Creeping over fields of green Remembering the
faces The moments unseen The hands that built
a dynasty The vision in their eyes Echoes in
the auction bar Beneath an endless sky This is
the bull buy Turn the bar It's the Bull Bar,
and today I've got a story that's been keeping
me up at night. It's about the Royal Winter Fair
coming up next week, but it's really about so
much more than that. It's about an empty chair
that somehow fills an entire barn. It's about
dreams that outlive the dreamers. And it's about
six operations that are about to walk into that
ring carrying way more than just show halters.
Let me start with something that hit me like
a ton of bricks this week. For over 70 years,
think about that, over 70 years, Paul Eckstein
attended the Royal Winter Fair every single year.
This November will be the first without him.
Paul passed away earlier this year at 91. Here's
a man who escaped Nazi -occupied Czechoslovakia
as a boy and built one of Canada's most respected
breeding programs from absolutely nothing. and
now his son Ari is getting ready to show quality
Holstein's cattle for the first time without
his dad there. Picture this. Ari's in the barn,
checking those show halters one more time. He's
running his hand over this leather lead that's
been in the family for decades, the same one
his father used. He doesn't talk about the loss
directly, but you can feel it in every movement.
Ari told me something his dad always said. Attention
to every minor detail can lead to major success.
And that's exactly what Ari's doing. Following
those same routines, Paul perfected over 70 years.
Here's what really gets me. Ari and I have been
working on this photo collage decades of royal
winter fairs captured in these fading prints
and yellowed edges. There's Paul with young champions
that would go on to become foundation cows. Moments
of triumph caught mid -celebration. quiet conversations
between classes, each image telling part of a
story that spans 70 years. You can't download
that kind of legacy. You can't buy it. You just
earn it, year after year, royal after royal.
But here's the thing. Quality Holsteins isn't
the only operation carrying something heavy into
the ring next week. Let's talk about Kingsway
Holsteins. Morgan and Gord McMillan have photos
spanning four decades of royal winter fairs covering
their barn walls. Champions from years past,
near misses that still sting. And somewhere on
that wall, there's this empty space. It's reserved
for a grand champion banner that hasn't come
home yet. Gord's been chasing this dream for
longer than Morgan's been alive. Think about
inheriting someone else's dream while you're
trying to build your own. That's heavy stuff.
Here's what blows my mind about Kingsway. They're
ranked as Canada's number two breeder of all
time for excellent cows. and they had no idea.
They market so many heifers and cows every year,
with animals scoring excellent in other herds,
they never even tracked the total. That kind
of humility, focusing on the work instead of
the recognition, that tells you everything about
who these people are. Their foundation cow, Kingsway
Sanchez Arangatang, she died earlier this year
at nearly 15, after producing 18 excellent daughters.
18. Her genetics are now thriving in robotic
dairies in Saskatchewan, grazing operations in
the UK, show herds across North America. Her
influence keeps spreading, even after she's gone.
So you've got Orangutan's granddaughters being
prepped for Thursday's heifer show. You've got
Ari showing his father's genetics. Both operations
entering the royal, carrying forward the work
of those who can't be there to see it. That changes
everything about what winning means. Now, If
you want to talk about shock value, let me tell
you about the 2018 Royal Winterfair. Firm Jacobs
didn't just win, they swept. Grand Champion with
Jacobs Winbrook Amo, Reserve Grand Champion with
Jacobs Lothority Loana, both homebred from two
different cow families. First time any Canadian
breeder had swept Grand and Reserve with homebred
animals since 1969. But here's what really mattered.
In an industry going crazy over genomic testing
and data analytics, here was old -school proof
that traditional breeding wisdom, cow families
first, genomics last, still works. The Jacobs
family refuses to use any bull that's minus for
milk. They never flush cows during show season
because they believe it compromises that natural
bloom judges reward. They're teaching the next
generation, and not just about cattle. They're
teaching about character. how to win with grace,
how to lose with dignity, how to keep going when
neither happens. Picture three generations working
together in that barn, each with specific roles,
nobody needing to be told what to do. This is
knowledge passed hand to hand, season to season,
the kind you feel in your bones after enough
cold mornings and late nights. Now let me tell
you about two guys who've turned passion into
a business model. Simon Lalonde from Firm Blondin.
This guy walks differently than other breeders.
