It was a picture perfect spring day in Wisconsin and an enthusiastic crowd traveled to Ixonia, WI for the Crescentmead Farms Dispersal on Saturday, May 24th. Located in southeastern Wisconsin, the Wendorfs of Crescentmead graciously welcomed people to their beautiful farm with a pre-sale pig roast and complimentary beverages throughout the day.

Sale hosts Elmo Wendorf, Jr and Carolyn & Niles Wendorf

The barn entrance features many of the show ring awards garnered by the Crescentmead herd.

Sale cattle in the tie-stall barn.

An addition to the main barn contains eight box stalls.

A large number of the sale cattle were tied in a separate pole shed.

Barn display highlighting the impact of Crescentmead breeding around the world.

Two of the high selling heifers stood on the end of the row. On the left is Lot #26 - Crescentmead-A Alicia-ET - a 11/05 Goldwyn from Sherona-Hill Champ Angel (VG-89) that sold for $35,000 to Gutman Brothers of Baltimore, MD. On the right is Lot #21 - Ms Crescentmead Amy-ET - a 9/06 September Storm from Amlaird Lee Alice (EX-92), the All-American Jr Two-Year-Old in 2003. Amy sold for $28,000 to Arethusa Farm of Litchfield, CT.

Amlaird Lee Alice (EX-92) - the All-American Jr. Two-Year-Old in 2003 - was impressive in both the barn and the sale ring. She is due September 1st and looks as though she could grace the shavings again this fall. A Comestar Lee daughter of Ms Kingstead Chief Adeen-ET (2E-94), Alice was the high seller on the day bringing $67,000 from her new owner, MilkSource Genetics of Kaukauna, WI.

A standing-room only crowd was on hand to see Alice pass through the ring.

Another display in the sale tent documented the many achievements and memories of the Crescentmead herd.

High seller: Amlaird Lee Alice (EX-92) - $67,000
L to R: Todd Wendorf; Elmo Wendorf, Jr.; Niles Wendorf; Alice with Rodney Hetts on halter; Tom Morris, sales staff; Scott Armbrust; and Kevin Jorgensen, agent for buyer MilkSource Genetics. Previously owned by Todd, Elmo & Niles Wendorf, Rodney Hetts and Scott Armbrust, Alice and her family members once again proved the immense popularity of the Starbuck Ada/Chief Adeen family line.

Second high seller: Crescentmead-A Alicia-ET - $35,000
L to R: Troy Wendorf, agent for buyer Gutman Brothers of Baltimore, MD; Scott Arbrust, seller; Alicia with seller Niles Wendorf on halter; Elmo Wendorf, Jr., seller; and Tom Morris, sale manager.

Third high seller: BKV Durham Donna (VG-87) - $34,000
Donna is three-year-old Durham out of Ms Kingstead Chief Adeen-ET(2E-94) sold by Wendorf, Hetts & Becker and purchased by Mike & Jill VanSchyndle of Cuba City, WI.

Fourth high seller: Ms Crescentmead Amy-ET - $28,000
Sold by Niles, Elmo & Todd Wendorf, Scott Armbrust and Rodney Hetts and purchased by Arethusa Farm.

Fifth high seller: Crescentmead-A Angelina-ET - $27,500
Rick and Paula Bovre with Angelina - the Bovres were agents for Angelina’s new owners, Lorita Holsteins and MB-Lucky Lady Holsteins of Modesto, CA.
A fancy 12/07 Shottle that carries a +2001 PTPI, Angelina is out of Sherona-Hill Champ Angel (VG-89) and her 2nd dam is Amlaird Lee Alice (EX-92).

Tom Morris, Ltd. managed the sale and brought together a sales staff from across the US and Canada. Unofficially, the sale averaged $6,355 on 112 full lots.

Last night’s Western Spring National Sale was held following the heifer show in RIchmond.  High selling prices include:

Lot 1 - $24,000
1st choice Advent female x Shoremar S Alicia
choice of 2 pregs due 4/08
Consigned by Kingstead, Butler & Binder, Damascus, MD
Purchased by John Kisst, Ripon, CA

Lot 2 - $15,000
T-C-G Advnt Rhapsody-Red-ET
Born 12/07 - Dam Pappys Sept Storm Rhonda *RC
Consigned by Triple Crown Genetics, Jerome, ID
Purchased by Bosside Dairy, Colby, WI 

Lot 8 - $7,500
Cache-Valley CH Buckeye4-ET
Born 3/07 - 3rd spring yearling in yesterday’s heifer show
Dam Cache-Valley Milan Champion (VG-88)
Consigned by Harris Dairyland, Richmond, UT

Lot 10 - $6,000
Canyon-Breeze GD Jacklyn-ET
Born 9/07 - Dam Jerian Leadership Janine (EX-92)
Consigned by Steve Gillins, Minersville, UT

 Alan Andersen, John Andersen, Greg Andersen and Jordan Leak.

