Black Diamond Comes Home to Win

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 routine. Black Diamond 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 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-

mond was tapped as Junior Champion of the Junior Show. “That was a surprise, and it was an emotional time. That was about as good as it gets.” By the time they got back to the barn, the potential buyers began kicking the tires and the next morning she had new owners in Scott Culbertson and Tom DeGroot.

Ohio to British Columbia to Wisconsin

In 2016, the Hawvermale family kept up with her progress. “Tom would send us pictures of her so we could see how she was developing. We had heard through the rumor mill that she looked good,” John said. She ended up Honorable Mention Intermediate Champion of the British Columbia Spring Show and that’s where Matt Lintvedt of Majestic View Genetics in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin spotted her and decided to make the purchase.

She placed ninth in the Junior 2-yearold Class at Madison in 2016. In 2018, she was the second place 4-year-old at the Midwest Spring Show, eighth at World Dairy Expo and ended up as Reserve All-Wisconsin. The next year she moved up a few places and was the second place 5-year-old at the Midwest Spring Show, and second place

John and Ashley Hawvermale stood ringside waiting for Black Diamond to enter the ring at the North

American Open Dairy Show with fellow Ohio

Holstein enthusiasts. From Left: Adam Whiteleaver,

Evan Kiko, John and Ashley Hawvermale.

5-year-old and Honorable Mention Senior and Grand Champion of the International Holstein Show. She garnered the Reserve All-American 5-year-old honors as well.

As 2020 unfolded and every major dairy event was cancelled, the prospect of a competitive show looked bleak at best. World Dairy Expo, The All-American Dairy Show, every state fair, and nearly every national show were all scrapped for the year. Most states managed to host a state Holstein show and in Wisconsin at their Championship Show, Black Diamond was the second place aged cow and Honorable Mention Senior Champion.

Fall Show Collaboration

Facing fall and

John Hawvermale pulled up Black Diamond winning Junior Champion at World Dairy Expo when Ashley exhibited her in the Junior Show.

not seeing any shows on the calendar, the breeders of registered dairy cattle from coast to coast would not be cancelled. Fierce competitors in the show ring became members of the same team coalescing around an event that would be a one-time replacement for World Dairy Expo.

Circleville, Ohio would play host to hundreds of cattle as breeders from across the country gathered for the North American Open Dairy Show, an event planned and executed by the exhibitors themselves. The Berry Brothers, Mike with assistance from his brother Allen Berry of Oregon,

continued on page 10

were tasked with sorting through the Hol-

K-Land Kilo Black Diamond winning Grand Champion at the North American Open Dairy Show in Circleville, Ohio.

stein Show.

John and Ashley were at the show and checked in on Black Diamond through the day to see how she was progressing. “I called Lindvedts that morning and told them, this is her day in Ohio, and when I got to the show and saw her I told Ashley it was going to take a heck of a cow to beat her.”

John described the moment she walked into the ring, “When you see the silhouette of them walking in on the other side of the ring, it’s impressive to see a cow with her length and her neck and the uphill run that she has, I still get emotional thinking about it.”

Chad Ryan, the judge who chose her as his Junior Champion in Madison, was now on the halter as Black Diamond won the aged cow class. Mike Berry commented on her length of frame, style and the height and width of her rear udder. For the senior champion drive, Berry liked her enough to tap her Senior Champion saying she just blew him away. And when it was time for Grand Champion, the crowd erupted as K-Land Kilo Black Diamond was tapped as champion.

Ringside and watery-eyed, John and Ashley Hawvermale enjoyed watching as the small heifer they picked out of the calf hutches was now Grand Champion of a national caliber show, in Ohio.

Quintessential Dairy Strength

“For me, and I think a lot of people, she is what the true type model should be. She is dairy strength personified, balanced, not too big and has the best udder in the breed,” owner Matt Lindvedt contends. “Add to that, she milks and breeds back without fail. And as a first-year aged cow, she qualified for the production class and was five months pregnant when she showed in Circleville.”

Matt’s first thoughts when she won were about his parents and how happy he was for them. “I was truly humbled, but from talking to people I think everyone but me could see, going into her class, what the outcome would be.” Matt continued, “Both Mike and his brother said they knew that she was going to be their grand cow, but you don’t know until it happens. It is hard to explain but I don’t remember lot of it because it was such a blur, in an amazing way.

continued from page 9 I actually had to listen to his reasons after I got home online.”

Matt’s Grandfather, Allen Hetts was the force behind establishing World Dairy Expo. And each grand champion at Expo receives the Allen Hetts Trophy. Matt commented, “I’ve been asked a lot if I wished it were in Madison. Selfishly I would love to have grandpa’s trophy, it’s one of the big reasons why I do this.” He continued, “But having time to reflect on it, I think it was meant to be this way. What the coordinators of this show did, was a lot like what Allen did when he saw the Cattle Congress in Waterloo, [Iowa] dying and worked to bring the show to Madison.”

Matt summed it up, “It’s not the racetrack that’s important, it’s the cars in the race.” He continued, “I think Diamond came out of Ohio with the same amount of respect as she would have gotten in Madison.”

What’s Next?

Matt took her home and dried her up. “After she calves in February, we are giving her the next year off. Our plans are to flush her to Avalanche, Doorman, Jordy, Goldwyn and Unstopabull. And we have contract offers from Europe and Japan,” Matt added.

K-Land Kilo Black Diamond is EX-94 and owned by Majestic View Genetics, Rhonda Shore, Gary Lintvedt, Pamela Probert and Randy Connery. And one more Ohio connection, she is housed at Maple Leigh Futures in Wisconsin, where Korey Oechsle helps take care of her.

Deadline for the January/February issue of Ohio Holstein News is January 10