2024 Herd Awards

*Ira Inman BSA Award

The Ira Inman PTPR Trophy is based on a total progressive dairy program including breeding, feeding, and management. Winners are determined by assigning point values to protein, butterfat, milk, classification, percentage records received, and number of years on DHIR official test.

Group 1 (10-29 cows)

Travis Kamper, Riverdale, California

Pictured are Travis, his wife Stephanie, and their children:  Bennett, Colson, Audra, and Emery.

Travis Kamper is the recipient of the 2023 Progressive Genetics Herd Award for Group 1 for the first time.  This is his fifth time being awarded the Protein Genetic Herd Award, the other years being 2018-2021.  He also received the Ira Inman PTPR Herd Award in 2021 and 2022.  He is a partner with his father and uncle in the family operation, Mt. Whitney Dairy, in Riverdale, CA.  They milk 1885 Registered and Identified Holsteins and Red & Whites 2X.  For the year 2023, the herd’s RHA was 31,420 LB ECM.  They also raise all of their own replacements.  In addition, they grow corn in the summer and triticale in the winter, both for silage to feed to the herd.

Travis also operates a Registered Brown Swiss herd currently consisting of 18 cows plus youngstock under the T-G prefix.  In 2023, the herd RHA was 27,291 ECM on 2X milking.  Travis bought his first two registered Brown Swiss heifers in 2008 and has been growing that herd since.  One of those first two heifers was bred by the late Ed Genasci, Cal-Ticino Pronto Sasha.  Sasha went on to score E91 and become a Superior Brood Cow, producing for 10 lactations.  The majority of the herd is descended from Sasha, and she has had offspring rank #1 for PPR on the Cow, Heifer, and Bull Lists at different times.  The #3 PPR and #1 Milk heifer as of April proofs, T-G Crazy Horse Sia ETV, is a promising young descendant of Sasha.

Travis serves as Treasurer of the California Brown Swiss Cattle Association, Treasurer of the California Milk Advisory Board, and a director on the local irrigation district board.  He also serves as a Deacon at Trinity United Reformed Church of Visalia.

Group 2 (30-49 cows)

Auburnvale Dairy, Josh Nett, Fremont, Wisconsin

We farm 400 acres and milk 265 cows with 75 being Brown Swiss and the balance Holsteins.  Current herd average on the Swiss is 24,747m 1,052f and 835p, while the Holstein herd average is 28,396m 1,230f and 917p. The farm is managed by myself and my wife Terri.  Along with 2 full time employees and 2 part time employees.  We have two sons, Lane who is 23, with a degree from FVTC in welding/fabrication.  He is currently employed full time off farm but helps out with repairs and maintenance on the farm.  Eli who is 20 graduated from FVTC with a degree in Wildland Firefighting and will be spending this summer as a wildland firefighter in Oregon.  He also helps on the farm in his free time.

We breed for functional type and try to develop trouble free cows that can compete in a commercial environment. Current sires of cows in the herd are, O'Malley, Jonmar, Pactole, Skyhigh, Standout, Lamborghini, and Hampton.

Current sires being used are:  Prince, Jim Beam, Top Notch, Halano, Magnum, Saigon P, Desperado, and Trickster.

We have used the Identity Enrollment program to add value to our herd and have also begun genomic testing our heifers.

Some favorite cows in the herd are: 

Auburnvale Liberate Rose V87/88ms
6-03 365d 31,407m 1267f and 1015p and traces back to the purchase of Gearings Rosebud from the Mile Away herd back in 1998.

IE Auburnvale Jonmar Joelle V86/87ms
2-02 305d 25,535m 1062f 806p.

IE Auburnvale Skyhigh Jadyn V88/88ms 
2-02 305d 21,106m 910f 756p.
 

Group 3 (50-99 cows)

Cozy Nook Farm, Waukesha, Wisconsin

COZY NOOK FARM is the recipient of two National Awards in Group 3 for their Brown Swiss dairy herd:  the Ira Inman BSA Award and Protein Genetic Herd Award. Cozy Nook is owned by Tom, Joan, and Charlie Oberhaus and Dan Gerrits, with the management of the dairy herd under the direction of Dan and his wife, Brittany. The Brown Swiss herd began in 1985, and they have been milking full-time since. They have approximately 75 Brown Swiss cows currently averaging 24,691M 4.7 1170F 3.6 888P and also about 20 Guernseys.

