I’ve always thought that I have the perfect job at Holstein World. We work with tremendous breeders and companies that share a love of Registered Holsteins. We get to tap into the minds of master breeders and get inspired by businesses that spend hours researching and developing news ways to make dairy cows more efficient and long lasting. We get to travel to the best of the best shows and sales and also to farms of every shape, size and scale. Having said all that, nothing could have prepared me for how inspiring it would be to see all of it – the farms, the breeders, the companies making life better for the industry – in one of the world’s most beautiful countries….Italy.

The original purpose of the trip was to cover the International Fibre Conference sponsored by Lallemand Animal Nutrition and being held in Bologna. When I got the “okay” to go, I contacted my friend Claudio Mariani of Genesi Project in Italy to see if he could arrange some farm visits for me.

The next few blogs will be about my week in Italy – from the farms we visited, to the Lallemand conference, to the “postcard perfect” sites of the country. Hope you enjoy the trip!

And for more information, visit www.lallemandanimalnutrition.com and www.genesiproject.it.

ALBY HOLSTEINS: Alberto Stocchero runs this small registered Holstein farm all alone. He’s married with Chiara and they have 2 children, Erica and Simone. Alberto has a great passion for dairy farming, as the family’s major activity is selling car batteries. He milks about 25 cows and 4 EX among those. He likes to differentiate as much as possible the bloodlines, that’s why he’s using some semen from Viking Genetics. He has a bull by S ROSS that will be probably sampled in partnership with Genesi Project. Alberto has passion also for the Red Holstein, and one young bull recently sampled is a Delta Canvas x Sept. Storm RC x Durham x Blackstar full sister of Duncan Black Romeo (same family as Douglas in Germany). Alberto owns probably the only 6 generation EX cow with all generationsl born and bred in Italy – and possibly the 7th is on the way, as the youngest daughter in milk is already scored VG. A few animals in the herd trace back to U.S. cow families, including a Mac heifer from the Durham Mae family and a Niagra from the Ocean-View Zandras. Alberto also has a red carrier Man-O-Man who is being flushed to Pleasure-Red and is being tested by a French AI company.

Heading into the milk barn

The car battery business…quite a setup!

Alberto (left) and our tour guide, Claudio Mariani of GenesiProject.
Alberto on breeding goals…”I think beautiful cows live longer and for me, having cows last longer means I can sell their daughters and still keep the factory. I have sold some bulls to AI and continue selling bulls to other farmers.”
Alberton on genomics…”Genomics is a plus, but for me it is more beneficial for commercial herds. We can’t use genomics in Italy which is a problem because if I do use a high genomics bull, I can’t register the daughters. Once our government gets our Italian bulls genomically tested and they can compete against others in the world, then we will be free to use the technology.”

While the herd is small, the accomplishments are great, with average herd score of 84 points. Four Excellent cows are sired by Boss Iron, O-Man, Progetto (Prelude son from the Solid-Gold Mountain La-La family) and Champion.
Alberto on herd size…”At this size farm, I can really concentrate on genetics and build something for the markets I work with. This also lets me keep an equilibrium in life between my family and my work. I also am a soccer coach and enjoy my time off the farm for that.”

The main house consisted of several parts, with Alberto’s mother living in the first section and Alberto and his family in another.

My first true Italian meal and it was beyond belief! The homemade pasta was only the first course (I should have thought about that before saying I would have more!). Children come home from school for lunch which is a great way to preserve the true family atmosphere.
Alberto on sire selection…”I started using some Scandinavian bulls because they offered different bloodlines. Right now, I am using Million, Alexander, Jeeves and Shottle, plus some Scandinavian bulls like Ross, Dundee and Rakuuna.”

