NATIONAL CONVENTION TOUR:
NORTHKILL CREEK FARM

BY: MELISSA HART

When the National Brown Swiss Convention tour buses roll in the driveway at Northkill Creek Farm at Bernville, PA, they will be on the soil of a farm first homesteaded in 1888 by the Balthaser family — where the sixth generation now works day in and day out. Randy and Traci Balthaser and their daughter, Hannah, do the lion’s share of the work on the dairy with help from their son, Mark, Randy’s retired father, Wilson, and two employees.

The 85-head herd of Brown Swiss, Holsteins, and crossbreds is where the Supreme Champion Best Bred & Owned at the All-American Dairy Show in 2024 was developed. Northkill Creek Groovy 3EX95, shown by Hannah, is a descendant of Randy’s initial 4-H project from the 1980s. “Groovy originated from the first Brown Swiss cow I ever started with,” he said. The foundation cow was purchased from Windmill Farm, owned by the Daubert family, who will also be hosting a tour for the convention.

When Randy graduated from high school, he stayed on the farm, which had a 50-cow tie-stall barn, and when he and Traci took over the herd in 2005, they added 50 more stalls and updated the barns. They grew the Brown Swiss herd internally for two decades, and in 2000 they made the decision to try rotational grazing. “We had a drought year in 1999 and started grazing in 2000. At that time, we were milking right around 75 cows, and when we started grazing, we ended up with 100 cows in three years’ time without buying anything,” he explained. “They go to a different pasture every day from spring through fall as long as the weather allows.”

Their 40-acre pasture consists of clover, orchard grass, and rye grass and is divided into several paddocks. The 400 acres of crop ground includes corn silage, corn, soybeans, alfalfa, rye grass, and triticale. The cows are fed a TMR of corn silage, corn, rye, triticale, alfalfa baleage, and a protein supplement. While Mark helps on the farm with cropping and feeding, he and his wife, Madison, also have their own nearby operation that includes three broiler houses.

Bitten by the show bug at a young age, Hannah enjoys working with the show cattle. “It all started because I said these kids were not sitting in the house all summer long, they had to have a responsibility,” Traci explained. “We had heifers available, and I put them in the barn and said, ‘This is your project.’”
“Mark and I both showed pigs in 4-H, and once he aged out, I said I liked showing Swiss more and so I kept with the Swiss,” Hannah added.
She began showing at the county level, but once she stepped on the green shavings at the North American International Livestock Exposition in 2020, there was no turning back. “I had a nice heifer the year of Covid and had the opportunity to go to Louisville. As I walked out of the ring, I said, ’This is what I want to do, I want to go to the bigger shows.,’ she recalled. “I just really got into showing after that. I got 4th in the open show, and it was the best thing ever.”

Until 2020, Hannah always stood toward the bottom of the class with her heifers. Randy never thought he would have a cow destined for World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wis. “I always thought that one day when I retired, I would go to Madison to watch; I never dreamed we’d have a cow good enough to go.”
Hannah was 15 when she first exhibited Groovy at the Big Dance.” “It was a very surreal feeling, and all of a sudden, I was in first (place) and I was standing there shaking, and I was like, ‘Holy crap!’” she remembered.

The tanbark trail was good to Hannah as she continued making her way to the winner’s circle with Northkill Creek Groovy 3EX95. Along with her winnings at the All-American Dairy Show in Harrisburg in 2022, she was the Grand Champion of the International Junior Brown Swiss Show during World Dairy Expo, after winning the Five-Year-Old Cow Class. She was also named Honorable Mention Grand Champion of the open show and was Reserve Supreme Champion cow of the junior show. In 2023 and 2024, Groovy was again Grand Champion and Best Bred & Owned at Harrisburg, along with winning the Total Type & Performance banner.  Groovy has a daughter by Carter, Northkill Creek Gettin Groovy. She was the winning Summer Yearling at Harrisburg in 2023, and was fresh in March and ready to show this year.

There is no shortage of other homebred standouts at Northkill Creek, including Northkill Creek Gwen 5EX91. This cow has produced two granddaughters, Northkill Creek GrandSlam Twin and Northkill Creek Getter Done, that were the farm’s first two nominated All-American heifers in 2024. GrandSlam was the first Spring Yearling at the New York Spring Show, Junior Champion at Harrisburg, second Spring Yearling at Madison and was Reserve All-American Spring Yearling. She is due at the end of April. The other 2024 heifer All-American accolade was Northkill Creek Getter Done. She was Honorable Mention All-American Winter Yearling, after winning her class at Harrisburg and placing third at World Dairy Expo.

Northkill Creek Sarah EX91 has produced a daughter by Timeout, who is in her first lactation and looks to have a bright future, according to Hannah. She also has a granddaughter, Northkill Creek Shine, that was Intermediate Champion of the junior show at Harrisburg in 2021.
The first-place summer yearling of Harrisburg in 2022 was Northkill Creek Garci, who Hannah said has freshened in quite nicely. Another standout, Northkill Creek Ghost Town, was Reserve Junior Champion of the Maryland Brown Swiss show in 2023. She is scored VG87 as a two-year-old and is due any day with her second calf.
Northkill Creek Fern 2EX91 has a granddaughter, Northkill Creek Fired Up, that was recently named Junior Champion of New York Spring Show in 2025 and sold to Glamourview of Maryland. Northkill Creek Stella, another herd favorite, won her class as a spring yearling and has since freshened in and looks to show.
IE Northkill Creek 729 VG88/90MS was Honorable Mention Intermediate Champion in Harrisburg in 2023 and has a daughter by Seaman that went 86 in her first lactation. And Northkill Creek Gidget was first Junior Two-Year-Old at the Southeast National Brown Swiss Show and has a daughter by Cliff with a bright future.

The breeding philosophy at Northkill Creek is for show type and good udders. Hannah outlined the sires they are currently using and what they have observed in the offspring:
• Ben Good heifers but better cows
• Famous and Design Both produce great show heifers
• Timeout Great young udders
• Daredevil Strong cows with great udders
• Harts Thunder Awesome rear udders
• Carter Big Framed Cows
Bulls they are considering adding to their lineup include Top Notch, World Class, Full Throttle, Ray, and Alpin.

While the Balthasers don’t always take cattle out for the spring shows, Hannah is refining her show string for the fall. “I’ll put the show cows in a different pen and feed them differently this summer. And I will rinse and lead the heifers regularly,” she explained. She credits others for teaching her the ropes at the shows. Doug and Jennifer Boop of Heart and Soul Holsteins in Millmont, PA, and her extended family, Fred, Tammy, Madison & Hayden Weaver of Weaver Show cattle were among those from whom she was able to glean knowledge on what cows need and how to get them ready.

The Balthasers plan to work their farm for generations to come. Randy’s dad, Wilson, still helps around the farm at age 81 — and Hannah’s plans are to follow in both their footsteps