‘Don’t Be Silly, I’m Going to Marry a Dairy Farmer’

By Melissa Hart

Above: Swatling could hardly get her hand out of the leadstrap to shake judge Michael Heath’s hand when he selected her as Junior Champion of the NY State Junior Holstein Show.

She gasped as judge Michael Heath made her winter yearling heifer Junior Champion.

“I was fumbling to get my hand loose from the halter strap so I could shake his hand, because I wasn’t prepared for him to select my heifer as Champion!” Libby Swatling exclaimed.

Her reaction was satisfying to all who have watched her grow from the 10-year-old cow-crazy youngster to the young woman on the strap of the Junior Champion at the New York State Holstein Show in Greenwich last September. Liddleholm JB Im It-ET was Swatling’s purchase from the Best of Luncrest and Tri-County Sale when she and her mom walked in late, sat down - and began to bid on the first heifer in the sale.

“I saw that she was waiting to go into the ring and I thought, ‘There’s my heifer! I have to get my number and bid!’” When the gavel fell that day, she was the owner of the Doorman daughter out of ElmSpring WBK Innovator-ET and EX92 daughter of Windbrook, backed by six generations of EX dams.

Swatling comes from a nonfarming family. Her mom, Heather, is a teacher while Bob, her father, is a county police officer in Clifton Park, N.Y. From a young age, she knew she wanted to work with cows. “When I was 10 years old my dad asked me what I wanted to do with my life - be a lawyer or something? I looked at my dad and said, ‘Don’t be silly; I’m going to go to Cornell and I’m going to marry a dairy farmer.’”

Knowing exactly what she wanted in life made it easier to apply herself to studies. “I knew that I didn’t have the same experiences that other kids applying for the same major had, so I tried to excel in other areas to make myself unforgettable and force them to accept me.” She was accepted and is now a junior at Cornell majoring in Dairy Management. Swatling's first heifer was acquired through a 4-H essay contest she won. The calf was Ned L Planet Liberty from Hanehan Family Dairy in Saratoga Springs. Because the Swatlings had no place to house cattle, the calf stayed at the Hanehans’ farm, where Kathy Hanehan showed the new girl the ropes of fitting and showing.

“Fun fact: Liberty is still alive today, getting ready to have her seventh calf at nine years old,” Swatling added. Showing her calf for the first

time at the county fair was nothing short of pure bliss. “I couldn’t believe I was at the fair with a calf, and I had a smile on my face from beginning to end. That week set the course of my life.”

Known as the SWAT Team Dairy, her siblings also show. Her younger brother, Zane, got involved when Swatling began showing her first March calf. “Kathy Hanehan was worried that something would happen to my calf, so we had a backup calf just in case. Zane loved the backup calf, worked with the backup calf and actually ended up showing the backup calf … (and) named the backup calf. And that’s how he got into it,” she explained.

“As I got older, I realized showing cattle was a lot of work just to stand in the middle of the class. And while I love Liberty, I wanted to win, I wanted a banner. I wanted to walk into the class and have people look at my cow and say ‘Wow! Where did she get that cow?’”

Cliff Hanehan gave her the pick of the herd and she found a threeyear-old Doorman daughter in the freestall barn that she thought might be her Cinderella story. She named the cow Victory and placed second at the county fair, then was encouraged to attend the Spring Dairy Carousel the next year.

Swatling's tenacity created a community of friends among the Liddle, King and Wadsworth families, and they took her in and helped her get the cow ready for the ring. When she stood last, she realized she was in deep waters but would not be discouraged. She took Victory to the county fair and brought her home, rested for a day and went back out to the farm to get her ready for the New York State Fair.

As she drove in, though, she saw Victory on the beef truck headed to town.

Getting over the devastation of losing Victory, SWAT Team Dairy found its humble beginnings as the siblings decided to house their calves in the backyard of their own home. Swatling added to the herd when she bought Liddleholm JB Im It-ET. “We brought her home, put her in the backyard - and we must be doing something right because she won,” she pointed out.

Im It was in the middle of the pack at the Spring Dairy Carousel in 2022. “I was more discouraged with how she behaved than where she placed.” That summer they took her to the Saratoga County Fair, where judge Brock Liddle placed her second only to her brother Wyatt’s heifer. “I had given Wyatt that heifer that was out of my original cow, Liberty, and I couldn’t believe he beat me!” The Tri-County Fair was next - and she was second again to Wyatt’s heifer. Before the state show, they had decided to board their show animals at Maple Downs Farm and were contemplating which heifers to load on the trailer to Greenwich. While Swatling was convinced Wyatt’s heifer should go, everyone rallied around Im It and made sure she was in the show string.

With low expectations for the day, she said, “I thought she looked good, but I always thought she looked good. As we walked into the ring I felt good, the heifer was cooperating and the judge kept looking at my heifer. The whole family was standing ringside and Zane was taking video, and I couldn’t believe I stayed at first place until the end of the class.”

When Swatling went in for Junior Champion she had no expectation of winning, but when Heath selected her heifer for Junior show and Open Show champion, she was stunned. “I was like, ’Wow! I got a rosette, I got a banner and I got a chair!’ I always wanted a chair.”

After the show, “there were a lot of people who came up to me and were very happy that I won and were asking if I was taking her to (World Dairy) Expo. I had never even considered going until Jason Lloyd gave me a big boost of encouragement, and we were

With her family ringside taking video of the entire event Swatling’s surprise and appreciation was evident as the title of Junior Champion sunk in.

continued from page 13 headed for Madison.”

Because the rest of the family had to stay home with obligations, Swatling thought she was going solo to Expo until a surprise call from her dad the night before. “I’m currently in Ohio on my way to Madison; I couldn’t miss watching you show,” he informed her. On Junior Holstein show day she was terrified and couldn’t eat, and as she walked onto the colored shavings, “The world just stopped, I didn’t see anything but me and the judge and the cow. It was so odd.

“The heifer was not acting well and we were pulled into 10th place, and I was elated because I knew I would get a medal.” On the second pull, judge Pat Conroy realized he missed her and pulled her into fifth place - and for the final pull she landed in sixth place. She noted, “If you’re sixth place out of 30, can you really complain that you didn’t make it to first? No, you can’t.”

Later in the week in the Open Show, with a class of 40 heifers and deeper competition, her heifer stood 12th.

The future is bright for SWAT Team Dairy. “The heifer is confirmed pregnant with a Delta Lambda heifer calf, and we are looking forward to showing next year.” Swatling added, “And as much as I love to win, I really

Photo by Cybil Fisher

Above: Liddleholm JB Im It-ET is the Doorman daughter out of Elm-Spring WBK Innovator-ET, an EX-92 daughter of Windbrook, backed by six generations of EX dams.

want to see my brothers do well, so we will concentrate on them next year.”