Guest Editorial by Junior Holstein Member Hanna Richman
Hanna Richman of New Jersey gave a speech during the National Holstein Convention in Richmond, VA, on the long-lasting impact of Regancrest Elton Durham. HolsteinWorld helped Hanna with some research and in return, we received a copy of her speech that follows. Attached was a note from Hanna, “Thank you for helping me get information for my speech on Durham. The magazine helped me get background information. I was lucky enough to be able to compete at the National Holstein Convention. I don’t know what place I got, but I feel I did well, and I learned a lot too. The National Convention was a great experience that I will remember for a long time.”
GRANDFATHER OF GREATNESS
There are many great bulls, but only a few have the honor of being one of the best in history. There is one bull that I call the “Grandfather of Greatness.” Can you guess what bull I am talking about? Here are some facts.
I call him the “Grandfather of Greatness” for several reasons. In the top 3 placings at the 11 National Shows in 2010, this bull ranked #1 maternal grandsire in heifers, cows and overall placings. Also, he was listed first in sire stack, topping the cow, heifer and overall lists. His final classification score is 90 points and he is a Gold Medal Sire. Plus, he has sired a whopping 30,281 classified daughters and has over 65,000 milking daughters. He was Premier Sire at the World Dairy Expo 5 times. I have found it interesting that he and his mother have the same white triangle marking on their heads. His date of birth is March 13, 1994. Have you guessed what bull I am talking about? He is Regancrest Elton Durham-ET.
I spoke to many people involved with Durham. First, I talked to Frank Regan, the owner of Regancrest, the farm that owned Durham’s mother, Snow-N Denises Dellia. He says Dellia’s best quality was her udder and her worst was her disposition. Dellia’s personality was unique. She did not like to be handled but strangely liked attention. She took care of herself and left herself to eat feed and make milk with ease. She won Global Cow of the Year and was named Queen of the Breed runner-up to Roxy. He said as a calf, Durham was like any other bull; nothing particularly stands out. He was very youthful! He says his favorite Durham daughter is Regancrest-PR Barbie-ET, classified Excellent 92. He actually owned Barbie.
I also spoke to Charlie Will, who works for Select Sires. He was the man who suggested the breeding of Elton and Dellia. I asked him why he suggested this. He answered, “Dellia was a beautiful Chief Mark daughter. However Chief Mark daughters tended to need better feet and legs because their thurls were too far back. At the time Elton was a high ranking sire with high production and he sired ideal feet and legs and correct thurl position, a logical mating to create a complete young sire.” He also said, “Durham was born 17 years ago and today is still the standard from which all other high type sires of today are compared.” He said his daughters’ best traits were their udders and thought the worst quality was they were a little spirited to handle. He also said that Durham was the first Premier Sire that actually sires traits that both commercial and registered breeders want in their herds and Durham daughters tend to improve with age.
I also talked to Elmer Watkins, the herd manager for the bull barn at Select Sires. He was the man that fed him, took care of him, cleaned his pen, clipped and shampooed him for pictures, classification and tours, and collected semen. He took care of Durham for six years. In the winter Durham had heat and in the summer he had air conditioning. He also told us his favorite memory about Durham is when his daughters won World Dairy Expo five times in a row. Next, he told us that Durham had various moods. One day he would be happy and the next day he would be very mean, but he was always curious. Overall he said the Durham had a good personality. He told us he remembers people talking about how good he was and he thought that Durham was pretty. Mr. Watkins also said that Durham’s best quality was producing semen and his worst was his attitude. He remembers when Durham started feeling sick and they took him to Ohio State University Vet School. He had a heart problem and needed a heart transplant, but this had never been done before. They did not want Durham to suffer, so they euthanized him. He said it was a sad day.
I would like to thank Frank Regan, Charlie Will, Elmer Watkins, Daphne Lang and Karen Knutsen for helping me get my information. I learned a lot researching Durham and one of these things is, it will be hard to ever match him. So next time you see the name Durham on your cow’s pedigree, you know it is coming from greatness.
