Creeping across the pasture land. Got dirt on
the boots and a working hand. From the milk house
home to the auction call. These are the folks
standing strong and tall. Yeah, this is... Welcome
to the Bullvine Podcast, where we challenge everything
you think you know about dairy farming. I'm your
host, and today we have an absolutely mind -blowing
story that's going to make you rethink your entire
breeding program. Get this. A 72 -cow tie stall
operation from Saskatchewan, yes, Saskatchewan,
just became the first and only farm in history
to breed two different World Dairy Expo Holstein
Grand Champions. Not one. Two, while megadairies
with unlimited budgets were chasing genomic rabbits
down million -dollar holes, Michael and Jessica
Lovitch were quietly proving that looking at
actual cows still beats computer algorithms.
In this exclusive interview with Andrew Hunt,
you're about to hear how they did it, why they
sold both champions to keep farming, and what
their success means for every dairy farmer who's
been told they're too small to compete. If you're
ready to have your assumptions challenged, let's
dive in. I sent you the questions kind of ahead
of time. Not that we were going to follow it
to a T, but I was trying to give you kind of
the stuff we were going to go over, but kind
of give you a heads up. But I think you guys
know what the gist of our message is, since that's
what we were texting all about. So we'll get
rolling, but I do appreciate you guys joining
us. So cool. No problem. So let's get started.
uh first of all uh maybe just walk me through
the kind of key moment here is when uh aaron
eaton named uh candy came grand champion uh what
were you guys doing and uh kind of what was it
like for you guys to watch that moment well i
was at home doing chores um because it was a
last minute decision to send michael down to
expo We just needed to be done harvest and all
that kind of stuff. So I was following along
kind of and decided I would come in for lunch
to watch the show, but I really couldn't even
eat lunch. So I was kind of just puttering around
in the kitchen watching the class. And it was,
yeah, nerve wracking actually to see her in the
ring with all those other big name cows because
it was the first time she's. done that in her
show career so that was exciting nerve -wracking
on the same same moment i guess so yeah that's
that's where i was at here at the farm and mike
you made it down with us then at expo yeah i
was in the stands and uh throughout the day i
went back to the stall one time there to look
at her just to see where things were at she was
laying down and had a quick conversation with
jamie and um jonathan and yeah he said uh i think
she just needs to lay down for a bit and we'll
go from there and i never went back to the stall
after that i kind of sat there all day and watched
and yeah when the five -year -olds come in they
come in you're kind of nervous but uh as he was
kind of making his final looks and everything
else he kind of walked to each one of those three
cows there at first and yeah i was Probably the
most nervous guy in the barn because I was shaking
so bad I couldn't even hold my phone for pictures.
My heart felt like it was going to pop out of
my chest. It's kind of a feeling you can't describe.
That was kind of an amazing class. I wouldn't
call her an underdog, but she was certainly one
that wasn't coming in as a hands -on favorite.
This was kind of the nervous moments. How good
does she look probably feeling? Because certainly
she looked great, but you never know when you
get into that kind of tough sledding at Expo
there. Yeah, and just with the speaking with
Alicia earlier on or whatever in the week, and
she just said, oh, if we get a good look and
she gets in a top spot like pulled or whatever,
you're going to have to make sure you get a cheering
section to cheer. i said i'm not much of a screamer
to show but when she got the first pull there
was a big roar so i was uh yeah pretty happy
for that moment yeah it wasn't you that was making
the noise wasn't me making the noise but uh it
was somebody tapped me and said are you happy
i said nope not until we're in the final lineup
i said it's there is no sitting down until he
does his Reasons. Reasons, and we get the nod
for first place. I said, it's only the first
pull. So I said, there's no celebrating yet.
But, yeah, it was quite something. It's interesting
because you mentioned his reasons. And in his
reasons, I think he even said, like, the second
she came in the ring, he thought it was game
over. So I think he'd made his decision quick.
But you were still holding out just to make sure
he didn't change his mind. Yeah. And I was very
close to listen to reason, especially like first.
And yeah, I don't, I won't forget that when he
said, when this five -year -old hit the ring,
it was game over. That's incredible. That's,
that's a feeling as a breeder that it gives you
goosebumps, makes the hair on your back, stand
up on your neck. And yeah, it's, it's quite something.
It's quite something. It's quite interesting
because as photographers, we actually listen
to the judges' reasons quite heavily because
it helps us when it comes to Grand to know kind
of which one the judges fell in love with and
which ones doesn't. And when we came to the senior
champion time, Jen and I both came to each other
and I said, we both said the same cow. We said,
based on his reasons, I think it's her. I said,
I think so too. And sure enough, he did. He did.
And at a show like that, kind of have her named
Grand Champion. You know, for most people, it's
a once in a lifetime. But for you guys, this
is the second time. So, you know, that's kind
of extremely unique. Actually, it's the first
time ever that it's ever been done. You know,
maybe just to recap, you know, with the first
time it happened for you guys, explain what are
your memories of that or how that came about?
Well, I was at Expo when Patricia was reserve.
The year before. In 14. Yeah. And yeah, I was
sitting, I remember it. I was sitting beside
my buddy, Matt Clark from New Brunswick and Dale
Beanert was in the stands there and he pulled
out his final three and he looked at me and he
said, do you just realize that you're finishing
no lower than reserve? Because he pulled out
the two five -year -olds in the age cow, he says.
regardless of how this goes, you can't finish
any lower than reserve. And it never dawned on
me until like, cause at first you got all kinds
of thoughts going through your mind. Right. Yep.