SILA HOLSTEIN : Marco Bettinardi and his family run this 140-cow operation. The whole family works on the farm, including Marco’s grandmother is in charge of feeding calves…a job she gives to no one else, even in coldest winter days. SILA is the home of the #1 index cow in Italy, SILA SHOTTLE BLUEBILL. Bluebill comes from a R.Brett x Valentein x Sand…..from the “original” Bluebill, the mother of Cooks-Valley Aero Bond. This cow is sky-high in Italy, as she’s over 1,000 points ahead of the 2nd cow. She has many bulls in AI, all over Europe, and a half brother by Goldwyn just proven in the May proof run (BEN, #1 tied Protein bull). At the farm there were 2 Sept. Storm sisters to Bluebill, but unfortunately one died few months ago. Marco did this mating to put some RED in the family, and today one of the nicest (and not classified yet) 2-year-olds on the farm is a Lawn Boy x Sept. Storm, also with good genomics. Bluebill has many daughters by Niagra and her last calf in early March this year was a Rakuuna daughter, an interesting outcross from Finland. Now Bluebill is back in shape, milking well over 100 lbs a day and she scored EX-90 (in Italy a cow has to be in her 3rd lactation to become EX).

The farmhouse at Sila

Marco Bettinardi states he “want to be unique. We develop cows and cow families because they work good for us. When we started working with the Bluebill family, we knew we wanted as many daughters from her as we could get. She was that good. Now we are able to sell quite a bit from her and her family, which is exciting.”
Marco on sires to use…”We are using Shottle, Windbrook, Iota, Sudan, Sambo, Planet, Super and Jammer. All bulls are selected on a mating program. We consider fertility, inbreeding, udder health and production (with an emphasis on protein).”
Marco on the impact of Bluebill…”She calved in March and is milking 150 lbs. per day with 5.0 and 4.1 tests. She is projected at over 28,000. She has an Armstead daughter who is carrying a Planet calf and the Armstead is contracted to Select. She has sons by Man-O-Man and Garrett at Select, and her full sister is bred to AltaRoss and also contracted.”

My quick freestall picture of an unscored, very fancy Lawn Boy 2-year-old.

There’s building underway, with more freestalls being added so the cows have a little more space. The 150 milk cows currently average about 80 lbs. per day.

CAMPOGALLO HOLSTEIN: This farm is a true family business! Not only do they milk about 220 Holstein cows, they also sell several bulls to AI and just over a year ago, they opened an on-farm shop where they sell homemade products: basically meat, coming from raising all the bull calves, plus some extra cheese (they do not make the cheese on the farm though) and other excellent foods, all typical from the area. The farm is well managed, they have a new rotatory milking parlour (not your typical rotary) and some pretty new barns, one for heifers and one for cows. Here we have seen CAMPOGALLO SIMONA, a Laudan daughter with excellent genomics and therefore the most contracted cow so far at the farm. This leadership is going to be taken away from her daughter by Active, the famous Boss Iron son out of a Manfred from the Patron Allie family, as she looks tremendous at 2 years! The cow is going in an intense flushing program. Simona has another interesting daughter by Prince (Britt x Aaron), but not in milk yet. Here again the nicest calves were from Exces (another Viking bull) and Jeeves, but Saverio Borgo (the owner) is an open minded man and he’s using a bit of everything, no matter where it comes from. They also decided to have a taste of crossbreeding by Swedish Red and Montbeliarde, and some 40 animals are on the ground, with one in milk.

The on-farm shop at CampoGallo

Quite an entertaining group! Claudio, herd breeding advisor Maurizio Grande, herd manager, and herd owner Saverio Borgo.

A rotary unlike any I’ve seen before!

A great young Active daughter….you will definitely hear more of her!

The day ended with a visit to one of Claudio’s friend’s houses for a dinner. The friend, owner of Ghirardo Vineyards, has a beautiful house over looking the city below and acres and acres of grapes.

The wine is made and stored in a typical wine cellar…but this one is unique in that it’s carved into the stone underneath Giovanni’s house!

When Maurizio isn’t busy with his breeding advisory job at CampoGallo and Alby, he must serve double duty as a chef!

Stay tuned for more herd visits on Day 2 of Ciao Italia! And I’ll close this blog with a few scenics from the stunning countryside and downtown Bologna!