Since 2014, Cozy Nook Farms has won the Ira Inman PTPR Trophy seven times, the Protein Genetic Herd Award ten times, and the Progressive Genetic Herd Award four times. According to Tom, he realized in the early 1980s that protein production is very important to maintaining a profitable farm. He also knew that Brown Swiss cattle are the best at producing high amounts of protein, which was his main reason for owning and breeding Brown Swiss cattle. Tom’s advice to others is to “have a goal and keep striving for it.” While he focuses on genetics, he says he always remembers his main goal, which is to breed for longevity.

Cozy Nook is located in a very urban area which gives them lots of opportunities to share their dairy story. They raise 20 acres of pumpkins, Indian Corn, gourds, and squash for their roadside fall market. Fall is also a popular time for school field trips; about 1200 children enjoy an educational farm tour and hayride to the pumpkin patch. They also sell 2000 Christmas trees, wreaths, and garlands after Thanksgiving.

Group 4 (100+ cows)

Hills Valley Farm, LLC Cattaraugus, New York

Hill’s Valley Farm is a 3^rd-generation dairy in western New York, currently milking 135 cows, 90% Brown Swiss with the remainder a balance of Holsteins and Jerseys. Some favorite cow families that have milking daughters in the herd would be Hills Valley Perfecta Ritz Ex 93, All American Sr 3 Yr Old 2011; Round Hill Braiden Fenny Ex 93, 3x All American Nominee; Hills Valley Dynasty Raven 5E94, Nominated All American Component Merit Cow 2020. 

Some of the more exciting 2-year-olds are sired by Brown Heaven R Famous and Scherma Dreamer Biniam.  Currently, we are using Cutting Edge C Deacon (Carter x Delilah) naturally, Design, Dark Horse, Ray, Prince, Tank, and Waldorf. We have not done much genomic testing.  On average probably 10% each year gets tested, now we will be testing every ET calf that hits the ground to verify parentage. 

Altogether we manage 350 acres, comprised of corn for silage, corn for grain, alfalfa, clover, and orchard grass.  All of our hay crop is harvested with a round baler and wrapped in a tube line.  Recently we were able to acquire more rented land and have been feeding High Moisture Shell corn and have seen very positive production results.   Also, we just installed CowManager to assist with heat detection and finding sick cows early. 

 

*Progressive Genetic Herd Awards

The top 5 herds in each of four herd-size groupings with the most increase compared to the previous year in PTA protein of all cows with the same herd code calving with in the past two years, with an award presented to the top herd in each category. To be eligible, herds must have enrolled at least 10 cows in the BSA program.

Group 1 (10-29 cows)

Ro-La-Sue Dairy, Scheibe Family, Wooster, Ohio

Ro-La-Sue Dairy was purchased by Clifford Scheibe in 1957. Today, the farm is run by his son, Rod, and his wife, Addie, and their daughter, Amanda, and her husband, Willis, and one full-time employee.

The farm consists of 370 acres. They are currently milking 240 head of Holstein, Brown Swiss, Jersey, and Ayrshire. Twelve of the herd are Brown Swiss, and they carry a 23,500-rolling herd average. The Brown Swiss cows currently are milking 85 pounds per day with a 4.2 fat and 3.3 protein. Half of the Swiss milking are 2-year-olds. We got started with our Swiss herd with the help of our veterinarian Dr. Brad Garrison, Paul Weber Idyl Wild Farms and Ron Michalovich RNR Swiss.

On February 12, 2013, we began milking with 4 Lely robots and installed a Juno feed pusher as well as a Cosmix feeder. Since installing the robots, the cows have gained over 20 pounds production per head per day and the rolling herd average has increased by 5,000 pounds and keeps improving.

