The U.S. and Canadian delegation traveling to Italy for the Lallemand Conference spent two days touring and digging up lots of adventures. First stop was the Agricola Caretti Parmigiano Reggiano Dairy. First, a bit of history for you — Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese is named after the producing areas near Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena and Bologna (all in Emilia-Romagna) and Mantova (in Lombardia). Under Italian law only cheese produced in these provinces may be labelled “Parmigiano-Reggiano,” while European law classifies the name as a protected designation of origin.

Parmigiano-Reggiano is made from raw milk from grass and hay-fed cows (no silage or fermented feed is allowed in the ration!). After maturation (12 months), each and every 80+ pound wheel of cheese is inspected by a master grader whose only instruments are a hammer and his ear. By tapping the wheel at various points, he can identify undesirable cracks and voids within the wheel.

Those fun-loving Spanish again!

Once there were two Scandinavians in a cheese plant…

Floor to ceiling wheels of cheese….30,500 wheels to be exact. Each wheel sells for about 500 Euro.

Meet the man behind the cheese, at least at this particular plant. After seeing, and tasting, a delicious product, the group went to see the real nuts and bolts of how cheese is made….from great feed!

Perfect hay is essential in any ration…and hard to make, especially for the majority of U.S. and Canadian farmers this year. Behind the plant was a dehydrater, that allowed alfalfa to be cut and brought in from the field at 30%…much easier to keep leaves on the stalk and not left in the field.

The next morning, the group of 14, led by Kerri Ast of Lallemand, went to the town of Dozza for a wine tasting in a castle, Rocca Sforzesca. We learned the true art of tasting wine and sampled a Merlot and a dessert wine among others. Perhaps it’s no accident that the founder of Italian cuisine, Pellegrino Artusi, was born in this Romagna region that is brimming with fine foods and wines.

Concerts, performances and food & wine events are frequently held in the courtyard of the castle.

A very small town, Dozza is known for its festival of the painted wall, which takes place every two years. During this festival, famous national and international artists paint absolutely beautiful works on the walls of the houses.

From the wine tasting, the group made their way to a farmer cooperative in Brisighella to sample olive oil…and discover a whole new way to purchase wine!

Not your ordinary wine distrubution center….

Local residents bring in their wine jugs and get refilled by the store owner!

Our tour guide Silvia thought we should also see the town’s famous castle and clock tower.

Dr. Rick and Patty Lundquist, Lundquist & Associates (Minnesota)

Scott & Becky Hodgson, Feed Commodities International (Vermont)

Dr. Tom & Ruth Heeg, Nutrition Professionals Inc. (Wisconsin)

On the way home, we convinced our van driver to stop at a local pizza place and had the “best pizza in all of Italy!” Not only did every individual pizza come fresh and ready within 10 minutes of ordering, but our waiter sang to us. And didn’t just sing….sang in a perfect opera voice, belting out a rendition of O Sole Mio like we’ve never heard before.

There are more and more pictures to share from a wonderful week in Italy, but the big take home messages from this blog are:
1. If you ever get the chance to travel to Europe, don’t miss out on it!
2. www.lallemandanimalnutrition.com – a valuable tool in your dairy operation
3. www.genesiproject.it – when you want to see the best of Italian Registered Holsteins!

Thanks for joining me on this week-long blog! Ciao!

Thursday of my “Tour of Italy” included an all-day meeting for the International Fiber Conference, with the theme of “Fibre: a key element for dairy production profitability?” Held in beautiful Castel San Pietro Terme, the conference was sponsored by the University of Bologna – Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, with the support of Lallemand and Filozoo. The University of Bologna is the oldest university in the world, founded in 1088. Some of its more well-known students have included Dante, Petrarch, Erasmus and Copernicus. Within the last five years, the dairy cattle group at the University of Bologna expanded its research: the experimental farm now houses 75 milk cows, allowing them to design trials on diet composition, milk production and animal behaviour. The lab can now test several things including wet chemistry and NIRS for forage analysis, chromatography for VFAs and long chain fatty acids in milk, forages and rumen content, two Tilley and Terry systems for fibre and starch in vitro digestibility and the rumen microbiology.

