Juniors

Publications

Sales

Shows

 
Site News

Coverage from the NY Spring Dairy Carousel is online here.

Information for the 2008 NY Spring Dairy Carousel are online - click here!

 

Convention Highlights

 
 

2008 Active Master Breeder
As presented by Jeff King

            It is a distinct honor for me to present this year’s Active Master Breeders Award. The story of this breeder starts in the early 1970’s when he graduated from college. He returned to his family’s 50-cow dairy. One year later a partnership was formed with his parents and his eager energy led to expansion of the herd. During these years, showing was very important, with Grand Champion, Premier Breeder and Premier Exhibitor awards often returning to this farm’s trophy case. A number of Excellent and countess Very Good cows graced the barn and several were merchandised to the likes of Sugar Creek and Hanover Hill. Service sires of the day included Elevation, Arlinda Chief, R Maple, Bootmaker and Gay Ideal, just to name a few. Moreover, good management led to the availability of excess cattle for sale. This year’s recipient was quick to take advantage of the export market, sending homebred cattle to at least a dozen countries around the world.
            For the cows that stayed home, a quick check of the archives includes a number of Excellent cows and cows with 1,000 pound plus fat records. An impressive young Chief daughter was scored 86 points and had records to 37,000 pounds of milk and that was over 30 years ago! An Excellent Spirit daughter produced a string of 1,000 pound fat records and made over 200,000 milk lifetime. Furthermore, an Excellent Columbus lived to a ripe old age in the freestalls and produced over 250,000 of milk lifetime as well. As you can see, production has never taken a back seat to type, in fact, the two have traveled hand in hand on this operation. In fact, you can always find the herd at or near the top of the county’s herd average rankings year after year.
            More recent years have led to modernization and expansion. New barns have been built, a parlor has been constructed and expanded, with cow number now pushing over 1,000 and crop acres number of nearly 2,000 at this Dairy of Distinction. Any visitor to this farm will soon realize that the image of this farm and it’s presentation to the public are very important to the owners. This picture perfect farmstead sets the standard to which we should all aspire.
            Throughout the years, the breeding of quality Registered Holsteins has never wavered. Concurrent improvement in type, longevity and production has always been the goal. Therefore it should be no surprise to see such bulls as Mars Tony, Valiant and Durham gracing the pedigrees, as well as Dundee, Roy, Boliver and Talent. Recently some individuals from some of the breed’s great families have been acquired to augment the herd’s breeding program. For example, an Excellent 40,000 pound cow with almost 2,000 pounds of fat from Durham’s direct maternal line and a 12th generation Excellent cow by the name of Rosa who is proving herself to be one of the greatest all time brood cows.
            This year’s recipient has always been involved in his community through local farm and non-agricultural organizations. Early on, he coached the county’s dairy judging team, winning the state competition several times. His passion for good cows and the respect from others led him to judge county shows across New York and on the state level. Our recipient and his wife are now especially proud to watch their young grandchildren develop the same excitement for showing. To list all the organizations that he is involved in would take too much time, but we’ll hit the highlights. He has been President of the county Farm Bureau, worked with the Cooperative Extension, the county’s Chamber of Commerce Ag Committee, he served many years on the county hospital board and recently chaired a fundraising committee that secured nearly one million dollars in donations from ag-industry sponsors. His love of Registered Holsteins has also led him to commit countless hours to the local, state and national associations. He has been a club director, served on the State Executive Committee as Treasure and served two terms as a National Director. During a time when many large herds were moving away from registered cattle, he never wavered as an advocate for the Registered Holstein. In fact, over 6,000 animals have been registered under his prefix. His style of leadership has been extremely effective. He is never long-winded and gets straight to the point.
            Dedication to his family have always been one of his priorities. All of his three children have had success in youth activities including Junior Holstein, Dairy Princess, showing and judging. All have college degrees and all have gone on in their chosen professions to be successful and build loving families.
            As I near the end of this presentation, I realize that I have had the opportunity to learn from this man. A few of the lessons that he has taught me are: 1) Manage for success. Adopt new technologies that will benefit your farm. You don’t need to be the first to try something new, but for sure, do not be the last. 2) Utilize Registered Holsteins and take advantage of the profit potential that they have to offer. 3) Value your family and make time to spend with them. Finally, he has proven to all of us that being involved matters. That you do not have to be loud to be influential. Years of hard work, service and dedication will earn respect from us all.
Ladies and gentlemen, our Active Master Breeder, John Emerling and his wife Betty of Emerling Farms in Perry, NY.  