Some of the sires that have been used and currently are being used are Zeus, Vigor, Mojo, Brookings, Richard, Carter, Total, Silver, Get Lucky, and Crazy Horse. We are currently using Top Notch and Jim Beam.

Our top Brown Swiss cow is on her 6th Lactation and peaked at 161 pounds per day with a 4.1 fat and 3.4 protein.
 

Group 2 (30-49 cows)

Guyrand Farms, Sparta, Wisconsin

L-R: Ruth, Hunter and Dick Guy

Guyrand Farms, established in 1930, is a four-generation family operation that includes Richard and Ruth Guy, Rick and Donna Guy, and son, Hunter Guy. Also included in the operation is Barbara Guy-Doran DVM, who resides in Pennsylvania.

Our farm is located in Sparta, Wisconsin, and consists of dairy and crop operations. On the dairy side of the operation, we milk 100 cows consisting of 48 registered Brown Swiss cattle with some registered Holsteins mixed in. We currently have a rolling herd average of 20,666 lbs. milk with 4.42% (914 lbs.) Fat and 3.49% (721 lbs.) Protein. All young stock are raised by us, with heifers being returned to the herd and all steers being sold for meat.

We use a combination of both AI breeding and using a bull, we have used AI bulls through Central Star (Accelerated Genetics), ST Genetics, and New Generation Genetics. Some bulls whose daughters we have in our herd that we really like include Daredevil, Carter, Bosephus, and Dynamite. Also, in the past two years, we have raised our own bull for use in our herd as a cleanup bull and currently have another one on the way. Currently, we only genomic test the bulls and their dams as needed, but we would like to start doing more genomic testing. Also, after taking a 30-year break, we have resumed doing embryo transfer (ET) work using IVF. A new parlor and freestall was built in 2018 to help ensure the future of the operation.

On the crop side of our operation, we farm about 700 acres that consist of corn, soybeans, alfalfa, rye, and oats. We are fortunate enough to have the ability to grow all our feed on our farm and not needing to buy other than supplements like protein, minerals, and vitamins. Any extra crops are stored on farm or sold.

Overall, the best changes that we’ve made on our farm are transitioning away from the silos and going to silage bags, utilizing a custom chopping operation to chop all our haylage, transitioning to wrapped baleage bales, and through the continued use of our feed pusher. We feel that these changes helped the most because the silos were older, thus not providing the best storage facilities. Also, we used to struggle with having too wet silage in the start and too dry end of harvesting, also when we would chop ourselves, it would take about a week, compared to 1 or 2 days with the custom chopping operation. Also, we have started incorporating wrapped baleage bales into our TMR, thus allowing for the best quality hay even if it is a little wet knowing that we wrap it for future use. Finally, we feel that the continued use of our Delaval Optiduo feed pusher (the first one in the United States) has helped, because it not only pushes the feed up to the cows 10 times per day, thus eliminating the need for extra labor, but it also fluffs the feed with an auger at every push up, thus helping to lessen sorting and ensure the cows receive a true TMR. We believe these changes have not only helped with improving our silage consistency and quality, which led to better nutritional value, more milk and higher components.

When we consider the future of our operation we would like to successfully transition to the next generation of the farm. Also, we would like to have our whole herd in Brown Swiss one day.

Group 3 (50-99 cows)

Fox Trail Farm, The Watkins Family, Belmont, Ohio

Fox Trail cows on the graze.

Fox Trail herd was started by my grandfather, W.D. Watkins, in 1938, near Belmont, Ohio.  Initial animals were from Elm Grove Farm in West Virginia.  Later animals came by box car from Massachusetts. 

The current herd of 58 has 9 cows with over 100,000 lbs. of milk produced.  June rolling average was 19,985 lbs. of milk, 846 lbs. butterfat, and 736 lbs. protein. 

We participate in New Generation and Select Sires young sire program and use the SMS mating program to help avoid inbreeding. 

Favor bulls with highest possible cheese merit, sloped rump, and short stature. 

Avoid bulls with over 3.0 SCC, negative on DPR, negative on mastitis score, and mobility. 