Lallemand, our HolsteinWorld connection to the symposium, is a feed and food industry pioneer, offering a range of natural products that improve animal performance and health. Lallemand is the only major supplier of yeast or bacteria that is a primary producer of both. Core products are lyophilized bacteria for probiotics and silage inoculants, active dry yeast for probiotics and inactive yeast mineral supplements. The Animal Nutrition division also supplies a range of related animal health and nutrition products including yeast cell fractions and diet acidifiers. For more information, please visit www.lallemandanimalnutrition.com.

The moderator for the day was Prof. Giovanni Savoini of the University of Milan, who welcomed:

Prof. Andrea Formigoni, University of Bologna (Dietetic Role of Fiber) – with take home messages of 1. Among forages, straw is the best chewing promoter, and could represent a good solution to meet peNDF requirements and 2. We do need a new model which describes chewing activity, rumination and ruminal retention time in order to define NDF filling and passage dynamics, and how these rates can affect intake, meal number and intake patterns.

Dr. David Mertens, Mertens Innovation & Research LLC, Madison, WI (Fiber Degradation Kinetics & the Factors that Affect It) – with take home messages of 1. Fiber digestion is a slow process and the rumen is designed to slow rate of passage; 2. To maximize fiber digestion we need to minimize iNDF (lignin) and maximize rate of fiber digestion; 3. Increasing fiber rate of passage by reducing particle size or buoyancy will negatively affect fiber digestion; 4. Dietary effects such as high starch or low pH will slow fiber digestion rate and reduce fiber digestibility and 5. Individual animals may have unique microbial populations that affect their fiber digestion.

Dr. Frederique Chaucheyras-Duran, INRA unit of Microbiology, Lallemand Animal Nutrition, France (Fibre degrading microbiota in the ruminant gut and effect of active dry yeast on fibrolytic populations and activities) – with take home messages of 1. Saccharomyces cerevisiae I-1077 used as a feed additive is a useful tool to promote or sustain fibre degradation in the rumen; 2. The specific live yeasts can interact directly on fibrolytic microorganisms and indirectly by modifying the rumen environment; 3. Interactions are complex and depend on the nature of the substrate and the microorganism species and 4. High thoughput tools such as functional DNA microarrays should help to better understand the action of such additives within a complex ecosystem, and further select for new generation products.

Dr. Alex Bach, IRTA, Spain (Non-dietary Factors Influencing Rumen Function and Dairy Cow Performance) – with take home messages of 1. Variability is part of biology; 2. Individual animal responses to nutrition are variable; 3. At a herd level, variation is much greater; 4. Main factors contributing to deviations in milk yield are (besides nutrition):growth rate during the first months of life, age at first calving, stall availability, maintenance & design, and feed bunk management.

Dr. Charles J. Sniffen, Fencrest LLC, Holderness, NH (Impact of rumen modifiers on ration formulation) -with take home messages of 1. We need a better understanding of the nutrients needed to optimize rumen function; 2. Need a better understanding of the interactions of the different microbial niches in the rumen; 3. Then development of new rumen modifiers can be achieved that are based on good science; and 4. Need to be able to develop submodels for metabolism.

For complete copies of powerpoint presentations on each of these topics, please email me at kknutsen@dairybusiness.com.

Because the seminar was in both Italian and English, headsets had to be worn so all could follow the speakers. It was quite a scene when a question was asked in English and answered in Italian or vice versa. Talk about an entire room buzzing with headsets being changed out!

It was a full house for the International Fiber Conference on May 12, 2011. Over 250 people were in attendance.

Leave it to the delegation from Spain to keep things lively! In the middle is Paula Soler Llorens a member of the Lallemand team.

At my table, I was joined by two very interesting men,

Dr. Mohammed Khettou, the Lallemand Commercial Director for Africa & the Middle East, and

Dr. Federico Righi from the Dept. of Animal Production – Animal Nutrition at the University of Parma in Italy.

Lunch featured red or white wine made with Lallemand yeasts.

…and coffee…

…and pasta!

After the conference, there was a quick break before dinner, so I befriended the group from Spain as well as several members of the French division of Lallemand. We took in a few of the beautiful sites of the Castel San Pietro Town Center.

There’s one more day on the Tour of Italy – check back tomorrow for cheese, wine, olive oil and more!

Tour guide extraordinaire Claudio Mariani, Product Manager for Genesi Project, had another full day of touring on the schedule, including an unplanned stop at a gas station where pictures were taken (of course) of the displays of fresh meats, cheeses, wines and olive oils….in the gas station! Really unbelievable!