This winter, Holstein World staff members Elley Brown, Wendy Erbsen and Karen Knutsen got a little cabin fever and set off to visit some farms for the afternoon! Currie Holsteins, just south of the office in Syracuse, NY, was our first stop. The Curries – John, Colleen, Kayla, Chad, Jessica and Emma are part of a large family operation that milks 750 registered Holsteins in Tully, NY. The Curries have always been interested in showing and when the opportunity presented itself, they purchased the nearby farm of the late Jim Wright & Maggie Murphy (formerly Kincora). Purchased in 2005, the classic knotty-pine paneled barn required little fixing up. An office was added to the existing tiestall barn that had plenty of pasture and barnyard areas.

The new office

“It’s a great place to have show animals and special merchandising animals,” said Kayla who works there along with Chad and their herdsman, Paul Snyder. The special 5 1/2 foot stalls are plenty wide to accomodate big animals. At last count, the barn held 23 Excellent and 28 Very Good animals. Some of the cows you’ll see on your visit include:

Curr-Vale Goldwyn Delicious *RC (EX-91 EX-93 MS DOM)
A #2 genomic Red or RC cow!
2-02 334 27,100 3.4 909 3.1 831
7th generation Excellent
Heavily contracted and being flushed – has been flushed to Observer, Beacon, Iota, Colt-P-Red and Arudolph-Red

Curr-Vale Sept Storm Evy (EX-91 EX-MS)
2-00 290 20,560 4.0 824 3.3 678 (Inc.)
4th generation Excellent
Res. Junior All-NY Winter Yearling ’08
Being flushed to Sanchez & Sid

Curr-Vale Prnto Romano Rose
Pronto x Curr-Vale Gwyn Cheese Curd (VG-85, 2y)

That’s a BIG dog!! And he loves snow too!

The facility has a great boxstall barn for close-up cows and heifers, as well as a loose housing barn for more animals.

The gracious host! Even though the temperature hadn’t reached 32 degrees, and the snow hadn’t stopped falling, our host Kayla Currie (at left) spent time with Wendy Erbsen, Elley Brown and I one afternoon this winter. Kayla was a fantastic intern with Holstein World a two summers ago in the internet department. She also wrote several editorial pieces for the World that year, with a feature story appearing in the Adeen issue.

For more information on this central New York dairy, please visit the Currie Holsteins website at www.holsteinworld.com/currie.

Heading south on I-81, as you settle into the state of PA, punch the address in you GPS for Jericho Dairy and feast your eyes on a great frame and uddered herd, when you reach the last farm on Jericho Rd!

Our host Jim and James Woodmansee

EX Leduc x VG x 2E-92 Broker

Goldwyn x 2E-90 Lijet x 2E-92 Broker

5E-94 Lindy with 270,000 life-to-date x 3E-94 Mattador

She has a EX-94, 4y daughter

5E-94 DOM Flip out of 7 VG or EX dams and 3 EX & 5 VG daughters

Some other cows around the barn……………..

Traveling through the rough roads in NY you find the new location of the up and coming Jersey and Holstein farm Underground Genetics. Anthony and Debbie Crothers have been in Pitcher for four years moving from Rising Sun, MD. They have been building their herd and providing show cattle for their four young daughters, Blake, Kennedy, Camryn & Maci.

The 7 year old LONG-GREEN TALENT-ET(EX-90) out of a Ricecrest Marshall shows the longevity of the herd and creates an incredible foundation for their genetics.

Also impressive were the pair seen in this picture, UNDERGROUND LEADER SUNDOWN (VG 86) out of the Talent; and UNDERGROUND TALENTS TESS (VG 86) a September Storm also out of the Talent.

This beautiful Lucifer is backed by the Delia cow family scored at 2 years old (VG 85) she is ready to see the classifier in March and fills the bucket with over 100 pounds a day.

Although dressed in her rough winter coat this Red offspring from the Roxie family, due in March to Big Apple-Red will be one to look for this spring as one of Blake’s show heifers.

The Crothers are just entering the stage of being able to market some of their genetics and are in the process of building a marketing campaign. In the meantime if you are in the area, drive past the Elk Farm that sells meat, and visit the Crothers. If the cows or Elk don’t draw your interest the treats from Debbie’s kitchen will.