So yeah, he says, you're, he said, you're no
lower than reserve. And yeah, he tapped Haley
at that time and Patricia reserve and Valen honorable.
And yeah, it was, uh, yeah, I guess it's feelings.
You just, yeah. Like you dream of all the time,
but you never, I never think it's going to happen,
but when it does, it's, yeah, it's indescribable.
And she did come back the next year to get her
done. To win, yeah. So that was pretty sweet.
And that year we couldn't go. We just had too
much going on. We were actually moving. That
was the year we moved, so we weren't able to
go, but we sure didn't have a barn party that
week. It was a going -away barn party. I think
it was a classifier night or something, too.
Yeah. You rolled them all into one real big party,
then. Yeah. That one was pretty cool. That one...
I guess that one was different because we hadn't
spent as much time with Patricia as we had with
Candy Cane. yeah the decision to let her go was
based on finances and she went through the convention
sale yeah that's a nice two -year -old yeah first
of all right and we were happy with that right
and then she just got into the right hands with
nathan thomas taking her first and he's a good
cow guy right so great guy yeah and then from
there she just kind of kept developing too so
yeah now Just refresh for me, Candy Cane, you
guys had her up until Spring Show this year or
recently? When did you sell Candy Cane to Oakfield?
Spring of 2024. 2024, last year. That's what
I thought. Yeah, we showed her as a four -year
-old Saskatoon. Yeah. With Aaron. Yeah, I want
to say Aaron was a judge then. Aaron was. Aaron
was. In chatting with him afterwards, Aaron was.
Because he commented that he barely, not barely
remembered, but he remembered her, but was extremely
impressed with how far she's come along. And
obviously he was because he made her grand. So
to say he was impressed was an understatement
at the least when you're grand champion at World
Dairy Expo. Yeah. Well, and she turned some heads
at Saskatoon. We had a lot of interest. We had
a lot of interest in her. She's a slower maturing
cow, which is kind of the way we like it here.
So, yeah, she didn't come out as a two -year
-old, you know, like some of the other ones do.
But that's okay. Her story was a bit different.
But she's a different style than I would say,
what I'll call them, the bigger, more massive.
two -year -olds she's one who's actually come
into herself as a mature cow or as she gets older
then probably she wasn't probably a big massive
cow as a young cow i wouldn't assume by the way
she looks now no because to be honest the cows
that are on the money is two -year -olds you
never see them back not always very seldom very
seldom like you stop and figure out how many
two -year -olds were hot as two -year -olds okay
you know what apple did it she looked good as
a two -year -old and she got She matured well,
right? Yep. But a lot of them, when they're big
-name two -year -olds, yeah, you know what? Sometimes
they got no more room to mature into an older
cow. And it's stressful on them. Yeah. Well,
there are two factors. First is the stress of
the show and stress of calving them that quickly,
that often, and trying to have them still mature
and develop. hard to do i know that you get a
lot of interest out of those cows that do well
at the shows and stuff sometimes it's embryo
interest or whatever and you know what when you
start flushing and stuff they lose time and maybe
they don't cap back in or don't catch right away
and let's face it those cows that take a year
off sometimes they just never come back yeah
not everyone Well, I would say if you take, we
did a thing one time looking at the number of
two -year -olds that came back as five -year
-olds, just trying to see how often. And it's
a very short list, very short list. And then
if you look at the number of cows. Now, if you
correlate it to maybe three and four -year -olds,
the correlation goes way up, though. Once they've
had that second calf and they start getting going,
then you start to see more correlation into the
ones that mature better. But that first calvers
onwards, very low. That depends too on what the
judge is looking for. If he picks a two -year
-old that's a little immature, she might come
back a few more times. Right? Yes. And the style
is headed that way more now, but for a long time
it was not that way. We'll word it that way.
We're working on getting better, but even candy
cane would be more of a style that's more of
a modern style. Um, even if you look, I think
when I was looking at it here, when you look
at the two cows, Patricia and Candy Cane, as
much as they have a lot of similarities, they
also like, uh, Candy Cane, I would say is very
much more of a modern style. Like you, she's
not a, I would, I'd say a cookie cutter to her.
I guess I call it great aunt. I'll call it, uh,
that had done it before. Patricia was not a tall
cow either. No, no, no, no. Balanced and long.
Very long. Very long cow. So, what makes me ask
you the question is, is this something, like,
do you breed for show type, or how would you
describe your breeding strategy? They've got
to be balanced. And functional. And we do breed
for a lot of type. And probably not as much for
milk as many would, but I just... I think it's
funny because she wins the five -year -old class
and she wins the production record too. So it
just goes to show you can make cows milk. Well,
we were always taught that if you have a functional
cow, like if classification is following what
it's supposed to do to create functional cows,
then functional cows should make milk. And yes,
there are some type bulls that don't. produce
milk right but cows that are being fed properly
and are functionally correct should make milk
so that's the basis of our herd we like to milk
pretty cows we'll call them right we like to
make beautiful cows um but they have to be functional
and they do have to work at the end of the day
we don't keep cows that don't fill the bulk tank
either because we can't afford to no one no one
really can afford to do that anymore and sometimes
maybe they're not a 12 000 kilo two -year -old
but they got high fat and it balances out where
they're still paying the bills so we'll uh we'll
take a slower maturing heifer that maybe takes
a couple lactations to make a big record but
it has she hasn't had a free ride because she's
done it in fact or whatever right so she's still
she's still making the money Now, maybe for people
to understand, like you're not a 500 or a thousand
head dairy farm where you have a lot of cows
to help cover the bills. Maybe describe for people
kind of what is your operation there in Saskatchewan?
