National Guernsey Convention Highlights & Sale
The National Guernsey Convention concluded its 133rd Annual Meeting on Monday, July 12th in Dallas, TX.
Some highlights of the Annual Meeting included a lively Golden Guernsey meeting and the announcement that several breeders are planning to start producing dairy products using the Golden Guernsey trademark, which has been successful for a couple of producers already in the last few years. In the show committee meeting they added a Milking Fall Yearling class and also announced the 2009 National Show judges they are:
NGS-Sacramento – Norm Magnussen
NGS-Harrisburg – Roger Turner
NGS-Madison – Fowler Branstetter
NGS-Louisville – Dave Trotter
On the Genomics front, USDA has told the AGA that they are waiting on a new chip for the Guernsey breed that should be out within the year, hopefully. Financially AGA was in the black for 2008, but 2009 has been tough and income at this point is below budget.
The National Guernsey Sale was a huge success, especially considering the current economic climate. The sale officially averaged $5,003 on 30 female lots. A syndicate bull was also sold by Springhill to the Lone Star Syndicate and Golden State Breeders for $8,300. Below are some photos from the outstanding event on Sunday, July 11th!
People came down to take one last look at the animals before the sale. The sale cattle were kept on the lower level of the parking garage across from the hotel and attached to the Eisemann Center where the sale was held.
Guernsey Cows Take Center Stage! Lot 2 – Moziers Lux Anne of Lavon Farms on stage. She would sell for $59,000 to Springville Farm, Todd & Deanna Moore, of Emory, TX. It is the highest price for a Guernsey in recent history at least.
A view of the unique setting for the sale. Usually the Eisemann Center is home to plays, musicals and concerts but on this day it was live animals, on stage!
Moziers Lux Anne of Lavon Farms sells for $59,000! Pictured in front of the fountains and Eisemann Center are (l-r): Blaine Crosser, ringman; Jim Trotter, ringman; Murray Reissner, pedigrees; Brian Schnebly, Guernsey Marketing Service (GMS); Seth Johnson, GMS; Sarah Wyle, leadsperson; Todd, Madison, Deanna and Mason Moore and Robert Perry of Springville Farm; Joe Don Poque and his assisant Tanner, auctioneers (in the cowboy hats); and Mike Weimer, ringman.
The 2nd high selling female was a pick of flush out of Cedar Fringed Altann, EX-95, which brought $8700. Pictured l-r: Blaine Crosser, ringman; Seth Johnson, representing buyer; Hannah Iverson, ‘08 National Guernsey Princess; Brian Schnebly, GMS; Tanner, assisant auctioneer; Berneta Gable, Snider Homestead, consignor; Joe Don Poque, auctioneer; Jim Trotter, ringman; Murray Reissner, pedigrees; and Mike Weimer, ringman.
Saturday, July 11th was reserved for some East Texas farm tours:
The first stop for the bus I was on was to Eybers Dairy, home of Rainbow Guernseys. This is a mixed herd of Holsteins and Guernseys.
Next we toured the Southwest Dairy Museum and had a delicious BBQ lunch there.
One of the highlights of the museum for Guernsey breeders was the Guernsey Wall of Fame. This is a duplicate to the Wall of Fame in the national office of the American Guernsey Association in Reynoldsburg, Ohio.
The last stop was to Springville Farm in Emory, TX, which is the new farm of Todd and Deanna Moore. They hope to be milking in the new facilities by fall. This is a view of the milking parlor, which is the main building on the 1100 acre farm currently.
The double-20 parlor is almost complete.
The back of the structure is the holding pen. The cattle will live on pasture with access to a cooling pond. There will also be headlock ups for management practices and feeding. Currently on the farm are the bred heifers and far-off dry cows.
A group of mostly heifers find some shade from the summer heat. Todd Moore of Springville Farms says that Guernseys handle the heat the best. They also have Jerseys and a few Milking Shorthorns. In the middle of the group above is Campbells Regal Swish, a two-time Unanimous All-American that is currently dry.
Todd Moore introduces his hard-working farm crew.
Saturday night we had a “Dinner with Dairymen” event, which invited members of the Dallas/Ft. Worth area Slow Foods organization to come and eat a locally grown dinner with Guernsey breeders, so they could learn more about dairy farming and the Guernsey breed. Producers in turn learned the Slow Foods (Google it) philosophy and how some consumers think and feel about the food they eat.
After the dinner the crowd was entertained my “Magic Mike” who needed some crowd participation to complete his magic tricks!
Sunday night was reserved for the Youth Banquet, where the Guernsey youth received awards for a variety of categories including Production, Junior Progressive Breeder, Folding Display, Prepared Public Speaking, Extemporaneous Public Speaking, Dairy Bowl, Photo Contest and several different scholarships. Then the 2009 National Guernsey Princess was announced as Melanie Balinas of WI and the 2009 National Guernsey Queen, Sarah Weimer of PA, was crowned. The biggest award of the night was saved for last, the announcement of the National Outstanding Guernsey Youth. This year the top honor went to Ashley Sears of MA. The runner-up was Karen Anderson of MN.
The host for the 2010 Convention then had the opportunity to entice everyone to come to their state next year. Pennsylvania took full advantage of this and performed a great skit, followed by a couple of musical numbers!
Fortune Teller Beth Clark looked in her crystal ball to see a visit to Amish country in the future of Jim Trotter. The 2010 Convention is in Lancaster, PA, June 17-21, 2010. Jim was then joined on stage by members of the Guernsey Village People for their own take on Macho Man.
To the cap the evening was the Youth Auction which raises money for the Guernsey Youth Fund. Over $7300 was raised this year by the selling of Guernsey memorabilia and collectibles, including this beautiful quilt.
