrides to the batting cage to eyeballing the impressive 112.7% BAA Indianhead herd. Hosts Bob & Karyn Schauf, along with their sons Christian, Gabriel, Jacob and Zachary, thanked everyone for coming and then introduced their trainees and employees, many of whom have been with the farm for over ten years.

The Schauf Family (missing Gabe).

The Indianhead herd consists of 100 milking cows with an additional 125-150 head of youngstock and bulls. There are currently 45 Excellent cows in the herd that maintains a RHA of 26,514M 3.9% 1036F 3.0p 803P.

The farm is always immaculate and the tidy office highlights many of the herd”’’s accomplishments in the show ring and Holstein industry.

September 22 was a special day for host Karyn Schauf - not only because of the State Picnic, but because it was also her birthday! Karyn was Alice in Dairyland (a year-long job that entails promoting all Wisconsin agriculture products throughout the state, nation and abroad) in 1977 and has been a strong supporter of the program ever since. She is pictured here with Jill Makovec, the 2007 Alice who also has strong industry roots having grown up on a Registered Holstein and Brown Swiss farm in southwestern Wisconsin.

Richard & Gladys Rueth enjoyed the refreshments and entertainment after making the trip from southern Wisconsin. A cow that they followed with great interest, Stookey Elm Park Blackrose-ET, resided for many years at Indianhead.

WI Holstein Board of Directors Bob Gates, Mark Gilbertson, Brian Herr and Bob Traynor present Bob & Karyn with an antique butter churn as a thank you gift.

Another Indianhead enterprise provides kiln dried shavings and sawdust to over 70 dairies and much of the extensive turkey industry in Barron County. The trucking business sees about 1200 semi loads leave the yard every year.

A new sideline is the bio-fuel plant that started production last winter. The farm uses 80,000 gallons of diesel every year and now has the capacity to produce 35,000 gallons of bio-fuel from crushed canola seed. The by-product canola meal has proven to be a very palatable replacement for the soybean meal in the dairy ration testing out at 40% protein and 15% fat. Pictured above is the canola seed press. The Schaufs hope to expand this business to produce a food grade canola oil to market and exchange for cooking oil that can then be cleaned and used for fuel.

The stork has been busy lately, delivering beautiful, healthy babies to many friends in the dairy industry!

A new addition at Vo-Grin Swiss, Arlington, WI, is Peyton Marie Voegeli, born Oct. 12th to parents Colt & Nicky Voegeli.

And further south, Shelby Gayle Brooks was born Oct. 11th to parents Johnny & Wendy Brooks of Kingsmill Farm, Durham, NC.

Congratulations!

There’s a new major in town — Carter Lee Major in fact.  Carter was born on Sept. 27 and weighed in at 6 lbs. 14 ozs.  He’s the son of Jared & Summer Major, and resides with the family at Pop-A-Top Holsteins in Lebanon.  Congratulations!!

By Lana Olson, Expo Blogger

As I was watching bits and pieces of shows on Wednesday my attention was grabbed by something I saw in the Milking Shorthorn ring- something bright pink and sparkly. True to my prediction it was Jessica Achen, National Milking Shorthorn Queen, a 19 year-old from Sauk Centre, Minn. Achen, who is a good friend of mine and fellow member of the Minnesota Junior Holstein Board of Directors spent Wednesday afternoon handing out awards and showing her cattle- all in a pink formal gown and sparkly crown. Earlier in the week however, you could easily spot Achen with four shiny medallions around her neck as I found out after visiting with her in the barns after a long day of showing.

Achen, along with her dairy judging teammates from Stearns County, Minnesota swept the entire 4-H dairy judging contest Monday. Achen was named high individual overall, high individual in reasons and also was a key member to the high team overall and high team in reasons. Achen’s teammates Emily Lahr (5^th overall, 5^th reasons), Abby Udderman (24^th overall) and Emily Achen were extremely surprised after the win. Jessica says, “We just didn’t know if we had the potential or not, it was a big surprise.” Judging as team since 2001 has made the team very close and that is just one of the reasons why this title has meant so much to those four girls.

When Achen isn’t fulfilling her duties as Queen or Dairy Judging Champion at Expo this week you can find her in Barn 9, heading up a string of animals from her farm and a few from other exhibitors. As for the rest of the week, Achen says she plans to lay low and just enjoy the good cattle and good friends. “I really like catching up with old friends and people I have met along the way, I really enjoy my time here at Expo.”

Be sure to stay tuned here for more from some of the people at Bright Lights, Big Show: World Dairy Expo 2007. Also be sure to watch HolsteinWorld.com for daily news at Expo and up-to-the-class show results of the International Red and White and Holsteins shows Thursday thru Saturday.

By Lana Olson, Expo Blogger

Well, it officially has begun, Bright Lights, Big Show: World Dairy Expo 2007. Never a dull moment, Monday started off with the judging contests for 4H, Post Secondary and Collegiate teams. For results on these contests visit HolsteinWorld.com and watch our daily news. Tuesday began the shows with the Central National Ayrshire Show, the International Junior Holstein Show and the Central National Jersey Show heifer classes.

After a glimpse of an impressive Junior Holstein Show on Tuesday I visited with Bonnie Van Dyk of Willow’s Edge Holsteins, an Expo perennial exhibitor, to talk about what Expo is all about for them, a successful day in the ring for her daughter Claire and their string this year.

Willow’s Edge Holsteins of New Richmond, Wis. is the farm of Henk and Bonnie Van Dyk with daughters Jordan and Claire. They have been coming to World Dairy Expo with their own string for about the last 10 years. But for this farm making the annual trek to Madison is not just about how they do in the show ring. Even though they have more than proved themselves in that respect, earning Premier Exhibitor in 2003. “We felt it was just so important for us to have a farm display instead of sending our animals along with another string. It’s about the promotion and name recognition for us,” says Bonnie. Van Dyks also take the time out of a busy Expo week to donate animals to judging contests. This year, the top Holstein Winter Yearling in the Intercollegiate Dairy Cattle Judging Contest was Willows Edge Durham Delight.

Starting off the week on the right foot, Claire Van Dyk showed the 2nd place Fall Calf, 7th place Winter Yearling and 3rd place Junior 2 Yr. Old at the International Junior Holstein Show. Bonnie says; “It was an impressive show this year, it just keeps getting better and better.” Later in the week Bonnie is excited to see not only how the animals in their string stack up in the International Holstein Show but also how animals they have sold in the past will compete. Willow’s Edge cows in other strings include 3x Junior All-American, Willows Edge Gib Fancy-ET, and Nominated All-American Junior 3-Year-Old, Willows Edge Durham Brianna. For more information on some of the Willow”’’s Edge headliners, click here to visit their website.