By Amy Savage
The Lancaster (PA) Holstein club took their annual spring tour on Monday, February 28th. Approximately, 70 dairy enthusiasts made the trip south to Maryland to visit with fellow breeders and view their cattle.

Farm stops included: My-Ladys-Manor (Robert & Sam Smith), Ehrhardt Farm, MD-Maple-Dell (Patrick Family), Chip & Isha Savage, Bulldog Holsteins (Mike & Heather Iager) and Windsor-Manor (Jason & Donna Myers).

LADYS-MANOR, Monkton, MD

Ladys-Manor Demi Glaze (Goldwyn) recently scored EX-91

Ladys-Manor Allen Debbie (EX-93) is a daughter of Ruby D and a maternal sister to the dam of Shamrock.

This Planet daughter recently scored VG-85 (86-MS) and is from a VG Oman followed by VG-89 Autumn.

On left (and in foreground) is a VG-86 Auden sister to Shamrock. Her dam is an EX Shottle. The 2nd cow is a VG-87 Auden (88-MS) from MS Durchan Lady Allana (EX-92)

Ladys-Manor Brooklyn. This Goldwyn daughter recently scored EX and is from an EX-93 Durham that was Jr. All-American

EHRHARDT FARMS, Baldwin, MD

Bucky Ehrhardt talks about their breeding program

Idee Lustre (EX-95) at 14 years old is still milking and flushing well.

This Advent daughter of Lustre is scored VG-86 and due to calve again this summer.

Wil-Wen Brook Alleg Taffy (VG-89) was the first place Sr 2 at the Eastern Fall National

MAPLE-DELL, Woodbine, MD

Denny Patrick talks to the group about some of the cows

MD-Maple-Dell Shot Sari-ET recently scored EX-91. Her dam is an EX-92 Durham followed by VG-86 Mathie. Plans are to take her to the MD Spring Show.

MD-Maple Dell Shot Suri-ET- is a full sister to Sari who also recently scored EX

This young Alto daughter recently scored VG. Alto is from the Chief Adeen family being a Sept Storm son from Nobel Aruba (EX-94)

The group checks out the barn that houses the show heifers

Sired by Goldwyn (lf) and Aspen (rt), these fall yearlings will be making an appearance at the MD Spring Show

CHIP & ISHA SAVAGE, Knoxville, MD

Savage-Leigh Lavish, an EX-92 Talent x Licorice is due to calve again in a few weeks

Savage-Leigh Leona (EX-94) is an Allen daughter of Licorice that was Nom AA and All Canadian this past year

Savage-Leigh Bellwood Linda (EX-92) is still around and doing well at almost 16 years of age.

Chip Savage visits with the group about his feeding program

Savage-Leigh Lydon Laurel (EX-92)

BULLDOG HOLSTEINS, Frederick, MD

A photo of the barn at Bulldog Holsteins, that has freestalls on one side and a bed pack on the other

Mike Iager talks to the group about his operation

Michael Stoltzfus (son of Alphie) reunites with his family’s cow Markwell Goldwyn Donela (EX-92) who is housed at Bulldog Holsteins

Markwell Goldwyn Donela (EX-92) is from the Raven family.

Cranberry-Mdws Tal Anna-ET just scored EX-90. She is a Talent from the Chief Adeen family.

Zim-Lea Goldwyn Jody is housed at Bulldog Holsteins for Nate Goldenberg. She recently scored EX-91 (94-MS)

WINDSOR MANOR, New Windsor, MD

Windsor-Manor ZShadow is a Shottle x Rud Zip who recently scored VG-89

This Mac x Regancrest Brasilia just went VG-86 (88-MS)

Windsor-Manor ZeRoyal (EX-92) This Roy daughter of Zip is one of Donna’s favorite cows!

Jason Myers points out some of his consignments to the Crown Jewel

When you live in Northern New York everything is South from that location. On a recent trip to Virginia, Holstein World’s Frank Putman had the pleasure of stops at Gloryland, Chip Savage’s and Tom Priest’s breeding establishments.