We're a 70 cow tie stall barn. It's not fancy,
but it's pretty functional. It's an older farm,
so anyone that's been in Western Canada recognizes
the Strudwick name. So we did take over. We bought
their farm. We bought the Prairie Diamond Farm
from the Strudwicks. And yeah, they were fantastic
partners when we moved in, like, for people to
purchase from, because they're cow people. They
were very much active members of Holstein Association
and everything as well. Yeah. But the herd come
with us from, from Sheridan. Yeah. The cows all
came. So we just bought the facility. Okay. Yep.
Yep. So, uh, yeah, the cows all moved in 2015.
Um, and along with them came three little girls
and just Michael and I. So for the last 10 years
yet, we have worked quite hard. to get up and
established and going on our own and we've been
very blessed um with the cows that have come
through our barn that we've bred and also with
the people that have attached themselves to us
and we really owe a lot to the team that we have
around us friends neighbors mentors family you
know without the people around us it would be
a different story as well And both parents come
from Derry backgrounds, so it's not like we jumped
into something we didn't know what we were doing.
Well, no, and I said with Jessica, before we
were recording, I was reminiscing that her family
has a show history. That's how I am familiar
that way with Acme Star Lily. Can you kind of
give us a bit of your background, Jessica, and
kind of your family and come to the highlights
that way, if you don't mind? For sure. I grew
up at Crestmare Holsteins, Evan Merrilee Simonton.
Yeah, I grew up showing cows. My dad is very
passionate about his Holsteins and genetics.
So we grew up in the show ring. And then they
were the owners of Acme Star Lily and later had
partners with Alta Genetics and Continental Holsteins.
had a fun ride um through my early teenage years
being a part of that um and my my dad still is
in the barn he still milks cows with my brother
lee um and crestamere still exhibits cows they're
some of our biggest competitors and my sister
still shows cows as well she's moved over to
jerseys with the charlin farms with the kingdoms
in ontario so Still a very, very active show
family. It's kind of where we have our family
reunions is at the show barns for the most part.
Three different provinces, right? I saw some
of your nieces and your sister just about a month
ago in Ancaster at the show with your brother
-in -law. They're very, very active in the Jersey
breed. I wouldn't say they've gone very heavily
Jersey, but that's obviously because of John's.
John comes from the Jersey background. He was
an associate at Expo there and did a fabulous
job. Michael, if you don't mind sharing your
family's background and how you got into all
this. My mom and dad started the registered Holsteins
in 1978. That's when the prefects was registered.
so that was a few years after they got married
they yeah started milking cows feeding pigs and
then it turned into like they started chipping
cream at first but then it turned into quota
and stuff like that and they bought some registered
cows and got going they uh raised three boys
on the farm so yeah being teenage boys i can't
imagine that was easy at the time but uh Somehow,
somehow they made it through it. And yeah, but
I don't know. I started doing a few shows or
maybe the first show I went to, I met Jessica.
Sure did. And after that, I guess that sparked
something that took a few years of convincing
to get her on the same page. But after some negotiating
and her realizing there wasn't any better options,
then, you know, I succeeded. Are you trying to
say there's limited options in the West, or are
you just being humble? I'm just saying, I think
she was checking out other options, but yeah,
when she came down to it, I was the best that
was available at that time, maybe. I will refrain
from commenting. I will add, though, that Michael
has... been breeding the love hill prefix herd
since he was 15 years old he has been in charge
of the breeding decisions there so the love hill
herd that you see is largely based on his decisions
and the help that he received when he was in
his early teen years and i and my mom and dad
letting me do it yeah like absolutely yeah And
when I came along, I introduced them more into
showing. It was actually Skycrest Holsteins that
brought us together. Another Western pro -herd.
Great, great family. Yep, that we're both friends
with. So I guess when we got together, then he
came more to the shows, which was perfect for
him because Michael's always had an interest.
He was probably... born one generation too late
because he is a lot like the dale beanerts of
the world and the worm atkins you know just love
cows and it's actually to dale beanert's credit
also that we have such a tremendous k family
because that is where the uh beanert encounter
kim came from yeah yeah think about that when
you go back yeah which is the that's katricia's
dam yeah and that was a deal between michael
and and dale and however that all worked out
but i believe we were at skycrest when dale approached
me they just built their tie stall bar yep and
dale said uh i have a cow for you if you want
something with good pedigree and i said well
always like interested but i said i don't know
like are you talking big money he said no He
said, if you're interested, send your mom and
dad with a check and I'll make it happen. And
it did. My mom and dad went to pick up this cow
that was springing with her second calf. She
was bred to blitz at the time. We had a bull
calf and she never made it in Dale's dispersal
because she had calved a month early as a heifer.
uh so never made much on her i think she went
84 points as a two -year -old for dale and then
uh we kept her in for the second time and yeah
i uh when my mom and dad got home with her i
said so what does she look like and they're like
yeah looks like a springing cow so and he was
nothing fancy and She didn't work overly hard.
At that time, we never fed a TMR or nothing.
I think in six lactations, she never made 60
,000. It was a different time back then where
they never pushed anything for milk. In 2009,
you did breed her to Goldwood. I did. That was
a good decision. Yeah, and now I'm trying to
think how old I would have been in 2009. You
were married two years. You're about 27. And
Patricia was born on my birthday. Oh, really?
Did not know that. Okay, okay. She's named after
your cousin. Yeah, and I had a little cousin
at that time named Patricia, so that's how she
got that name. Oh, wow. Those omens all certainly
worked out well as she matured. Now, I think
you said you sold her as a two -year -old or
just as a young cow originally? Two -year -old.