Currently breeding with Elan, Prince, Intent, Tomy P, and Netflix.  Herd has 12 Dario daughters, 5 Elan & 10 bred to him, 3 Prince & 9 bred to him. 

All females are genomically tested. 

The herd is intensive grazed in season. 
 

 Group 4 (100+ cows)

Perry Brook Farm, Whiting, Vermont

We manage just over 1070 cows, with 120 being Swiss. We are farming 2800 acres and grow all of our own forages.  Our farm is owned by Jeremy and Kylie solely. Our farm boasts an extensive flush program (on-site IVF center), and we're keenly focused on breeding well-balanced, profitable livestock for competition in stud. Our embryo sales continue to grow and become a larger part of our business.  Over the past 36 months, we've sold bulls from Eight different bull dams and are quite proud of our genetic progress towards a modern Swiss cow. We seek genetics that yield high production (components), attractive type, and robust health traits, especially emphasizing reproductive traits. We are proud to say that our top-classified young cows are consistently our highest genomic PPR young cows.  

Currently, our most celebrated cow family is Perry Brook Lucky India. She's the mother of the renowned bulls Crazy Horse, Elan and Crazy Man. She's also the dam of Perry Brook Pact Lulu ETV, who clinched the Genomic Merit award at WDE in 2022 and has consistently topped the high PPR heifer and cow list. Her sister, Perry Brook Pac Winona ETV, has also made a significant impact on the lists and produced a notable bull we've sold to stud. We have been working with a polled daughter of India by Jordy, Perry Brook J Lulu Lemon ETV P.  Her first son recently left for stud.  We feel immensely fortunate to have a cow like India and her progeny on our farm.

The bulls that we have been using and have recent offspring from include the following...

For recent fresh two-year-olds, we are milking daughters of the following bulls:

Design        Biniam        Rastarocket        Jordy        Pontiac

Heifers that we are excited about are sired by the following:

Ray        Sting        Perfection        Prince        Crazy Horse        Crazy Man        Halano P        Tesla        Joey

In our flush program we are using:

Tesla        Jim Beam        Tomy P        Playmaker        Topnotch        Crazy Horse        Vanilla        Prince

 

*Protein Genetic Herd Award

This award is presented to the herd with the top genetic level in the past year based on Actual PTA protein of all cows with the same herd code calving within the past two years.

Group 1 (10-29 cows)

Pine Tree Dairy, Marshallville, Ohio

With a family operation, it's normal to be going lots of directions!  Here at Pine-Tree, we milk at multiple locations, including a robotic dairy, two protein herds, and two A2/A2 herds.  Approximately 1,500 cows milking right now.  Each herd has different production goals, but in general we are above 4.5% fat.  For breeds...we're about 70% Holstein, 25% Jersey, and 5% Brown Swiss.  A side focus, we produce males for AI-service, working with most of the major AI-companies, plus a few smaller AI companies.  Embryos are produced at Pine-Tree via conventional and IVF methods. 
 

Group 2 (30-49 cows)

Loehr Dairy LLC., Mt. Calvary, Wisconsin.

Brothers, Joe and Mark Loehr (along with their families), have managed to continue the family tradition of milking cows for more than four generations on this century-old family farm. They have a team of twelve employees. Their children help out with various tasks such as picking stones, daily calf feeding, and tending to a small hog operation.

The majority of the herd is registered Holsteins (over 500 currently milking which includes 40 Brown Swiss). The rolling herd average is 27,800 for the Holsteins, and 24,000 for the Brown Swiss. They are currently shipping 111-112 lbs. of ECM per cow from the mixed herd.

“We introduced Brown Swiss into the herd in the early 2000s to increase our component percentages and protein. It also helps that they are a larger breed, like the Holstein, and that they are a high-volume producer,” explains Joe. “It’s important to keep breed strengths as strengths,” says Joe. Longevity, low somatic cell count, component production, and heat tolerance are all strengths of the Brown Swiss that the Loehr family finds important to the success of their herd. “We’re also looking for a strong will to milk, and the Brown Swiss have that,” he adds.

