Adult Convention
Wall of Fame Cow
Fobes Mechthilde Ollie - Phoebe
The 2022 Wall of Fame Cow is Fobes Mechthilde Ollie. She was nicknamed Phoebe by Katheryn Bartlett. John and Katheryn Bartlett purchased their farm near Oshkosh in 1941. They remodeled their barn and beautified their farmstead. The king-sized stalls were 6’ x 9” and 5 foot wide. The cows were huge and needed that room. They loved being involved in the Holstein industry and wanted to develop a quality herd. “I met them at the National Conventions and Homestead picnics when I was a young girl,” Dawn Stump said in her presentation. The Bartletts were from an era where ladies wore hats and gloves and men suits and ties. They looked like movie stars. “I went to the open forums with my dad and Katy would be the only woman there. She took me and my sister Diane for our first ice cream soda in Philadelphia,” Dawn said. In 1945 they bought three bred heifers from master breeder Louis Wiese of Neenah. One of these was Phoebe and another was Beverley. Their dams were full sisters. Their sire was Admiral Joe Creater a grandson of Northstar Joe Homestead. Her dam was Mertilde Fobes Ormsby Johanna VG - an Ormsby bred cow. Phoebe of Oshkosh scored EX-91 as a 12-year-old. She lived to be 21.5 years old. Eighty percent of the herd were direct descendants of Phoebe and her sister Beverley. Phoebe produced 264,000 pounds of milk, 3.6% and 9930 pounds of fat in her lifetime. She was the first Gold Medal Dam with over 200,000 pounds of milk. She had 16 calves. Her oldest daughter Hester scored EX at 12.5 years old and produced almost 200,000 pounds of milk. She was sired by a Homestead bull. Her second daughter Arline was an Ormsby and classified VG-88 at 11 years and had 180,000 pounds of milk. Katy, a third daughter by a Pabst bull, went VG at seven years old and had 100,000 pounds of
milk lifetime. The herd was known for their longevity and high production in their day. The 1952 herd average was 17,205 pounds of milk - the highest in the U.S. They advertised often and were featured on three Holstein World covers. The Bartletts used Wis Leader extensively and one of Phoebe’s three sons by Wis Leader was kept as a herd sire. His frozen semen sold through Piper Brothers at Watertown. Phoebe’s other sons were exported to Latin American countries and sold to Michigan, North Dakota and Wisconsin. John and Katy learned to speak fluent Spanish and traveled to many Latin American countries. They were gracious hosts enjoying entertaining their many friends both foreign and American Holstein breeders. The Bartlett herd was dispersed October 9, 1969 following Katy’s death. At the sale, John gave all the credit to Katy and their loyal herdsman Harold Leinhard. John passed away in 1976 at 82 years of age. The farm is now the site of Sunnyview Landfill. presented by Dawn Stump
Wall of Fame Bull Opsal Finley-ET
The Opsal family of Blue Mounds have for a long time operated Opsal’s Ridge Holsteins and Troy Opsal has had a lifelong passion for elite genetics. Previous to Genomics being a powerful selection tool and mating guide, cowmen like Troy studied the lesson, scoured all information to make matings that aspired to create greatness. With plenty of ability to make cow side phenotypic correction he would never settle to just accomplish that. While by today’s standards it might seem primitive, Troy had the ability to retain so much of the genetic information in his mind that building a cow, and in this case a bull, with not only great type information but also tremendous balance of production and health traits as well. The 2022 Wall of Fame Bull inductee is Opsal Finley. This road to greatness began at the October 1994 Agriprize Protein Profiles sale. Troy’s interest was a bred heifer, Twin-B-Dairy E-B FelisseET by How-El-Acres K Bellman from a VG-88 To-Mar Blackstar daughter of one of the premier genetic brood cows of that time, RockyVU Rotate Exctasy Ebony EX-94. The purchase was made that evening for the price of $22,000. Included with the package of this sale feature was three embryos from Felisse by the sire Bayville Ethan. Felisse was 16 – Wisconsin Holstein News – April/May 2022
taken home and freshened in the spring of 1995. Much to the delight of Troy as well as genetics enthusiasts from around the world Felisse had calved in phenomenally. The world came to see the next branch of this genetic powerhouse family from all corners of the globe. The decision was made to make this extraordinary young cow a feature in the November 1995 Masters Addition sale headed up by Dale Kranz and Duane Conant. The sale was hosted by Dr. Ralph Sikkema who had moved from California to the Al Piper facility near Lake Mills where numerous well-known sales had been hosted through the years. Felisse commanded an astounding price of $108,000. So, we have an
