NYHA President’s Report

FROM THE NYHA President

Summertime brings up many memories - warm weather, playing in the creek, baling hay, harvesting crops, trips to the ice cream shop, playing any sport available and showing cattle! My cattle show memories include the Dreamstreet days, OHM, Chenango and Delaware County Club shows, The Farmers Museum Jr Show, watching my dad judge many, many shows and countless more. What are your favorite summertime memories?

National Convention will have come and gone when this issue comes out. Congratulations to all Jr and Sr members who competed and participated in competitions or elections in Sioux Falls. NYHA is very proud of you! To the delegates who represented New York, thank you for your time. Convention is always a time to say hello to old friends and greet new ones, a time to learn new material, gain new experiences and talk about the great Holstein cow. Thank you to South Dakota and Minnesota Holstein Associations for putting on a first-class event!

As the summer show season ramps up, I hope you are feeling the excitement of getting your cattle prepared, tack all gathered, ready to load the trucks and head to the show. The hours of training your animals, then traveling to the show; the passion that drives us to show these beautiful bovines; that’s what we do as show enthusiasts!

Whatever shows you attend this summer, may you enjoy every minute. May the memories you make this year keep the fire burning to continue this passion. Include and encourage others to be a part of your team, young and old, lots of experience or none at all. I’m looking forward to seeing many of you at the State Fair in Syracuse in August and/or the NY Holstein Show in September in Greenwich.

Whether you breed for type, genomics or a combination of the two, keep the passion going to breed another one better than the last. New York is home to some of the best in the world. Keep up the great work - you breeders should be extremely proud!

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to any member of the Executive Committee. The Association’s greatest assets are our members, after all.

As I close, I want to encourage you all to reach out to a Holstein member to whom you look up, one who has helped mentor you in some way and encouraged you to become more involved with NY Holstein or anything else. Ask them questions, ask them to share memories and stories with you, ask their advice. The old saying, “The best education is found at the foot of an elderly person,” couldn’t be any truer.

Have a great summer, friends! Do what you love, and love what you do.

– Beth