But the main focus of the day was to see more good cows, and that’s exactly what happened. Thanks Claudio for helping with the interpretation and added farm facts! Be sure to visit Genesi Project at www.genesiproject.it.

CIOLI FARMS: Stefano Cioli is a true Holstein addict! His family has been tied to dairy cows since the beginning of last century and in his home you can still see original pictures of ancestors with a kind of Brown Swiss cow (more likely a Braunvieh – at that time Brown Swiss was not even a meaningful word probably).

Stefano and his wife Lucia have 5 children: Maria Adriana 24, Margherita 23, Francesco 19, Antonio 14 and Donata 10. Margherita – who will get married next year – has inherited her father’s passion for showing cows. She’s the one leading the charge at all the shows they participate in – from clipping the cows to showing them in the ring. Her father is surely proud of her, but the whole family supports this passion. Francesco is also involved in farming, as the family owns a farm in Romania – but there are no animals there, only crops. He’s currently there working the land and managing the investment.

But the Cioli family is much more than this: they also own a cheese factory, BRESCIALAT (Brescia is the name of the biggest town nearby and LAT is the short name that stands for LATTE, that means milk). Brescialat is a company who sells many different kind of cheese, from fresh (like Mozzarella) to the old-seasoned (like Parmesan, 2yrs old), together with many other typical cheese made following original recipes. The company also exports some products, in as many as 50 different countries, among those are the U.S., Canada, Australia and Japan.

They also rent a farm nearby that houses a commercial herd of cattle – 400 in total. And, they bottle wine each year, with a new label produced for Stefano’s favorite cow that year.

In their spare time, the family is also involved in some social activities and takes an annual family trip for one week to help a charity. This year, the seven family members went and worked at Lourdes Sanctuary.

So, it’s no surprise that this family knows the word hospitality and how to make you feel at home! Their beautiful, remodeled country house is located in a very small village, and part of the cattle are there too (dry cows and bred heifers). In addition, some special cattle are there that Stefano bought himself or through our tour guide Claudio.

The farm with 50 milking cows in only about 200 yards away, and some individual pens are reserved for some show cows, including Martina EX-94 (sired by Martino – an Italian Chairman son). Martina is 15-years-old and is due to calve for the 10th time.

U.S. and Canadian cow families are well represented at Cioli – including members of the Henkeseen Hillary, Durham Regenia, Roxy, Tradition Jackie, Dellia, or Leadman Mae families. Stefano also owned some animals previously with Crackholm, and still has some members of the Astre Inksou family.

From the barn to the office – a visitor is still in awe as you see all the banners, trophies and signature wines on display. The best kept secret of all? The semen tanks – which include straws of Arlinda Chief, Astronaut, Wayne-Spring Fond Apollo, Sexation, Blackstar, Elevation, Carlin Ivanohe Bell, Standout, Thriple Threat, Starbuck, Skychief,……..and many more!

In fact, Stefano has a couple of Elevation daughters in their 2nd lactation, a Blackstar in her 4th, and some other “antiques” like these. And if you can believe it, he has a 6-month-old heifer sired by Fond Apollo…from an Elevation dam…who will be bred to Chairman.

An all around enjoyable visit – from the cheese and salami tasting, to Lucia’s homemade pumpkin ravioli, to the 60 acres (yup – acres) of tomatoes being planted for sauce to the great show cows and lively discussions on breeding and genomics. If you ever get the chance to stop by, this is a must-visit herd and family!

The hay barn

The heifer “shed” – clearly they do not suffer from northern U.S. winters!

There’s something for everyone at Cioli!

Donata waters the young tomato plants which will be put in the ground shortly.

VG-88 September Storm 3rd calf

VG-88 Talent x Roy x Dundee x Dellia

VG-86 Pronto x Sept Storm x EX-92 Durham x EX Airliner

EX-94 Martina – 15-years-old with her 10th calf on the way.

The front of the office

Of course we had to show you the Apollo heifer!