She was fresh. Fresh. Dale Beaner picked her
for a national convention sale in Manitoba that
year as a bred heifer. She was due right after
Christmas, and we sold her in March, April. yeah
so captain she was very good as a two -year -old
i even think i think at that time john peters
might have scored her or somebody like that yeah
at that time you know what we wanted to get better
cows and stuff so you know what letting letting
a cow like that go at that time was like not
easy but It worked out. Well, she went to TNL
and from TNL. She went to Van Exel Entourage
and Nathan and On to Butler's on the milk source
and yeah, just you know got the job done. She
did she did indeed and then In 2015 she got the
big job done. So yeah as you mentioned earlier
2015 was a busy year for you guys busy busy because
the what why Just because of the farm that was
available or why the move from Alberta? Because
you're both Alberta kids. What was the prompting
to the Saskatchewan move? Needing a farm to milk
it at that point. Okay. We had milked with Michael's
parents for about eight years. Yeah. Since we
were married. And there was just a lot going
on and succession plan was not working the way
we had hoped it would and so just the way it
all shook out in the end is we purchased a farm
in Saskatchewan it was what was available to
us at that time but we could make work just to
get going and keep milking cows so that's just
the way it shook out and we don't dwell on There
you go. We look forward. In two or three years
now, who knows? And you know what? It was maybe
the best move that could have ever happened to
us. Yeah. That's how we came to be here. And
the Strudwick Farm was available. And they were
looking for someone to move in. And the rest
of Western Canada was not available. And that
is a tricky one. Now, you guys have the motto.
From my homework here, it's all about the cows.
Now, and you talked about kind of the throwback
to Dale Bienert and Norm Atkins and everything.
So are you someone who uses genomics or data
or that stuff heavily, or do you still go by?
Genomics, what are those? Okay, that's what I'm
asking. I'm just saying, when Jessica said about
you being a throwback to them. I figured I already
knew the answer to this question. So when you
make your breeding decisions, how do you make
your breeding decisions then? You know what?
Genomics is there. I have a hard time using it
as a breeding tool because in our instance, a
lot of our cows are old. And I can use a new
bull on a cow that's excellent 94, that's 5E.
And I will not get genomic numbers. I don't care
what new bull I use because my cows are so old.
So it's there. It's not like we don't use any
genomic bulls. It's just not the tool that we
use. Yeah. You're not basing it off of that.
It's your number one decision. You're right.
Pacifiers, milk recording, cow families. Cow
families. There's probably number one. Yeah.
Cow families would be number one. If I don't
like the bull that the family's out of, we won't
use them. Okay. So that's still a key part to
your decision -making process. Well, when I see
bulls that are out of three unscored dams, I
don't care what the numbers are. I can't use
them. Yep. Yep. They just don't make sense for
me to jump on that bandwagon. Well, and I think
based on the comments you've made and the longevity
of the age of the cows you have, I think you're
looking for the, you want families to pass on
what they've been passing on from year to year
and over a long -term period. And you don't get
old cows by not using those type of bulls. So
I think that's. Well, and to be honest, like
we've had cow families over the years and like
there's been good daughters, but I could probably
say like our Love Hill Susie Adam family. And
our Love Hill CL Heaven family and the Patricia
family. Those have been our three main. And the
Terrace and Narcissus. Yeah, the Narcissus cow
we bought when we first got married. Yep. And
the Felicia cow we bought when we got married.
Yeah. Those are probably the main families and
we still. There's probably five cows that they
trace back to. For the beef of our herd, yeah.
When you're making breeding decisions, are you
looking at it as a like. iterative process like
I'm breeding for not this just her daughters
but the next two or three generations because
I think you guys seem to talk a lot about just
how the families breed through so I would assume
that your breeding decisions reflect that too
well right now it's we breed a lot for feet and
legs rump structure it seems like our mammaries
are there and I don't want to say everybody's
got good cows, but you're always looking for
one thing to improve on. So for us, it's like
we want better legs in our barn. Legs, rumps,
like I'm not a high pin cow fan, never have been.
And I know some people go, oh, well, in the show
ring, it don't matter. Yeah, but they still have
to be functional outside the show ring. And it
does matter now. Yeah. It does more so now. I
would say very much more so now. And I think...
Sorry, go ahead. No, go ahead. Sorry. I was just
going to say, like, our breeding decisions come
down to what is the cow lacking, what improvements
need to be made on her that her daughter will
have, hopefully. So then when you made the decision
to breed that resulted in candy cane, you did
choose sidekick. What was it about sidekick that
you felt would produce a cow probably capable
of candy cane or that type of cow? Why did you
choose sidekick? I honestly don't remember that
choice of breeding on that cow. That's not one
that sticks. You know what the Katrina does?
Because at that time, Goldwyn was hot. And you
had a cow that you thought would work on him
that needed the strength on everything else.
Yep. So probably sidekick at that time, there
was a lot of cows being bred sidekick here. And
it just seemed like at that moment he was, he
had what we figured we needed. We actually sold
a lot of sidekick daughters. Yeah, we have. Good,
good ones. Yeah. What would you describe Candy
Cane as a calf? Was she like a showy heifer,
or how would you describe her as a heifer? Immature.
Average. Average. Immature. She was actually,
like the kids do, 4H, and she was, a kid from
town had her as their project calf, actually.