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Idaho was a BREEZE!

Kathleen and I traveled to Idaho on Tuesday & Wednesday of Western Spring National week to visit with some breeders during our stay here.  Our first stop on Tuesday was about 2.5 hours north of Salt Lake City at Seagull Bay Holsteins.  When we got there, Alan Andersen and his sons Greg and John, along with Jordan Leak, were picturing with Frank Robinson.  On the blocks were an O-Man, a Gibson and a Shottle, all of who have some contract interest.  Greg Andersen runs Seagull Bay, while father Alan & brother Ben run Andersen Dairy just west of there.  John and Jordan are in charge of Double A Ranch, a group of six farms near Twin Falls that runs 25,000 milk cows. 

Wednesday morning, we awoke in Twin Falls to strong winds….really strong winds of 40 mph and higher.  And when you’re in the Magic Valley of Idaho, there’s not much to stop the wind.  We met John and Jordan just north of Twin Falls at the main Double A Dairy Ranch.  Owned by the Aardema family, John and Jordan both came to the large commercial operation from Registered Holstein backgrounds.  “We get the best of both worlds here,” John said.  “We love the efficiency and the big business of a commercial setup, but we get to play with the Registered side as our hobby.  Instead of playing the stock market, we do this!”  John and Jordan want to keep having Registered cattle within the herd, and when they flush their own (Triple Crown Genetics) cows, they automatically have a large pool of recipients available.  The other advantage they enjoy is working with the ABS young sire program and can see great numbers of young sire daughters at one time.  “Triple Crown Genetics started here because we were really working with mid-range Holsteins and making mid-range returns,” explained Jordan.  “We wanted to work with the top end Registered cattle.  It’s been a lot of fun so far!”

The duo both stated they need to work with high profile cow families to have genetics that are marketable, and because of that, they were partners on the high selling lot at the Butlerview Sale, Applicious.  They are also working with members of the Debutante Rae family.  “We don’t need more cows to milk,” Jordan continued.  “We need cows that will make us money.”  They have partnered with Kingsmill on several cows and commented that they have very similar merchandising goals as the Kingsmill group.  Besides Holsteins, they own D-C Imperial Ghost, a well-known Jersey on the show circuit, with Kingsmill. 

There are 350 employees in the Aardema Group, and John comments that they, along with fellow dairyman Louie Bettencourt, are the biggest employers in the county.  Since the pair came to Double A, they have added 5,000 cows and now milk in four, double-50 parlors on the main farm.  They do vet checks every Monday and Thursday and have their own vet on staff.  They also employ three, full-time hoof trimmers who work six days/week. 

The herd is at a 79lb. average in the tank and all corn and hay silage is grown at the dairy.  Dry hay is purchased. 

John and his wife have four children, while Jordan and his wife have three children.  “We have become more active in the showring since our kids are now getting older and it’s the one way we can let them be involved on the farm,” John said.  “It’s too big of an operation to have them out in the corrals or parlors, but having some show heifers in a separate area allows them to work with them.”

The best of both worlds is what lays at the doorstep for these two pioneering young men.  A little bit of commercial efficiency, a little bit of Registered blood, a lot of true love for the industry and great friends and business partners have made John Andersen and Jordan Leak very busy and very successful partners.

We then drove southwest from Double A in a wind so powerful you couldn’t see the road for the dust blowing.  Stay tuned for our next stop – Buhl, ID, and Frontier Dairy, the home of Mark & Honor Tatarka.

“The cows are second to the people.” - Norm Nabholz

In his opening comments to the Regancrest Command Performance V Sale, Norm hit the nail on the head. If you think the cows are impressive when you visit Regancrest and check out their sale line-up, than you’ll be doubly delighted by the sincerity and hard work of the Regan Family. (See their picture in the blog posted on 5/4.)

They are what made the sale and it was the people who helped and attended the sale that showed their appreciation. Here are some candids from the day!