Both Joe and Mark belong to the Farm Bureau and the Fond du Lac Agribusiness Council. Joe has served as a delegate for AgSource, serves on the steering committee for Discovery Farms, and coaches the Fond du Lac County dairy judging team.
 

Group 3 (50-99 cows)

Cozy Nook Farm, Waukesha, WI (See Ira Inman BSA)
 

Group 4 (100+ cows)

Reads Brown Swiss, Lyle, Minnesota

Roger and Lori Read began this dairy herd with 2 cows purchased in 1986 from Mile Away Swiss in Wisconsin. In 1989, they purchased his parents’ (James and Juanita Read) herd of 32 cows, most of which were Brown Swiss, but not registered, and rented the farm site. Roger and Lori purchased the farm site in 1995, and remodeled a hay-shed into a free-stall barn with manure containment.

The farm consists of 320 acres of farmland with the crops being corn, soybeans, alfalfa, and contract foundation seed barley. The farm has been part of the University of Minnesota Manure Management study, and both facilities have feedlot permits and manure management plans. Crop farming uses a 5-year crop rotation and has been part of the Soil and Water Conservation program for over 50 years. The farm has one full-time employee and two part-time employees. Reads’ 125-cow dairy herd consists of Registered Brown Swiss, Swiss/Holstein Crosses, and Holstein. The cows are on MN DHIA testing and are fed a Total Mixed Ration of corn silage, hay, haylage, high moisture corn, and a purchased protein blend. 

Roger and Lori believe that the best genetics lay in the future and use mainly young sires. The Reads have had 4 bulls go as sires in AI programs with Reads Driver Kannon *TM becoming the number one Brown Swiss PPR bull from December 2014 to December of 2016.

Dams like Reads Beamer Kayla, Reads Kilo Var Shelly, and Reads Tip Up Burner hold very special places in their heart.

Since January 2014, the farm has completed genomic testing (DNA) on all registered females and select males (over 625 animals) to assure future profitability. They continue to use NM$, milk, fat, and protein along with daughter pregnancy rate to pick the future sires of the herd. 

Roger and Lori have been very active in the Minnesota and National Brown Swiss Organizations with Roger a past National Director. Both have served as MN Brown Swiss President, and Lori a former secretary.  Lori is the past president of the Minnesota Purebred Dairy Cattle Association.  They have chaired numerous MN All Breeds Dairy Conventions and in 2016 were the co-chairs for the National Brown Swiss Convention.  They have shared their passion about dairy and Brown Swiss with International groups, high school classes, and 4-H clubs, including a lease project for 4-H where the members come to the farm and work with their projects. The leasing program is now led by Heather and Greg Read. 

Awards the Reads have won:

 

Individual Cow Awards

*2024 VERNON C. HULL - NATIONAL TOTAL PERFORMANCE

*2024 NATIONAL COW FOR ALL SEASONS

Sponsored by: Lee-Anns Swiss, DeWitt, IA

Back-to-Back, Dutch-Marie Dundee Allie strikes again winning both the National Total Performance and the Cow For All Seasons awards. Her breeder is Lillian Helbig, Oakdale, IL. Allie has had a very successful junior career, but she hasn’t been shy about taking on the big girls on the National level. Her showring achievements garnered her the Reserve All American Component Merit Cow award in 2023. She won the Component Merit class again this fall at the Southwest National in Louisville. A daughter of Hilltop Acres H Dundee ET from a Reads Driver Kaleb Twin. This combination makes for 3 doses of the German bull Hussli. Her maternal line extends to multiple generations of Thom-A-Hawk Farm breeding from Oklahoma.

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*J.P. EVES TROPHY – Highest 305d Actual Milk DHIR and

*NATIONAL PROTEIN AWARD – Highest 305d Actual Protein DHIR

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*H.R. SEARLES TROPHY – Highest 305d Actual Fat DHIR   and
*TOP ECM AWARD - Highest 305d Energy Corrected Milk (ECM) DHIR - combined Milk, Fat, Protein

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*2024 WHITE CLOUD AWARD - Highest ECM 305d Under 2-00 DHIR

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2024 LIVING LIFETIME COW AWARD – ECM