From the Holstein President’s Pen

From the President’s Pen

Michigan Holstein Association

President, Michigan Holstein Association 989-553-4333 • bren_haven@yahoo.com

Hello All,

I hope that this finds you all well after our Michigan summer is ending and my favorite time of year is upon us, fall! With fall comes the harvest and of course our industry’s fall National shows.

We welcome Carrie Delong as our new Executive Secretary of the Michigan Holstein Association. This will be a learning curve for her so please be patient as she transitions into this new role. I know from taking this task over for the last few months, there is a lot of behind the scenes work that goes into pulling off every event that we do!

This year Michigan Holsten held the Golden Ticket Opportunity, I feel this event brought about some much-needed excitement within our association. We sold all 123 tickets prior to the drawing! We then auctioned off the final two tickets. The winner of the final drawing was Patti O’Dell and she selected the Brown Swiss nomination of Matt, Sarah, and Andi Dillon of Posey Creek. Congratulations to both!

Our summer show utilized the Showman.app for entries this year and from the reports I heard around the barn, people liked this option. From the Show Committee and my end on check-in it simplified things drastically. It will be up to the Show Committee, but I hope they continue to use this option for entries in the coming years for the Great Lakes Spring Show and All-Michigan Summer Show.

I would like to say “Thank you” to all those who helped pull off our annual All-Michigan Summer show. Jess Jakubik, Jim Sipiorski, Carrie Delong, & Andrea Mead a special thanks to you for all your help in clerking the show! We had a few hiccups during the show, but your committee members will work diligently to try and correct all mistakes and further continue to try and make our shows run as smoothly as possible. This summer I realized more than ever that it takes everyone to pull off our summer show.

Congratulations to all Michigan breeders of purebred dairy cattle this year! Watching the show reports from surrounding states, I have seen Michigan cattle winning classes at some very competitive shows! That says a lot about Michigan dairy cattle and their breeders!

A few things the Board will be tasked with in the coming months will be our Annual Meeting, we will keep our members informed on this upcoming event.

The board and committees are always looking for new ideas and new faces to help in all areas of the organization, so if you have any interest or ideas, please let us know.

In closing, I wish everyone a bountiful harvest. Safe travels as you travel to any fall shows, whether as a spectator or whether you are showcasing some of Michigan’s best genetics!

Until next time...

Brent