Active Master Breeders
John & Betty Emerling of Emerling Farms in Perry, NY

 

Outstanding Young Breeder
As presented by Willard Peck

            Every good young breeder has an interesting story to tell. This one goes back to a farmer who had two boys. Back in the day, farms wee smaller and there wasn’t enough room on the farm for both boys. So he walked across the field with a sack of gold over his shoulder and bought the neighbors woodlot. That was the start of the farm that this young breeder is on and that was in the mid-1800’s. Five generations later, on that same soil, you have farmers upon farmers.
            This young breeder returned from Cornell in 1991 and his family had an excellent breeding program in place. They were milking 100 cows in an older freestall facility at the time. Much like many young Cornellians, he decided that he needed to expand, so the next summer he built a new barn and parlor and really started to make that place hum. As time has gone by, he has added heifer barns, doubled the size of the original 220 cow freestall and has done a great job going from the 100 cow dairy to over 400 cows. And like most young breeders, he has really enjoyed trying to breed animals that would be of enough quality to sell bulls to AI units and females for his own herd and to fulfill the demand from around New York and across the country. This past spring he was a co-host of a widely successful sale that saw his cattle sell for prices up to $41,000. His group alone averaged $8,641. Probably the greatest genetic advancement is when he married his wife in 1995. He has two great boys: Matthew, age six and Ryan, age three.
            The current Rolling Herd Average is over 25,000 pounds of milk, with 3.8% butterfat and 3.1% true protein. There are over 400 cows on official test, an extensive ET program is in place and has an outstanding herd of cattle that many visitors can attest.
            Before he comes forward to accept his award, I want to mention that as all farms that grow successfully, he has very dedicated employees. Glen Miller has been the herdsman there for over 20 years. Jill Gillis is another employee that is also here tonight. The Outstanding Young Breeder for 2008 is Kevin and Carrie Peck of Clear Echo Farm in Schuylerville. 


Kevin and Carrie Peck accept the 2008 New York Outstanding Young Breeder Award at the All-Breeds Convention in Albany. Their sons Matthew and Ryan accepted the award with them.

 

A Friend of New York Holstein
As presented by Patsy Gifford

            New York Holstein is fortunate to have many friends. Our dedicated friendships and camaraderie are the fuel that keeps our Association strong. Many of you sitting here tonight are very deserving of our Friend of New York Holstein award, but this year’s recipient seemed a logical and fitting choice for 2008.
            This year’s Friend of New York Holstein has been a lifelong Holstein person. His professional career was in education, still focusing on agriculture through FFA.
            After his retirement, New York Holstein was smart enough to hand him a committee chairmanship to help fill his spare time. He assumed this position with his usual attention to detail, enthusiasm and determination. As membership chair, his committee reports are thorough and detailed and his committee is extremely active and creative. True to his teacher instincts, he often gives us homework to take home from a Board meeting and checks to make sure we do it. His hard work and determination have been a huge factor in keeping our membership numbers and therefore, our Association, strong.
            His daughter listed the words “detail oriented, dedicated, reliable, supportive, motivating, a ready volunteer, and able to see the good in everyone” as words that describe her Dad. I would add kind, sincere, humble, intelligent, enthusiastic, generous, and great sense of humor to her list. Who could ask for better qualities in a friend?
            As part of the ENY team of directors and committeemen, our New York Friend is part of the carload that heads for board meetings at “dark thirty” in the morning. With his friends Ray Vail, Sam Simon, Jimmy Perotti, and Henry Beneke together in the car, you can be sure that lots of New York business gets hashed over. Sometimes I wish I could plant a tape recorder to hear some of the conversations.
            The ENY club, this year’s Convention host, knows first hand the capable attributes of this year’s friend. To show him how much they respected his skills, they generously honored him with the position of Convention sponsor chairman. With his usual “can do” attitude and, again, attention to detail, he went about the task and raised more than $25,000 for this weekend that we’re enjoying here in Albany.
            The qualities that describe this year’s Friend are qualities that help any relationship or situation flourish. A part of retirement has been to raise heifers. More than a few of his heifers, also known as pets, are competitive at the National level before they turn into high scoring brood cows. He loves the show ring, but just as with his other activities, he’s happy being the behind the scenes person. Many of us have seen him and his big smile greet his daughter as she leaves the ring with one of his heifers and a blue ribbon.
            With his wonderful qualities of friendship, his family, heifers, students, committees, a convention, and even our Association thrive. To quote his daughter, “There’s a similarity between how he takes care of heifers and how he takes care of the members of this organization. Attention to detail, each treated as an individual, a handful of this and two handfuls of that gives each individual the opportunity to shine and develop as a group that’s fantastic.”
            Please join me as we honor this year’s Friend of New York Holstein, Columbia County’s oldest 4-Her and my buddy, Roy Denniston.         


Roy Denniston-The 2008 Friend of New York Holstein
 

2008 Retired Master Breeder
As presented by Ray Vail

Barry and Rosemary Chase are flanked by their two sons, Rory (left) and Farley (right).