She was an off age. She's an October 20th. Yeah,
so she just had her as her calf. Kids picked
other animals, like our own kids picked other
ones. She was always ornery. I'll tell you, like,
she's been home for broke since she was a calf,
so sorry to Jamie Black, but she just always
got that attitude. If she doesn't want to go,
she's not going. She's not low. She has. She
was a nice heifer, though, because I'll give
it to my dad, a little bit of credit going out
to him. She went out to pasture. in Alberta for
the summer as a red heifer or young heifer. And
my dad asked the price on her. He's like, I really
like that heifer. Who is she? What is she? How
much do you want for her? Is she going to stay
here? I said, no, she's got to come home. So,
he saw something a little bit in her. So, she
wasn't... He's had an eye. He saw Lily before
all the other guys got in. He's got an eye there.
There's no question. He had her as a calf, though,
so this is different. You talked about her being
ornery. I was thinking about the first time I
saw her, like myself, face -to -face was Jamie
showing her in, I think it was New York. And
your comments about ornery? Yeah. I would say
he had a much easier, not saying it was easy
at Expo, but a much easier go -round. with her
at Expo than he did in New York. She was a lot
more cooperative at Expo than New York in the
spring. I think that was a test for him in the
spring show for sure. Yep, I could have told
you that because she was not easy at Saskatoon
either. Hey, but I will say she got stubborn
again by Supreme. in her class and everything,
she just strolled along for the most part. I
was like, geez, it's not the same heifer, same
cow to go. And Jamie, I think probably is going
to say we jinxed it because when she got to Supreme,
she was a little more back to her. I was down.
I was happy and Supreme, like where they judged
it. She went so hot. She was so done. Like, he's
like, I don't know if we're going to get her
from the Supreme ring all the way back to the
Coliseum. Yeah, she was done. Yeah. Yeah. That's
what I'm saying. When he was walking in the dark,
you could tell Jamie was like, put a spotlight
on me because I ain't moving and he ain't coming
with me. And the spotlight goes and he's like,
everyone else come help me because he knew that
when she makes up her mind, she sticks to it.
We'll leave it at that. Yeah. Because when she
wants to lead, she goes beautifully. Yeah. That's
what I mean. As I say, it's her own will because
I'm like, when she goes. and she's a fabulous
walking cow like everything about her but uh
when she uh doesn't want to go she also lets
you know so that's she's got personality we'll
leave it at that um they have to now i was doing
a bit of homework for this and you know you guys
do only have 70 heads so there's like relatively
smaller herd but you did rank among the top herds
in the master breeder categories so um What does
it mean for you guys, those type of things? Is
that something you set as goals, or is that just
more a side effect of your other goals? It's
a goal. It's a goal, but you can't sit here and
breed cows to say you're going to be a master
breeder. Because everything has to align on that
as well. Such a small number of producers receive
that every year. yeah we've been close a couple
times and then all of a sudden one year you have
more registrations and your numbers bump and
everything categories shift categories and everything
else so yeah it would uh it would definitely
be cool one day is it a goal yes does it change
our day -to -day basis no and the other thing
you mentioned is about getting them to good homes
and i would I think in both cases, you know,
you look at the names involved with Patricia
and there was a lot of good homes there. And
then you look at Oakfield and Jamie as well and
the team there. You know, it's worked out very
well for you guys to have them go to these homes
where they kind of work well. And it sounded
like you're still in quite a bit of contact,
even with the lambs as you went through all this.
What does that mean to you to kind of still be
involved? I think that's almost the coolest part
of the candy cane story for us is that we gained
a friendship out of the deal. They were really
just acquaintances when we first started. And
then, you know, we, we followed up to make sure
the cow traveled well and stuff like that. And
then it just kind of grew from there where they
would send us updates about how she was doing.
And then. It really means something to us to
be able to watch the cow develop and continue
to get better. And we will give them full credit
for taking her to that next level and doing that
because they're phenomenal cow people and they
really love beautiful cows as well. So we have
a lot of similarities, which is, I think, why
we bonded a little bit with them. And yeah, it
was just by chance. You know, we always give
glory to God for what he's done for us, Andrew,
because we can only do our best and God has to
orchestrate the rest. And for them to be at our
farm two years prior at a convention and then
sit on the bus next to Michael again in 2024,
you know, those are not things that you plan
to have happen. They just happen. And so it's
been a cool ride and it means the world to us
to be able to go along with them for this part
of the ride and for them to include us. And we've
also gained a huge appreciation and respect for
what they do with cows. Our goal is always to
have honest cows. So what you see in the show
ring is what you find in our barn. And I think
Oakfield runs their operation very well. closely
aligned to how we view that as well so i would
say as you get to know uh jonathan and alicia
you'll realize that their passion for just genuine
cattle genuine business the whole part is as
sincere and as deep as anyone you will find like
they just they just love good cows any type of
cow like whatever commercial cow show cow index
cow they just have a genuine passion for Doing
the best they can with every type of cow that
way. That's why I say when she went to a good
home, she did very much go to a good home. And,
you know, how do you decide which ones you're
going to sell? It always sucks because it seems
like everybody wants the good ones. Those are
the ones you want to keep. And my wife goes to
the show and tells me we're going to sell this
one and this one. And I bite my tongue and be
like, oh, no. But they always seem to do well
for the new owner. So I guess that's not a bad
thing. We have one at Elmview right now too that
we sold last fall. She was at Expo and looked
pretty good. She continues to develop for them
as well. She's pretty fresh. They'll probably
take her to the Royal. She'll look different
then. Give her a bit more time. She just wasn't
quite as long into lactation as some of the other
cows in that class. no that's right and some
of them just need that time for the body and
to just fill back out right yep yeah yeah we
won't say that we don't know like how to get
good cows to a good level but we're a busy family
with the girls are involved in a lot of different
things because we want them to have a more than
just the farm mindset um and our biggest challenge
is usually feed and we cannot grow grass in Saskatchewan.