Left: Regancrest-PR Barbie-ET EX-92 94-MS
Right: Lot 6 - Regancrest MS Carma-ET Mac x Cinderella x Barbie $35,000 to Carma Syndicate c/o Marlin Bontrager, IA

Left: Lot 16 - Choice of 3/1/08 Fortunes x Windy-Knoll-View Pledge $49,000 to Mark Butz, IA
Right: Lot 71 - Windsor-Manor Z-Delight-ET $94,000 to A.L.H. Genetics

Chances are you have already heard of another top-notch, top-price Holstein sale that took place this weekend. If not, here are the stats from the Regancrest Command Performance V Sale that took place in Waukon, IA on May 3rd. You’re gonna wish you were there! More information and more pictures will be posted in HolsteinWorld.com’s Daily News soon!!

Regancrest Command Performance V Sale
91 Lots Averaged $16,790
It was an electric sale from start to finish and we salute the Regan Family for a job very well done!!

Some of the high sellers…

Lot 71 - Windsor-Manor Z-Delight-ET *TV VG-87 $94,000
Durham x Windsor-Manor Rud Zip 2E-94 GMD DOM
Due 6/1/08 to Goldwyn - contracted to Select for $5,000
*Her 2/08 Baxter daughter sold for $17,500

Lot 1 - Regancrest Breya-ET VG-86 2yr $80,000
Shottle x Regancrest-PR Barbie-ET EX-92 94-MS
Sold with embryo contracts to Japan & Europe, AI contract to Semex.

Lot 8 - Courtlane-UR Mac Charm-ET $67,000
Mac x Regancrest S Chassity-ET VG-88 @2-04 x Regancrest Cinderella VG-89 x Barbie
Only Mac x Chassity daughter in North America
Consigned by Scott Courtney & Uwe Riebensahm

Lot 4 - Regancrest G Brocade-ET VG-85 2yr $50,000
Goldwyn x Barbie EX-92 94-MS
Scored 10 days fresh
Full sister #1 Type Cow of the Breed

Lot 16 - Choice of 2 Females $49,000
3/1/08 Fortunes x Windy-Knoll-View Pledge-ET 2E-95 x Promis 2E-96 GMD DOM
Consigned by Tom & Rick Simon & Tim Rauen

The Northeast Spring Classic was held today in Susquehanna County, PA, at the Harford Fairgrounds. Top selling lots included:

Lot 5 - Pineyvale Jody James - $6,000
VG-86 with 72 lbs. on her last test
Due 7/08 to Penn-Gate Finest
James x Olympique Jody Ann Outside (EX-93)
Consigned by David Post, Hobart, NY
Purchased by Mark & Cindy Tomkins

Lot F - 1st choice Aggravation Lawn Boy heifer x Golden-Oaks Rmn Rae2-Red-ET (GP-82) - $5,100
choice of 4 transfers on 4/3/08
choice should be polled - potential 10th gen. VG or EX Roxy!
Consigned by Kulpdale Farm, Manheim, PA
Purchased by Steve Martin, Myerstown, PA

Lot 40 - 9/07 RED Advent x Jericho-Dairy CO Celine - $4,800
Next 7 dams VG and EX
Consigned by Jericho Dairy, Lake Como, PA
Purchased by Brad Cates, Preble, NY

Lot 7 - Ri-Val-Re Squirt-Red-ET - $4,500
10/06 Advent x L-Maples IRM Sally-Red-ET (EX-90)
Consigned by Ryan Shores, Towanda, PA

Watch Monday’s online news at www.holsteinworld.com for pictures and sale average!

Tonight was the pre-sale meal and social at Regancrest in preparation for the Command Performance V Sale that is set to begin tomorrow at 11 am. Late updates to the catalog have been posted, if you havent taken a look already click here! Now here for your viewing pleasure are some snapshots from the evening. Enjoy!

Frank Regan and his daughter Sheri take a break from attending to last minute sale details to pose with Lot #1 - Regancrest Breya-ET. She is the VG-86 2-yr-old Shottle daughter of Barbie EX-92 94-MS, the #10 PTAT cow in the breed. Breya sells with embryo contracts to Japan & Europe.

Lot #5 - 9/30/07 Mac daughter of Barbie.
Lot #8 - 11/1/07 Mac daughter of Regancrest S Chassity VG-88 (sired by Shottle) x Cinderella VG-89 x Barbie.

Lot #81 - Fancy & fresh Jasper from the Regina Family. Her dam is a VG-88 2y Hi Metro.
Lot #4 - Goldwyn daughter of Barbie. Scored VG-85 just fresh 10 days. Full sister to the #1 type cow in the breed.

Check out the pictures below to get an idea of the great hospitality and animals that will be selling tomorrow! See ya in Waukon!!