GO-FARM HOLSTEINS: While Monday’s three farms were located in northeastern Italy, in the province of Vicenza (halfway between Verona and Venice), Go-Farm is placed in the heart of the dairy area in Italy: the province of Cremona. Go-Farm is Italy’s #1 source for genetics, and among the top five farms in all of Europe. So many families are represented here that is impossible to include them all. Roberto Gozzini and his two brothers run the 480-cow operation, always on the edge for providing some of the top genetics. Roberto is in charge of the genetics and they currently have the #1 bull in Italy, ARTES, a Goldwyn x BW Marshall x Jeffrey-Way Formation Tate. The full sister is an impressive cow, and another half sister by Shottle was nothing less. Roberto has a true passion for genetics and he has built a separate barn for all his donor cows. He makes more than 200 embryos per year, sells about 40 bulls to AI plus some heifers both at auction sales and private treaty.

Roberto on breeding…”Our goal is make milk, but there is also a passion for genetics. We try to make sire selections for both. Currently the herd averages 4.0%F and 3.5%P and all our milk goes for cheese production. We do have two distinct herds though – the commercial herd (where we use complete bulls – a balance of some type, health traits and management traits like SCC…we are looking for a homozygous population – no extremes. On the elite herd, we spend more money to use the newest bulls who sometimes have less information, but a higher price! They must have high type, udders, and feet & legs.”
Roberto on genomics…”We would like to use genomics but it’s not possible to use high genomic bulls here. We are at a big disadvantage because we can’t use these bulls and other countries can. Our hands are tied. We are suffering an economic loss because we can’t utilize a system that not only affects our immediate future, but also because when the market does open up, we will be behind other countries that have been able to use genomics all along. We have over 100 well-known cow families represented here and have invested a lot in genetics. Do we keep going like this or not? We have to think about what makes the most financial sense.”

…and yes…it does play music and have a little dance!

The newest addition for elite cows. Roberto says they will add on another barn of similar size to spread out the commercial herd a bit.

A VG-89 (max score) Goldwyn – the full sister of Artes

A beautiful Shottle daughter – from the same family as well-known bull Scooby Doo

A Buckeye daughter from the Penn-Gate Skychief Finesse family

A Mac from the Christmas Fudge family

For more information on the cows, heifers, embryos available and more, please visit their website at http://www.anafi.it/gofarm/.

Each year, during the world-famous Cremona Show, Go-Farm hosts a sale at the farm which allows visitors to come and see the cows and be involved in the sale. If you’re headed to Cremona this October, make Go-Farm and stop and see!

A few more scenes from our journeys out and about. And stay tuned tomorrow as we travel to the Lallemand sponsored, International Fibre Conference in Bologna. You’ll see more information and tours to a parmesan cheese plant, a winery and an olive oil cooperative!

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!

Unlike the cold and dreary northeast that I left this morning at 6am, springtime has officially arrived on the west coast. Spirits are up – the barns are full – and the breeders of California are ready for their spring show! Justin Burdette of Mercersburg, PA, will be officiating Thursday’s Jersey show, coverage begins right here at www.allbreedsblog.com at 10am pacific, followed by Holstein showmanship and an exhibitor’s barbeque. The Holstein black & white and red & white shows will be on Friday, and can also be found online right here. Get ready to see the best of California in the next two days! In the meantime, enjoy a view glimpses of spring!

Fruit is plentiful and inexpensive!! I saw signs for 5lbs. of oranges for $1.00 or 4lbs. of onions for the same low price.

La Casa de Fruita along the Pacheco Pass is a huge fresh food market.

The grass is green and the hills in between the coast and the central valley look postcard-perfect.

One of many impressive beef cattle ranch gates

It’s full! The San Luis Reservoir is finally full after much rain this winter and spring.

Would you believe that winter grains are being harvested and bagged already?

My normal “hotel” accomodations in the central valley are at Den-K Holsteins. Here Dennis is helping a junior member work with her heifer.

Dennis & Kirsten Areias have a dairy in Los Banos, and are well-known for their development of the Kiddy family. For more information on them, you can visit their website at http://www.holsteinworld.com/DenKHolsteins/index.php.

Pictured here are two full sisters by Planet. The heifer on the left calved in February with a Man-O-Man heifer and she has a GTPI of 1736. The heifer on the right calved in early April with a Sanchez heifer and has a GTPI of 1926.

This is another full sister by Planet who is due in June to Freddie and has a GTPI of 1919. Their dam is a VG Bolton x EX-91 Morty x Aileen x Kiddy.

We’re not sure how this guy tests out yet!

Stay tuned tomorrow for more from the Golden State!

Tonight’s Annual Awards Banquet at the California Holstein Convention paid tribute to many junior and senior members worthy of their respective honors. Following are just a highlight of the honorees today. Look for more scenes from the convention tomorrow and be sure to visit www.caholstein.com for additional association news.