Well, that would be a huge, um, part of a show
program. I'll say so. No, very huge. I think,
especially when you talk about the level of world
dairy expo, it takes a lot of work, like a lot
of work. And you look at a lot of these programs
where it's a dedicated team and there's a, as
a young couple and getting going to have the,
you don't have the resources or the time to make
that happen. And that's kind of, sometimes it's
a, it's not even as much a cost factor as a,
for the cow to get to the level she needs to
be. I don't have the time or the current capabilities
to do that, but someone else does. And that's
kind of the reality of kind of the business.
It's not a bad thing. It's a great thing. It's
just recognizing the bad and. finding the right
partners to work with to make that happen you
have to recognize your limitations and yeah your
strengths and your weaknesses and your limitations
and your opportunities and we had opportunity
to sell the cow earlier too like in saskatoon
there was a lot of guys that come up and wanted
a price so jessica give them a price and when
i got up later that week there was still a lot
of talk and uh She was not priced crazy or anything.
And nobody seemed to want to pay that to us.
So after she won the four -year -old class, then
we had a whole bunch of guys come back and want
to buy her then. And I said, no, that's like
betting on a hockey game and waiting for the
third period to be done before you place your
bet. So I said, no, she's X amount of money now.
Well, that's too much. I said, then it's too
much. You don't like to take her home. And we
walked away from it. And to be honest, it was
probably the best thing that happened because
where she ended up, they're phenomenal cow people
and we can't give them enough credit. And yeah,
it was on a 2024 National Holstein Convention
where we were sitting on the bus going to the
Master Breeder Banquet where we struck up the
conversation. Now, I would think now after having
become the first people to ever breed two -time
grand champions at World Dairy Expo. The interest
level, though, and the kind of potential for
marketing the herd has gone up, though, I would
say, nowadays. I hope so. It's still quite early.
I get that. But I would say that... No, the phone
hasn't stopped. Well, I guess there's been a
lot of... ask about embryos but you'd expect
that from a grand champion cow i don't necessarily
know that it's coming from two times yet no no
but i mean even just in general i mean even just
the interest would be there there's two dollars
here on the farm and yeah we like them and they've
we'll we'll see what happens big interest in
them and yeah like at this point They were priced
high because we don't want to sell them. And
if they sell for that price, in all honesty,
we can't turn it down. Yep. Economics. I was
going to say, still a young couple. You live
in a quota system. So there's always ways to
invest cash if you really want to keep growing.
Yep. Yeah. And you also talked about the kids.
And I know you guys have done farm tours. You
mentioned stuff like that. um how much does it
mean to you like i know for you jessica this
was about the age when you were watching lily
what does it mean for you to have your kids like
your daughter involved in that now and what is
what has her reaction been like well all three
of them um yeah so the two that are in high school
got a free pass to skip their first class so
they were sitting in the car watching the show
and then the one that's still in elementary i
said if she does well in her class i will come
and pick you up from school and so when she won
the five -year -old class i owed it to her to
be able to watch champion at least regardless
of how it whatever happened right um So they
were all watching from various places that day
and they were crying, they were laughing, they
were super excited. They know, they have an idea
of what it means because we've been, they've
been coming with me to the show since they were
born. I would take them in a backpack or a stroller
and go to the show. So they've slept on hay bales
on a show pack for... 14, 16, 11 years. So they
get it. They understand the work that goes behind
the scenes because they do it. They are the crew
at the show. My average age of my show crew is
usually like 16. We have a couple fitters that
are older sometimes. so they're super excited
and i hope that they take the excitement with
them but they also have a realization for the
work that goes into it and that it doesn't happen
every day it may never happen again but that
doesn't mean that you can't work hard towards
it yeah and they're pretty involved like they
do chores on the farm they they have to be like
It's a matter of survival around our place. If
you're not in the barn, then you're in the kitchen
cooking supper. Yeah. And then they each own
their own animals, too. So they all have Holsteins
here. Ronell actually had her face on Facebook
not too long ago with a loyal daughter that actually
comes from the Catricia family. Lucky little
girl. Lucky young lady, I should say. They own
a jersey that they got from their aunt and uncle.
I was going to say, is that John's influence
in here or what? That's a whole other story.
If you want the whole story, it's quite funny,
but it's pretty long. And then they also have
a herd of beef cows. They have about 25. beef
cows that they have invested in and that's their
college fund. Kind of thanks to Michael's mom
and dad got them that for their first birthdays.
Fantastic idea. Mom and dad pay the feed bill
and the kids get a calf check. It works great.
That's a good program. I don't see the complaints
in that. No, they're usually never any complaining.
That's for sure when the checks roll in. Especially
not this year. That's very nice of Gary and Diane
to do for them. Have you had a chance to talk
to them since winning Supreme? Have your parents
said much to you about that, Michael? Oh, yeah.
I talked to them when I was down there. So, yeah.
