That Honey Cow

By Fred Myers

After I left Dreamstreet Holsteins in 1985, I sold semen and analyzed cattle in New York and Pennsylvania. I found some great registered Holstein cattle for breeders and they went on to score 93-94 points.

One of my favorites was Upsland-A Mario Honey. I found her in a herd in Herkimer County. Money was tight in the farming industry, but because I owned my own business, I was able to adjust semen prices, and my fees for analyzing cows.

In this barn, the cows were very close together. After they calved as a two-year-old, they never let them outside until they took them out for beef or they died.

I saw a two-year-old so big that she was standing in the gutter. She had a small udder and was quite thin. I could always close my eyes and see what a cow could look like. I asked, “That was your son’s heifer from last fall?” And the farmer said, “Yes.” I said she was a little too big for his barn and he agreed. I asked if his son would sell her for $3,000 and he said he probably would. I knew his son wanted to go to college and was short of money, so my plan was to show her, do well and then sell her for a profit. I told him that when I sold her, I would give his son half the money to put towards college. I returned the next day with the contract.

I took her to Ed Poole’s farm in Courtland County because I knew he was the best person to get the cow going in the right way. The next day Ed was scoring the cows and I told him to put her next to the biggest cow he had and don’t clip her. The classifier asked me where I found her. I told him in the mountains, and he said, “If you get her right, you’ll have a lot of fun with her.”

Ed got her clipped, wormed, and feet trimmed. He got her milking heavy and got her udder stretched out. I will always be thankful for Ed and what he had done with ‘Honey.’ We took her to the spring show but she wasn’t quite ready and finished third. She was Reserve Grand Champion at Courtland, was first at the Central New York Holstein Show and was second at the New York State Fair. Mike Heath saw her in the CNY show and asked me if I wanted to sell her. We sold her to the LaFoster Farm in North Carolina for $19,000.

When I gave the man’s son his half of the check and said, “Now you can go to college,” and it was one of the greatest feelings in my life. ‘Honey’s’ first calf was a red bull named ‘Harry,’ and he was still at the farm. I bought him and had semen drawn at Dependabull and sold several hundred units. ‘Harry’ had many excellent daughters. He didn’t have any index numbers and couldn’t get in any bull stud. However, he was number one in the Red Book for feet and legs, three times.

Fosters flushed ‘Honey’ many times with several bulls including Red & White bulls as she carried the red factor. She was one of Foster’s best brood cows with excellent daughters in the herd. LA-Foster Sovereign Haley (EX-92) out of Honey is proven to be even better than her mother. She has a record of 53,450M 2129F 1708P, and the Fosters consider her to be one of the best cows they’ve every bred.

I will never forget ‘Honey.’

New Year, Renewed Passion

Happy New Year to all our Holstein friends near and far! We wish you health, prosperity, and all good things in 2022.

As we embark on a new year, we would like to update you on what has been happening at Woodcrest Dairy. With 3400 cows milking, the herd has never looked nor performed be er. Our latest classi cation yielded 55 Excellents (to 94 points) and 835 Very Good. e pens are full of deep-pedigreed, highperforming young cows with bright futures.

Picking the best bulls for GTPI, Fat & Protein yield, and DPR has resulted in several high genomic calves and heifers to +2984 GTPI and 180 CFP. Another 85 head are over 2800 GTPI. We are IVF’ing 15 females every two weeks at our in-house facility with 30 ET calves born monthly.

We continue to hear stories from breeders around the world how much they appreciate the daughters of 7HO12266 Woodcrest Mogul YODER-ET and 250HO12961 Woodcrest KING DOC. Both bulls have numerous family members you will be hearing more about in the future.

Our commitment to providing top genetics to the industry will be aided by our newlyformed Genetics Commi ee consisting of Earl DeLong, Beth Keene, Frank Putman, Mike McCa rey, and Dr. Bob Cruikshank.

As always, your interest and inquiries about Woodcrest genetics are most welcomed!

Dr. Robert Cruikshank, DVM & Peter Braun

315-323-7425 • 315-323-0635 (Peter) 322 Wood Rd. – Lisbon, NY 13658 woodcrestdairy@gmail.com

We were fortunate to hit the winner’s circle this summer at the NY State Show in the Futurity class with OCD Benefit Captain-ET VG-86 – first score. She has been a pleasure to raise and calve in and turned out exactly the way we hoped. Many thanks to Roedale for her excellent care. We hope to continue picking good cattle and seeing them develop. Stop by and see a few of Roedale’s special heifers and our own “Maiden-Kine!”

MAIDEN-KINE HOLSTEINS

John, Molly and Augustus Scoville 8535 State Route 12 • Lowville, NY John 315-486-4141 • Molly 607-227-5554

SALE SCHEDULE

Upcoming Sales Managed by The Cattle Exchange

February 4, 2022 “Bacon Hill & Friends”

Sale will be online on cowbuyer.com, managed by The Cattle Exchange. 40 incredible lots from Kings Ransom; Clear Echo; Welcome Stock, Fly Higher; Cookiecutter & more!

February 22, 2022 Pen-Col Gamechanger 2

Sale will be online via cowbuyer.com, managed by The Cattle Exchange. 40 of Pen-Col’s finest will be offered!

March 25, 2022 Fun in the Sun Sale

Key West, Florida

April 23, 2022, 11:00 AM Reflections of Maple Downs 3rd Edition

Middleburgh, NY

If you are looking for quality replacements, give us a call! No order is too large or too small! Call or Email for 1st Class Catalogs.

Start 2022 with the pedal to the metal

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David Jons, Manager David.jons@att.net | 913-634-3526 Melissa Hart, Editor farm.writer@hotmail.com | 517-398-1957

SALES STAFF

Chad Griffith - Ohio xavier12146@yahoo.com | 513-543-2315 Mary Thomson - Missouri angelo@1791.com | 417-880-5732 Kathi Brown-Meier - Wisconsin kathibrownmeier@gmail.com | 608-558-8089