Senior Breeders of the Year Kirsten & Dennis Areias, Den-K Holsteins.

A.J. Quist Young Breeder of the Year – Jana McClelland, McClelland’s Dairy

Milli Rollin Memorial Scholarship winner Emilie Strand

Founders Scholarship winner Rocco Cunningham

Courtney Borba Memorial Scholarship winner (and also a Founders Scholarship winner) Amanda Moretti with Frank Borba and Natalie Borba Silva

Dena Migliazzo was the Junior Girl Breeder of the Year

Brandon Ameda was the Junior Boy Breeder of the Year

Scenes from the banquet!

The California Holstein Association Executive Board & Directors

Rocco & Amanda welcome the state convention to the Redwood Empire in 2012, in Petaluma!

The 2011 California Holstein Convention started today and the location is … simply put … stunning! The Pines Resort in Bass Lake is nestled high in the Sierras, just a few miles from Yosemite. Senior breeders continue to roll in as this is posted, while the juniors have been busy already with their speech contest and interviews for the junior breeder competition.

Tonight’s activities include the social hour and sale (which begins at 7pm) and a Bunko tournament for the juniors which will follow their annual meeting.

Congratulations to registration chairmen Steve & Haley Maddox, as they announced that they’re expecting their first child in later this summer!

Enjoy the views from Bass Lake and stay tuned for more convention information!

For more information on the California Holstein Association, visit their website at www.caholstein.com.

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

When you combine endless enthusiasm, great work ethic, hospitality and abundant cow knowledge, you are talking Savage-Leigh. Even though Cindee was cleaning, baking and preparing for the the Holidays, she still found time for cow conversation and viewing the stock. Here are a few shots of my visit to the Knoxville, Maryland, farm.

The problem in the Savage-Leigh farm office is finding places to display the continuing additions of awards. The “hand me down” case in the background came into Cindee’s possession when Chip relocated. Problem solved!

Andi Grace Welch is never too far from the barn when it’s chore time.

More proof that another generation of the Savage family has that “cow bug”

Keeping the pack in tip top shape is never ending for Gatlin Levi Welch

Cindee said I brought the snow. I said it followed me! Cindee and Ryan gather for a Christmas greeting.

Wayne, Andi, Kelli, Gatlin, Ryan and Cindee

This week’s highly anticipated Sale of Stars will go into the history books when the gavel falls on the last animal to cross the sale ring. The sale has been months in the making and we take you on a little journey around New York when the days were longer and warmer. It was a privilege to observe Don Johnston, one of the JLG management team, work through the many stops on a 2 day trip that I made with him in July.

Dr. Brad Peterson was flushing cows when we arrived at Welcome Stock Farm. Bill Peck assists with Andy Chlus (that was getting first hand experience for one week at Welcome). Bill Jr. (background, left) waits for good news on the initial response from the cow being flushed. Don with his back to the camera.

“She’s so not tall!?” Bill invited Don and myself to step up to the tallest animal at Welcome.

The farm name is correct. You are always welcome at this long established farm. Bill Jr. & Don

Don (back to camera) reviews pedigrees as one of Clear Echo’s herdsmen, Glen Miller, looks on.

Aghamora’s new heifer facility was nearing completion. Look for great youngsters to come out of this facility in the next year with the great base of genetics that will have offspring filling these pens. Join them for their open house and find information on face book for the date. A journey well worth the time.

Owner, Jeffrey Sharts and Don plan ahead for the 2011 Sale of Stars as they view Paffs Gibson Rally.

“Say Cheese!” No trip to Muranda would be complete, without a visit to the cheese store. Don and Tom Murray.

A visit to Roll-N-View was hosted by herdsman, Dustin Flood, shown here with Don in front of one of the many structures at Roll-N-View.

Master merchandisers, at Oakfield Corners Dairy. Alicia and Jonathan Lamb took Don on a tour of the calf facilities as they zero in on a sale candidate.

Co-Vista are very focused merchandisers. Don is shown here with Brian and Russ George, as we finish our tour.

Other stops included Merrills (where the massive Jasper, out of the Lila Z was consigned), Lismore Dairy and a visit to the Tri-County show grounds for touching base with Fly Higher, Kings Ransom, Woodlawn, Cookie Cutter and Elm-Spring.