Views of Chip Savage’s new

facilities………..

Some of the show ring stars enjoy large packs including Savage-Leigh Leona-ET (ET-92) and Savage-Leigh Lavish-ET (EX-92)

Chip and Isha Savage

Special heifers…..that include Goldwyn x Licorice daughters.

Back at Cindee and Wayne’s farm, two youngsters that that are under their care for Denise Riddle are daughters of her VG-86 *RC September Storm x EX-91 Champion x VG-88 Aron x Bellwood Linda.

A Gold Lazer daughter

Her red Shaquille daughter

On Battlefield Rd in Grottoes, Virginia is Gloryland. Here is a sampling of the animals that will have a price tag on them for the tag sale planned for the National Holstein Convention week………………………..

Gloryland Latte-Rae *RC (EX-92)

Advent x Lana Rae (2E-94 DOM)

Gloryland -LA Loretta-ET (Goldwyn x EX-92 Lori Rae)

Gloryland -LB Leasha Rae-ET (Goldwyn x VG-88 Lakota Rae)

Gloryland Glamour Rae-ET (Goldwyn x 2E-94 DOM Lana Rae)

Tom Priest’s farm is located very close to Interstate 81 and the Greencastle, PA exit. Big framed cattle are in evidence here.

Bolivar x Bellwood Linda family

Jeeves x Art Acres Shottle Kay

a recently fresh Goldwyn x Ocean View Lindy Sheen family

Our final farm visit while in Alberta was to Spruce Lane Dairies, Ltd. of Penhold, AB. The home of the Dirk & Elizabeth Appel Family, they breed their herd under the Altappel prefix. Taking us on a tour of the cows was Dirk & Elizabeth who both come from many generations of dairy farm families in Holland. They immigrated to Alberta 14 years ago and have built from the ground up with a grade herd to purebred Holsteins that can compete in the show ring and send bulls to AI.

The first thing that caught our eye as we walked in the barn was this March ’10 Damion heifer from Eastside Lewisdale Gold Missy’s full sister!

The 200-cow milking herd and bred heifers are all housed under one roof and milked in a double 12 parlor. This makes for great efficiency and comfortable conditions…even in the cold, blustery Canadian winters.

Dirk & Elizabeth are excited to see the development of the AltaGlow daughters in their herd for more reason than one. The daughters are looking great themselves AND he was bred by the Appels! Altappel AltaGlow is a Titanic son of Jeanlu Monday Gleam VG-88 2* with over 150,000 lbs lifetime. Next dam is Brigeen Rudolph Glinda-ET VG-86 2Y 17* and then Mandel Golda VG-88 GMD DOM and Roylane Leadman Glory-ET VG-89 GMD DOM followed by 2 more EX dams.

AltaGlow 11HO09708 is the highest new release Canadian sampled bull from Alta Genetics at LPI 1613. He currently ranks #3 for udders in the Top 100 LPI. He is considered an udder specialist with high components – his daughters are tall, open and dairy.

Great representation of the udders we saw on the AltaGlow daughters in the herd.

Pictured above is Altappel Glow Patty VG-85 2Y. Her dam was a GP-80 Hershel.

Altappel Shottle Peggy VG-85 2Y
This young Shottle daughter has a 3/21/10 La Presentation Denzel daughter on the farm.

Altappel Dundee Aspen VG-86 2Y
2-02 2x 308 24,965 3.3 829 3.1 776
4th dam is Dixie-Lee Aspen-ET EX-92 GMD DOM

Altappel Damion Betty VG-87 2Y
10/09 Armstead daughter on the farm.

Altappel Jasper Sheela
This September 20th fall yearling is every bit as impressive in person as she is in her professional photo…but I like this picture better than the one I was able to snap while on the farm. She is shown by Dirk & Elizabeth’s son, Arisjan, and already has several show ring successes to her name. Sheela is due to calve in October to Sanchez.

A view from the end of the new addition to the main barn. The new addition has larger free-stalls and a bedded pack area for recently fresh and special needs cows.

Looks like its dinner time!