It often happens that if you find something you truly love as a child, you will find a way to return to it. I think that sums up this year’s Retired Master Breeder. The farm, which he and his wife came to own over thirty five years ago, was originally established in 1935 by his father, a dentist by profession, who raised high stepping gaited horses, until the depression after World War II brought about the decision to disperse the horses and pursue dairy farming. We know this decision was not taken lightly. The dentist spent weekends studying with Dr. Ed Harrison at Cornell, learning the fundamentals of breeding and caring for the Holstein cow. And this was later passed from father to son.
Growing up, our recipient did not “live on the farm” but nearby, in town.  Summers provided an opportunity to work on the farm, and a lasting impression was made. But first, there was time away- four years at Colgate University, two years in the Peace Corps, where he put his good nature and agricultural skills to work, but as he would admit he learned more than he taught. Then, three months in Hawaii, training Peace Corps volunteers, and on to Montana State to complete his Master’s. Eventually, these travels came to end, and he returned home to be with “the cows”, and care for his father who was critically ill.  
After his father’s passing in 1971, Barry and his wife Rosie, began building on the foundation of his father’s work by carefully selecting sires they felt would advance both type and milk production. They were eager to visit other herds in their area and see the daughters of bulls being developed. In 1971, he began using Tara Hills Supremacy, and important influence in the herd, and from this mating came several important daughters, including the most important, 4E 93, Supreme Melissa, a foundation cow, and a show ring champion.
Barry was never afraid to take advantage of opportunities to improve his herd’s genetic profile. He purchased a young cow from the Winfarm dispersal, Winfarm Jewelmaker Ivis, who later became 5E 94. The Winfarm influence in the herd started early. In 1937, the farm’s first registered cow was born, Chaseholm Segis Pontiac, a daughter of the Winfarm Sensation bull. Her daughters and Melissa's daughters excelled over the years and were often featured in their beautiful monthly ads in the NY Holstein News. Anyone who gets the NY Holstein News has read his monthly ads featured on page 9.
Year after year, production increased, classification scores excelled, and their success in the show ring was something to be proud of. Nothing pleased this family more than to walk away with a first place in the Best Three Females class, or to hang the Premier Breeder Banner from their farm sign.
Barry and Rosie worked together, and proudly raised a family of three— Farley, Rory and Sara. If you were to describe this couple, you would say they loved what they did, and they did it with passion. They believe a farm is a great place to raise kids, and his children must feel the same because they shared the same enthusiasm. In an interview, Barry once said, “Kids learn very important values on a farm. They learn early not to be afraid of a day's work and to see a job through.” I expect he was speaking not just of his children, but also of himself. Barry also believes that farming isn’t always a good business, but it is a good way of life.
Barry believes knowing the genetics of your herd matters, and that there are no easy short cuts to building great cow families. Elevation, Astronaut, Sexation, Jed, and Mandel were some of his influential bulls, as were homebred sires, Isaac and Ivan. And if you ever want a lesson in yesterday or today’s AI sires, just spend a day sitting with him on the bleachers of any good cow show and you’ll be amazed at his knowledge. He has certainly enjoyed success as a merchandiser, because other breeders wanted to incorporate this breeding legacy into their own.  He bred for the “whole package”, and anyone who visited the farm saw firsthand what dedication to that single purpose can produce.
In addition to their success on the farm, Barry has been active in his local community. He currently serves on his town’s comprehensive Planning Committee, and has also served on the local planning board, dealing with the thorny issues of farms coexisting with development. He is President of the board of Farmers Mutual Insurance Company. Barry gave many years to the Dutchess County Agricultural Society. He was instrumental to the Hudson Valley Farm Fresh milk marketing initiative. They have been involved in showing animals and local school programs. They have been indispensable to the Eastern New York Holstein club in promoting and organizing the club issue each year for the New York News.
As most of us know, a successful family farm requires teamwork. Rosie assisted Barry in making his childhood dream become a reality. She worked side by side on the farm with Barry and their children while managing her own career as a college Professor. Their herdsman Doug Van Wagner was also a great asset to this team for many decades.
 In July of 2007, with a BAA of 107.9 and a herd average of 17,545 lbs 3.8% and 671 fat, they sold their herd to Jarrod and Marsha Burleigh of Scarlet Summer Holsteins in Muncy, Pennsylvania. When the Burleigh’s first visited the farm, they recognized cows, and knew their dams and grand dams. I guess that goes to prove how invaluable it is to advertise in the NY News. Chaseholm Grandslam Nevada was GP-83 when she calved in June, moved to VG-87 on a Breeder's Choice in August, and found herself EX in December. She peaked at 184 pounds a day and is on her way to making 50,000 pounds of milk!
Possibly, he is man you may not “personally” know. It can be said he is a stay-home-on-the-farm kind of guy. But I am sure you know his prefix, and like all us in Eastern New York, you appreciate him and the generations of fine cow families he has bred. So please join me in congratulating this year’s Retired Master Breeder, Barry & Rosie Chase of Chaseholm Farm, Pine Plains, NY.   


  
E-mail us for more information on membership, activities, and NY Holsteins
©2008 New York Holstein Association - All Rights Reserved


Visitors

957 Mitchell St Ithaca, NY 14851
607-273-7591 FAX: 607-273-7612