There's this energy, this urgency. For Simon,
the show ring isn't just competition. It's the
engine that drives his entire operation. Cattle
and embryo sales are his core business. And every
royal appearance creates ripples that reach buyers
worldwide. Simon put it perfectly. Success is
built on three things. Passion, hard work, and
perseverance. But passion comes first. Without
that, the other two don't matter. Then there's
Pierre Boulet. This man has achieved something
extraordinary. More EX97 cows than anyone in
the industry. EX97. That's near perfection, and
he's done it repeatedly. Like Simon, Pierre built
his operation around cattle sales. He understands
that the show ring creates market demand. Both
these guys have turned their eye for exceptional
cattle into thriving businesses where passion
and profit reinforce each other. These aren't
just breeding operations. They're places where
dreams take physical form, where excellence becomes
tangible in the arch of a top line, the depth
of a rib, the walk of a champion. But if you
want to talk about scale, let me blow your mind
with West Coast Holsteins. Operations spanning
multiple farms across provinces, thousands of
milking cows, thousands more young stock. You'd
think excellence would get lost in those numbers,
right? Wrong. they've created systems that identify
individual brilliance within industrial scale.
Their elite show prospects live in group housing
specifically designed to maintain competitive
appetites. It takes a team of dozens, each trained
to spot that one -in -a -thousand spark that
separates good from great. Think about the logistics
here. Somewhere in those thousands of cows, someone
noticed one special heifer, pulled her out, invested
months of preparation, That's systematic excellence
at a scale that shouldn't be possible, yet somehow
is. Now, all these operations, they're deep in
final preparation right now. What started 8 to
12 weeks ago with strategic feeding programs
has evolved into something approaching devotion.
Picture this scene from earlier this week. A
young woman spending 45 minutes working on a
single heifer's top line. Not because anyone
told her to, but because she could still see
room for improvement. Her grandmother standing
nearby, occasionally offering suggestions drawn
from decades of fitting cattle. Three generations
of knowledge concentrated in one moment of preparation.
At Quality Holsteins, this preparation carries
extraordinary weight. These are the same routines
Paul perfected over 70 years. Now Ari executes
them with matching precision. As Ari says, echoing
his dad, superior care allows cows with great
genetics to look amazing day in, and day out.
But preparation goes way beyond the physical.
These families have spent months building trust
with their animals, loading them on practice
trailer rides, inviting visitors to desensitize
them to crowds, teaching them that the chaos
of the show ring is just another day with people
who care about them. Last year at the Royal,
there was this young handler sitting quietly
in the straw beside her heifer, just being present,
no agenda, no training, just companionship. It
reminded me of the kids who will be competing
in the TD4H Classic starting Monday. That's where
the next generation learns these same lessons.
I actually competed in that event myself for
over a decade when it was called the Scotiabank
Haze Classic. I know firsthand what those quiet
moments of connection mean. That's the preparation
you don't see in the ring. The relationship that
makes an animal trust you enough to show at their
best when everything matters most. Here's what
amazes me after covering dairy breeding for years.
These six operations couldn't be more different
in approach, yet all consistently produce champions.
Firm Jacobs prioritizes cow families over genomics.
Kingsway favors proven sires whose names stay
in the marketplace long enough to build real
pedigrees. Quality, under Ari's careful hand,
pursues uncompromising type while maintaining
production, honoring Paul's vision. while adapting
to current realities. Simon Lalonde and Pierre
Boulet have built their businesses on show ring
excellence and cattle sales. West Coast leverages
massive scale to accelerate genetic progress.
Next Thursday's heifer show and Friday's cow
classes, the philosophy won't matter. Judge Joel
Lepage and his associate J .P. Proulx will evaluate
what's in front of them. Structural soundness,
mammary quality, dairy strength, that hard -to
-define presence, that separates good from great.
Yet somehow, all these different approaches converge
on the same fundamental truth. Excellence is
excellence, regardless of how you achieve it.
They're all optimizing for permanence, building
something that lasts. Whether through cow families
or genomics, passion or scale, they're creating
genetics that will influence the breed long after
the banners are forgotten. And here's where it
gets really interesting. The competition intensifies
with elite U .S. operations crossing the border.
Bujon, Triple T, Curry, Ackley, Milk Source,
Butler View. They're all bringing their own decades
of excellence to the ring. These American powerhouses
remind everyone that excellence knows no borders.
