Black Diamond Comes Home to By Melissa Hart “She is available too.” Those were the only words the Hawvermale family had to hear when they picked out Ashley Hawvermale’s 4-H project in 2014. They chose K-Land Kilo Black Diamond at K-Land Farms owned by Kenny Krebs of Streetsboro, Ohio. John Hawvermale explained, “We had gone up to Kenny Krebs to look at another heifer that Kenny had picked out for us. As we were looking through the calves, my daughter, Ashley, asked, ‘What’s that heifer back there?’ Kenny said it was another Kilo daughter and she is available too. And that was Black Diamond.” The Hawvermale’s took her home and plugged her into their show heifer rout i n e . Bl a ck Di-
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amond is sired by K-land Kilo, a bull that Kenny Krebs raised. John said the pedigree is not as important to them as what the heifer looks like, “We just always look for the best animal.” John and his wife Donna and daughters Kelly and Ashley enjoy showing all breeds of cattle and have stood in the winner’s circle more than once. They have done well over the years with Ayrshires, Milking Shorthorns, Brown Swiss, and Holsteins. The heifers get washed and led every day and are fed a basic 18 percent ration and top-dressed with a protein pellet. “The pellet is given according to how they look; we give or take as they need it. The key to most all of it is the hay.” John added, “The grain is a benefit but having the right hay is the most important part of it. Just good, first cutting timothy-orchard grass, to keep their bellies and keep the quality to their skin.” Diamond’s Tanbark Trail Ashley worked with Black Diamond and took her to the District show and the state fair and she won her class at both shows. At Madison she placed second in the junior show and eighth in the open show. The Hawvermales set
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the bar high, “When we compete, we expect to do well. At Madison, we expect to get a ribbon which is top 10,” John said. They kept her growing and headed out in 2015 for Spring Dairy Expo. “She was in the pack and had filled but then got a gut ache. We had her at ringside ready to go in, but she kept wanting to lay down and kicking at her belly, so we took her back to the pack,” John recalled. She won the district show later that summer and was junior champion of the Mid-East Fall National Junior Holstein Show and she was second in the open show. Her second trip to Madison was when things began to change. Chad Ryan of Wisconsin was the judge of the International Junior Holstein Show in 2015 and while they had garnered champion banners at Madison with Ayrshires and Milking Shorthorns, John said, “That day, when we were going back to the ring for junior champion, we were just going for the walk.” As they got to the ring, Chip Savage of Maryland reached out to shake John’s hand and said, “Well, I think you guys got this one.” John replied, “Chip, don’t even say because I never plan on it.” Much to John’s surprise, Black Dia-