Following a nice visit around the kitchen table over cold drinks, I snapped this quick photo of Elizabeth and Dirk Appel with the youngest of their three children, Margriet.

*Special Note* Last week in the post about Wendon Holsteins, I mentioned that a picture I took included Wendon Dundee Diva VG-87 2Y and that she is owned in partnership with Altappel. Elizabeth reports that Diva recently calved with a Sanchez heifer!

To conclude my series of Alberta farm visit reports, I thought I’d share some scenic pics of the Alberta landscape. The vastness of the landscape is just awesome and July is such a perfect time of year to travel to this Canadian province. This picture is taken pointed east and to the west, less than a 2 hour drive, are the majestic Rocky Mountains.

My trip this year did not allow for enough time to travel into the mountains, but I did find some photos from my trip to the Morsan sale two years ago that I thought I’d share again…simply to give you more of a full view of the Alberta scenery and because I think they are pretty cool.

FYI – In the middle of this photo is a glacier!

My next farm visit stop while in Alberta was to Ten Brummelhuis Dairy in Olds, Alberta. Upon arriving we were greeted warmly by Alfons and then his son, Aron, and invited into their home for lunch. Alfons’s wife, Wilma, had a welcome spread of sandwich fixings and an unbelievable tomato basil soup for us to enjoy. Over lunch we chatted about the road that led them to Olds from Holland just 9 years ago. They went from operating 20 acres with 25 cows and 200 hogs, to now managing 380 acres with a herd of 90 cows. In their 8 years of breeding purebred Holsteins, the Brummelhuis’ have developed a herd that is now 70% VG or EX and 90% homebred. They have bred 6 EX cows to date and have many in the VG 85 to 87 range.

The 90-cow milking herd is milked 2x/day and is currently averaging 86 lbs/day with 3.7%F and 3.3%P and a SCC of 90. They have been recognized as one of the Top 20 herds in Alberta for management.

The milking herd is housed in a pack barn that is connected to the parlor. The barn has large doors that are open on a regular basis to the left and back of this photo. Off to the left the cows have access to a dirt lot and pasture. The large 6 foot blade fans keep the barn cool during the summer months. The barn is bedded with two big square bales of straw each day and is completely cleaned once every two months. Cows are fed a TMR 4x a day.

Brummelhuis Primetime Anita 2E-92
A Windy-Knoll-View Primetime daughter of Happy Cow Marconi Anita 3*. Primetime Anita has over 100,000 lbs lifetime to date. She has one classifed daughter who is EX-90, sired by Lucky Mike. More young daughters in the herd sired by Atlas, Goldwyn & Shottle. Pregnancies on the way sired by Sanchez due in December. She herself is due in September to Denzel.

Standing in the middle of this picture is an EX-91 4E Jolt.

Brummelhuis Jordan Red Nancy EX-91 92-MS
She has two heifers in the herd sired by West Port Robo Red (Talent x Elegant Ruble Red).

Bred heifers and dry cows enjoy a four pasture rotation throughout the summer. The black cow standing in the middle of this picture is Markwell Rudolph Diamond-ET EX-91 4E. She is a Rudolph daughter of Luke Rapture 4E 92 from Bstar Raven 3E-95. Diamond is due in October to Goldwyn.

The red heifer in the middle is a daugther of EX-91 Jordan Red and is due to calve in September to Director (Kite x Advent x Debutante Rae).

Their heifer facility was built last year and provides housing for weaned calves all the way up to bred heifers. When weather and pasture conditions permit, all heifers have access to lots of space.

Flush mates all in a row! Born the end of June and first part of July, these are Big Apple-Red daughters of Happy Cow Jordan Red Hannie EX-90, over 188,000 lbs lifetime.

A close-up view of one of the Big Apple sisters.

A Goldwyn (left) and Damion (right) enjoying the beautiful afternoon and some hay. The Brummelhuis’ have really enjoyed this set-up for raising their baby calves. They believe there is nothing better than raising calves in the open air. Bed well, feed well and provide a windbreak = best way to raise calves.