No, it... Yeah. pretty they're pretty happy and
stuff and yeah you know what some sometimes at
that moment there's not really words to describe
anything because it's an emotional rush and it
uh yeah i talked to my mom the night it happened
and yeah i think she was crying and uh the next
day well my dad was in the field that day or
whatever and my phone was going crazy so the
limited number of calls i made that friday night
but uh saturday morning i talked to him for a
while when i was in the airport and yeah it was
uh very yeah very touching like it was yeah it's
an accomplishment and you know what like they
started in 1978 and here we are how many years
off what are we just about well they just had
their 50th anniversary 50 years later you know
we're reaping the benefits from a start you know
what i mean and jessica the year that he probably
can relate to it somewhat obviously from the
lily have you had a chance to talk to him oh
yeah they were watching for sure that day they
were online um and they were calling throughout
the day actually because they were pretty excited
like really excited yeah It's pretty awesome
to be able to share it with them. I look at things
here, guys. You've been Saskatchewan's outstanding
young farmers. You've been among the top master
breeders. Now you've done something no one's
ever done and bred two World Dairy Expo Grand
Champions. What ones of those stand out most
for you? And I don't know what portion to choose,
but what do those mean to you and which ones
kind of stand out most for you? This one means
the most to me. Why? Why? Because, you know what?
She wasn't sold as a baby calf or anything, so
I feel like we did have a bit of hand in developing
her, and we probably could have took her out
as a younger cow, but we just didn't feel that
she was maybe quite ready. so it took three calves
for us to decide that it was time to take her
we wanted to take her as a second calver but
the spring uh the spring she was going to go
to bc uh jessica ended up having a hernia surgery
so we kiboshed all that and yeah we just let
her we never showed her that fall because she
was stale again and then we waited for her to
come back in and i just feel like we had more
Jessica, myself, and the three kids involved
in this one. The Outstanding Young Farmers was
all of us too. They're completely different.
They're so different. Being a part of that Outstanding
Young Farmers group is an amazing group of people.
Perhaps we owe a little bit of what goes on here
to that group. um we first were introduced to
them in 2017 like just getting to watch friends
of ours win for Alberta um and you want to talk
about a group of farmers all different kinds
of farmers that just have visions and dreams
and drive like it's an amazing group of people
and so it was a huge opportunity and benefit
for us to be part of that group too. And, you
know, yeah, it's just, it's wild. Yeah. So, and
it's completely removed. There's not a lot of
dairies that are involved in that group. There's
a handful of them, but they're, they're quite
a mixed group of farmers there. So yeah, that
one, Like, it's definitely cool. And then, like,
the Candy Cane win now when you say, like, the
Love Hill Prefects has bred two champions. Like,
sometimes when you read the articles of all the
great herds or whatever in years past and they've
never done it, yeah, it gives you just a feeling
that you're like, man, I guess I do fit in. Or,
you know, like, I don't know what the feeling
is. it kind of gives you goosebumps to think
that yeah you could have done something that
no other no other prefects has done right yep
no it's huge it's huge there's ones who've had
a lot of success but yeah i was even just doing
it through cow families and you know there are
ones that have had two twos in the cow family
like frosty and put loose and stuff but like
even that's a short list and then even to say
all under one prefects under one breeding program
i know that's that's the first time ever and
that's Extremely impressive. My question is,
is there a third? Is the goal the third? The
first one might be better. You always got to
dream bigger, right? So now when she goes to
the show next week, I'm going to say nothing's
for sale because maybe it could be the next.
There's still bills to pay. I was going to say,
I could hear Jessica saying, we still got bills
to pay and there'll still be a couple I'm planning
to sell while we're there. When you say kids
probably going off, I know they have the beef
herd, but there is still school and everything
else down the road, I'm sure. Very involved in
sports as well. Oh, what sports do they do? They're
all figure skaters. One runs competitive track.
One is getting into curling. One is just a genuine
cowgirl. They're all in 4 -H. And they're all
very active in their youth groups at church.
Wow, you guys must be busy, busy then. Life is
very busy. that word busy doesn't describe it
you talk about running the show program and then
you talk about the kids and you mentioned then
about having the kids uh uh being active in things
and then you describe just how active they are
i'm like yeah you don't have the time to do uh
the other that's uh not there but right now it's
like okay somebody's taking the cows out on the
tractor somebody's feeding them hay somebody's
graining them like yeah Somebody is doing all
these little things that need to be done because
there's not enough hours in the day for Jessica
or myself to get around to it, right? Yep. Yep.
And I also coach figure skating and lead the
4 -H club. Oh, wow. Wow. A fun story for you.
About a month ago, I was a figure skater as a
young kid before I got into hockey. And I decided
I didn't want to be a figure skater. So I was
laying on the ice and kicking my feet. And my
coach, who ended up being my sister's coach all
the way up into nationals, comes over trying
to get me to get off the ice. And I kicked so
hard with the toe pick that I stuck it in her
forehead. And to this day, she still has the
scars of the four picks in her forehead where
I ducked the toe pick. She kids that, Andrew,
the day you decided to go play hockey, I was
the happiest coach in the world. That's hilarious.
Now. Yeah, now. She laughs about it now. But
at the time, it was not. I sure hope you were
like under the age of 10 and not 16 or 18 when
that happened. I was 7, so yes. It's better that
way, yeah. But I was throwing a hissy fit and
kicking my feet. I did become a goalie, so we
still had kind of points on our skates, but the
toe picks were a little too much of a weapon.
Now you guys do live kind of outside of the beaten
path for show hurts and not a large herd. And
usually that kind of defines success. And you
guys have been able to have success without being
on the beaten path, without having to have a
large herd. What advice would you give to other
people who find themselves in that situation
on how they can achieve success? Well, I do want
to, we're going to have to have a shout out to
Saskatchewan producers here because We actually
live, there's not a lot of us. We may be kind
of off the beaten path, but the group of dairies
that we live around here are phenomenal breeders
and passionate breeders. And so, you know, there's
10 or 12 of us that are quite close together
and we help each other if someone needs help.