Next Thursday and Friday, Joel LePage and J .P.
Pruhl will evaluate cattle from two nations'
worth of dreams. Yet somehow, with Paul's empty
chair and these families' intertwined stories,
this year feels less about international rivalry
and more about shared dedication to excellence.
Let me put this in perspective. Last year, Canada
exported $201 .2 million in dairy genetic material
to over 70 countries. Behind every shipment is
a story like these. Families who've sacrificed,
persevered, refused to compromise, even when
easier paths beckoned. When Kingsway Genetics
influenced herds across the United Kingdom, when
Arangatang's daughters thrive in places she never
saw, that's impact transcending individual achievement.
These aren't just genetics being exported. They're
decades of decisions, generations of selection,
countless moments when someone chose the harder
path because it was the right one. This year
feels different, though. With Paul Eckstein's
passing, we're witnessing a transition. The giants
who built the foundation are passing the torch.
What matters now is how brightly that torch continues
to burn. Now, if you're listening to this thinking,
what does this mean for my farm? Let me tell
you something important. These aren't stories
about unlimited resources. Kingsway started with
a grade herd. A grade herd. Quality began when
Paul Eckstein arrived in Canada with nothing
except determination. Simon Lalonde and Pierre
Boulet built their operations on passion and
an eye for excellence, not deep pockets. They
share something more valuable than money, the
conviction that excellence is possible. Here's
the transformative lesson. Excellence takes decades,
not years. Paul Eckstein attended the Royal for
over 70 years. Ari worked alongside him for 20
years before taking the lead. There's no app
for that, no shortcut, no genomic test that replaces
time and dedication. Whether you trust data or
intuition, whether you're breeding for your own
herd or building a business around genetics,
What matters is consistency, showing up, keeping
going when progress feels invisible. In an age
where technology promises quick fixes, these
operations remind us that some things can't be
rushed. Next Thursday's heifer show, Friday's
cow classes, minutes in the ring that represent
decades of decisions. For Ari Eckstein, it's
his first royal without his father, but with
Paul's spirit in every animal they present. He's
created a poster tribute to his father that will
be displayed at the show, a visual reminder of
the legacy being carried forward. For Gord McMillan,
it might finally bring that grand champion banner
that completes Kingsway's journey. For Simon
Lalonde and Pierre Boulet, it's another chance
to prove that passion drives profit. What gives
me chills is knowing that young breeders walking
past Ari's tribute poster will see Paul's story
captured there. A boy who fled Czechoslovakia.
who built excellence from nothing, who showed
up for over 70 straight years, always willing
to share what he'd learned. Somewhere in those
barn aisles, a young person will look at that
poster and decide, this is what I want to do
with my life. That's how legacies work. Not through
genetics alone, but through inspiration past,
person to person, generation to generation. When
Joel LePage points to Grand Champions next Thursday
and Friday, when people pause at Ari's tribute
poster to remember Paul, when these six operations
walk their cattle into the ring, those gestures
will represent more than one day's achievement.
They'll validate decades of decisions made before
dawn, sacrifices nobody saw, and the courage
to keep pursuing excellence even when your heart
is breaking. But here's what covering the Royal
all these years has taught me. Every one of these
operations has already won. They've proven that
legacies don't die with their founders. They've
shown that passion can build sustainable businesses.
They've demonstrated that in an industry of increasing
scale and technology, there's still room for
operations driven by conviction and love. Next
Thursday and Friday at the Royal Winter Fair,
we won't just watch cattle being judged. We'll
witness what happens when dreams collide with
reality, when preparation meets opportunity.
when the next generation carries forward what
the previous generation built. The banners will
be awarded. Champions will be crowned. But this
year, with Paul's spirit present in his absence,
with multiple generations showing together, with
dreams both fulfilled and still pursued, the
Royal means something more. It's proof that some
things can't be stopped. Not by loss. Not by
markets. Not by time itself. Just farmers, their
families, their cattle. and dreams that refuse
to die. That's already victory enough. This is
The Bullseye, and I'll see you in the world.
This is The Bullseye Turn the volume high For
the icons of the ages They never will die From
the show ring thunder to The quiet strength they
knew now coming right on through. Oh, tell the
tale, tell the tale. The Beaumont legends live
here.