Owners of the farm and our hosts for the day – Aron, Wilma & Alfons ten Brummelhuis

Wendon Holsteins is a 2x Master Breeder Herd that is owned and operated by Don & Wendy Chalack, and son Logan. They currently crop 500 acres of dry hay and barley. The milking herd consists of 50 cows with a RHA of 24,288M 876F 750P. They are scored 15 EX, 30 VG and 14 GP. Cows eat all dry hay and a 16% dairy ration.

Left: Wendon Dundee Diva VG-87 2y (Owned with Atlappel)
Center: Wendon Dundee Divinia VG-87 2y
Right: Their Dam, Wendon Triumph Divine EX-94 2E 2*
Renaissance Triumphant x VG-87 x EX-95 15* x EX 4* x EX 11*
*There is another Dundee daughter of Divine who scored VG-87 @ 2yrs, and is now EX-91 for her owners, Ferme Arolene, Quebec.

Left: VG-88 Damion x VG-88 Gibson
Right: VG-88 Goldwyn x VG Champion

EX Outside x VG Cousteau

Brummelhuis Morty Jenny EX-92

2E Storm x 3E Skychief x EX Starbuck

Left: EX Goldwyn x VG Cousteau
Right: VG-88 Goldwyn x VG Terrason

This week I have the great adventure of traveling to Alberta, Canada for the Morsan Mountain High III Sale that will take place on Thursday at Westerner Park in Red Deer. Leading up to the sale I have some time set aside to tour farms in the area. My first stop was this afternoon at Rocky Mountain Holsteins in Cochrane, Alberta.

Just a short drive north and west of the Calgary airport is RockyMountain Holsteins, owned by the partnership of Doug Blair, Dr. David Chalack, and Glenn Hockley. Greeting us upon our arrival to the farm was the owner of the farmplace, Marge Chalack. The farm formerly was the home to the Chalack Family’s Ultra herd.

Farm manager, Ron Churchill, greeted us just inside the barn door and then went back to a tour group that arrived just ahead of our vehicle. Our tour guide was then Rebekah Mathers who serves as co-herdsperson of the farm with her husband, Peter. This young couple has been at RockyMountain Holsteins for three years and both grew up in the dairy business in Australia.

The herd currently consists of 42 milk cows, 150-head of youngstock – 100 of which are the result of the herd’s extensive ET work. Cows are housed in a tie-stall barn with access to rolling green pastures on most days. Heifers are grouped by ages in large group housing sheds with bedded packs and some access to pasture. Calves are housed in both calf hutches and individually divided calf pens.

The group at Rocky Mountain that we visited with during our stop, from left to right: Rebekah & Peter Mathers and Baby Mathers due in September! (Australia), Masaya Anezaki (Japan), Ron Churchill (Ontario), Doug Blair and Scott Hastie (Ontario).

Watching the comings and the goings of the farm is the infamous Irwindale Leduc Macy EX-95-2E.

Recently fresh Junior 3-year-old sired by Lou x VG Durham x Leduc Macy. Her Shottle daughter sells in the Celebration Sale. Other young cows in the herd are sired by Ramos and Baxter.

Left: Dundee Dakota VG-88
Right: Roy Dolce VG-87 (Dam: Jed Dolorita EX)

Left: Salto Margaret VG-85 (Dam: VG Intensifier)
Right: Salto Fiora GP-82 (Dam: VG Talent)

9/09 Alexander sister to the up and coming hot bull at Semex – Crackholm Fever. To date, Fever’s daughters are 87% GP or better. He is a Goldwyn son from an EX-92 Blitz.

3/10 full sister to Misty Spring Shottle Silk and Misty Spring Shottle Satin.

Polled, red Lawnboy daughter. More calves in the pens are sired by Planet, Shottle, Alexander and Truman.

Make plans to join the crew of RockyMountain Holsteins this September 18 as they hold the RockyMountain Holsteins Celebration Sale 2010 at the farm. They will be selling 100 head of cows, heifers and calves – many of which we saw today. For more information on RockyMountain, check out their website at www.rockymountainholsteins.com.