We celebrate each other's victories when someone
does well. And so I think that community really,
it's such a tremendous benefit. So we don't,
we're not out here on the prairies completely
alone. I mean, and there's a group, you know,
up north and through the middle a little bit
too. They're just a little bit further removed,
but like a three hour drive to go visit a friend
up there is nothing. it's like nothing i mean
it's eight hours to go home right so um saskatchewan
has been a pretty incredible place and all of
western canada has been super supportive of our
farm and michael and i and we probably can't
thank the breeders in western canada for supporting
us enough because they have had huge impact on
our operation and who we are today, just growing
up with them and showing with them and stuff
like that. So I just have to put that out there.
Nope. It's a really tight group. It's one thing
I even remember, like I think even going back
to your dad's days, but the Western group as
a whole was almost like a family with each other.
And I think that still continues to this day
in that way. Uh, I was thinking about it because
one of our cows, one of the cows we bred that
ended up being the NASCO production winner at
Expo was a boy from up there, Ian Crosby. And,
uh, Ian's a fabulous guy. Just love his cows
and passionate. And I call it, he bleeds the
Western way. He, uh, he's one of the ones that's,
I think helps keep it going in the, uh, making
it a family and making everyone feel welcome.
With Ian and the group. So no, it's a great,
great community. You guys have out there. What's
the goals now for love home? What do you, what
do you guys, what's the, what's the motivation?
What's the drive? What's the next level that
you want to achieve? The future. We're honestly
like at a point now where. The kids are getting
older, so it's too soon to tell what they want
to do, but we have to look to what we are physically
capable of doing and where we need to be if they
so choose to be dairy farmers. So we're kind
of back to the transition phase as far as the
farm as a whole and just looking to what the
future might hold that way. every day is still
the same we want to keep breeding functional
cows we want to still breed cows that we enjoy
milking and we can have a little bit of fun with
taking them to the show and you know for all
the acclaim that we have we still don't have
a grand champion banner hanging anywhere on our
farm so there's still some small goals Because
my wife called him before we get to that point.
You're going to be like, from now on, no, honey,
we can't sell any. We can't sell any. We got
to pay bills. Yeah. So there's always something
there, you know, we'll just continue doing what
we're doing and continue planning for the future
as best we can. And yeah. You know, candy cane
being grand right now, maybe not the greatest
timing because now your kids are going to be
hooked. And they're right at that age where they
have to make those kind of start making those
life decisions. So they're going to be like,
well, of course, I want to breed the next generation.
And then you're going to have multiple kids who
want to be dairy farmers. And there you go. Then
you have the same challenge again. Of course,
the 11 year old was just eavesdropping that conversation.
And she's like, excuse me, mom. And she comes
out holding her. Jersey Dairy Show Junior Champion
Banner Alberta Dairy Fungus 2025. You're right.
Uncle John. And Uncle John would be extremely
proud. I know John fairly well, and I bet that
he would be like, switch them to Jersey, guys.
Switch them to Jersey. What they're trying to
brainwash them to do. There's a whole backstory
behind that jersey cap. I can imagine with John
that there would be. Well, Michael's actually
the instigator because he sent a Holstein there
for Christmas one year. So he instigated it and
then we didn't know that there was a jersey coming
but he thought Lee was probably feeling left
out and so last Christmas he sent Lee's kids
in Ayrshire. No, we'll wait and see where the
Crestomere Ayrshire herd, how that develops.
But actually, she's a pretty sweet little heifer.
So, are you a little more... I bought her off
a master breeder herd in Vancouver Island in
a dispersal, so it's not like I just bought a
Ayrshire. No. I'm trying to pick on the good
one. Yeah. I'm thinking that you may be a little
nervous about what you're getting for Christmas
this year, though, guys. Well, the girl's got
a jersey, and she wound up to be junior champion,
so they may be up the game just a little bit.
You still could have some shorthorns and some
Guernseys if you really wanted to try. Oh, and
Canadian. Well, hopefully the 11 -year -old's
not listening anymore because she actually bought
a cow -calf -shorthorn pair last year on the
beach side. Then she watched Expo and was like,
hmm, I kind of like that shorthorn cow. And I
went, you already got one. Some things you might
want to nip in the bud. Anyways. Cool. That covers
all of my questions, and I think you guys have
been incredible. That's great, and you guys have
had historic achievements, so I want to say thanks
for taking the time. Remember that none of this,
the awards, glory, any of that, just to remember
that you can't take any of that with you when
you leave this earth. But all of it can be taken
from you in an instant. So every day we just
give God the glory and we are so thankful for
the way he has blessed our farm and our family.
And so we just want to live our life with integrity
and faith. And we just feel that if we do these
things and we work hard, you just can't fathom
the blessings that God may give you along the
way. So that's just our encouragement for people.
And I think you guys are the perfect example
of that because you've had a lot of achievements,
but you're also still so humble. And I can tell
that it still means so much to you guys. So big
testament to your faith as well as just who you
guys are. So thanks for sharing that. Yeah. Thank
you for having an interest in what we do, Andrew.
Well, there you have it. The Love Home story
isn't just about breeding two world champions.
It's proof that excellence doesn't require unlimited
budgets or thousands of cows. It requires looking
at actual cattle, trusting cow families, and
having the courage to ignore what everyone else
is doing. If a 72 -cow farm in Saskatchewan can
beat every genomic powerhouse twice, maybe it's
time we all started looking at our cows instead
of our screens. Thanks for listening to the Bullvine
Podcast. If this story changed how you think
about breeding, share it with someone who needs
to hear it. And remember, sometimes the future
of dairy farming looks a lot like its past, just
with better cattle and the courage to trust what
you see. Until next time, keep challenging the
status quo.