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 Welcome back to The
Bull Vine, where we cut through dairy industry
noise for insights that actually matter. Today's
different. We're not talking feed prices. We're
not analyzing quota movements or breaking down
milk contracts. We are diving deep into the human
stories behind the cattle, talking about a single
$8 ,100 phone call, a devastating barn fire,
and the extraordinary friendships that built
genetic empires now valued in the hundreds of
millions. Our mission today is to analyze the
genetics of success, but we are doing it through
the lens of institutional failure. We've compiled
an incredible stack of sources detailing the
rise of two legendary Holstein matriarchs, Westwood
H .C., Rudy Missy, and Stuckey Elm Park Black
Rose. Two of the greats. And what their lives
teach us about instinct versus data, and critically,
why the experts in the room keep missing the
cows that matter most. That failure is the uncomfortable
truth we need to deal with. I mean, every single
dynasty we will discuss today began with a cow
that the consensus walked away from. Every single
one. So if you are a breeder focused on long
-term generational success, you need to understand
precisely why the conventional wisdom of the
time missed the biggest opportunities, because
I guarantee you that same bias is operating in
your barn today. Okay, let's unpack this. To
start, we have to paint the scene of failure
back in 2003. February 2003. The setting is the
Wisconsin Holstein Convention's Sweetheart Sale.
I mean, you can practically feel the atmosphere.
It's bitter cold outside. The snow is blowing
sideways against the window panes. Right. But
the feeling inside the auction room isn't just
cold from the weather. It's cooled by, you know,
professional skepticism and the fatigue of a
long day. Exactly. The room was thinning out.
You had these experienced high stakes breeders,
people who drove through farm country slush,
missing that morning milking just to be there.
and they were visibly heading for the exits.
They had seen what they came to see. They thought
so. And all this while, a specific five -year
-old Holstein was standing in the ring, ready
to sell. That cow was Westwood H .C. Rudy Missy.
And the bidding had stalled out at a figure that,
for an elite, pedigreed auction, felt almost
insulting. Really did. It was stuck in the low
thousands, maybe a tenth of what the starlots
earlier in the day had commanded. Everyone was
looking for the flaw to justify walking away.
and the consensus had formed that consensus that
group think is almost always a death sentence
in genetics they had found the fatal flaw the
reason to reject her whispered among the auctioneers
and bidders her rump wasn't entirely balanced
her rump Wait, think about that technical critique
for a moment. Unbalanced rump. In 2003, we were
still heavily focused on extreme type and classification
scores. The visual perfection that wins banners.
An unbalanced rump, meaning the hip structure
didn't meet the aesthetic ideal for the show
ring. It wasn't perfect. It wasn't perfect. And
that was enough for the entire professional community
to say, not a sure thing. Too much risk. We pass.
She was a reject based on a subjective visual
standard of the time. Which perfectly illustrates
our mission today. We are systematically terrible
at recognizing genetic value when it stands right
in front of us. We really are. We focus so much
on that minute flaw, the unbalanced rump, the
slightly curved leg, the score on paper, that
we miss the engine of generational transmission
underneath. It's the difference between investing
in a highly polished machine versus investing
in the raw essential power source. And that's
the uncomfortable truth. She was dismissed by
everyone who saw her walk. Now let's jump into
segment one, the phone call betting on pure instinct.
The room is effectively silent. The competitive
bidding had stopped. Steve Hayes, one of Missy's
co -breeders, is standing there watching another
potential bidder shake his head and just walk
away. Oh, I can feel that feeling. You can just
feel that moment of creeping doubt, that whisper
every breeder knows. Have I been fooling myself
all along about this cow? That's the high stakes
moment where you're confident evaporates. But
then the universe intervenes or... More accurately,
deep -seated instinct takes over. The bidding
had stalled. The room was done. But then the
phone rings. The phone. It's ringing in the back
office of the sale. And on the other end is Matt
Steiner from Pine Tree Dairy in Ohio. What is
absolutely crucial here is that Steiner had never
laid eyes on Missy in person. Never seen her.
He was hundreds of miles away. He was relying
entirely on paper, reputation, and critically,
an intuition honed by decades of working with
successful maternal lines. He was relying on
the data points everyone else in that room was
actively ignoring because they were fixated on
the visual flaw. He didn't see the unbalanced
rump. He saw the pedigree and the production
potential printed on the sheet. He placed his
bid site unseen. $8 ,100. $8 ,100. Let's pause
on that number. In 2003, for a cow with a massive
reputation gap, that was still a significant
speculative bet. And that secured the cow. I
mean, think about the ROI of that single decision.
Westwood HC Rudy Missy went on to become the
2014 Global Cow of the Year. A decade later.
The fact that she was still dominating the conversation
a decade after she was nearly rejected at auction
is staggering. The multiplier effect on that
single gut instinct bid is... Truly generational.
Her descendants are not just good cows. They
are the foundation of modern breeding programs.
Literally the foundation. We're talking about
Seagull Bay Super Sire, who, through his semen
sales, went on to have over 100 ,000 daughters
worldwide. That is an unbelievable genetic footprint
on the entire breed. 100 ,000. I mean, it's a
number that's hard to even comprehend. And the
legacy doesn't stop there. We're looking at Genasaur's
captain, a direct descendant who held the coveted
number one TPI position for seven consecutive
crew runs right through December 2024. Seven
in a row. He remains one of the most influential
sires in the breed right now. For our listeners
who may not live and breathe these numbers daily,
TPI Total Performance Index is the global metric
that dictates breeding direction. It waits heavily
for health, longevity, and high production components.
The fact that Missy's line is still producing
the number one -ranked sire two decades later
proves the depth of that $8 ,100 investment.
What's fascinating here is the sheer financial
gravity. That $8 ,100 phone call generated hundreds
of millions in semen sales, not tens of millions,
hundreds. It's almost incalculable. If you break
down the sales figures of Super Sire and Captain
over two decades, the return on investment is
just, it's astronomical. I have to challenge
you and let's challenge the listener right now.
Knowing the context, knowing that Cal was three
states away and every expert in the room was
walking for the exits because of a structural
flaw? A small one at that. Would you, based solely
on her pedigree and reputation, place an $8 ,100
bid? It's easy to say yes now, knowing the outcome.
Living that high stakes risk is fundamentally
different. I'm a farmer. My instinct screams,
I need to see her walk. I need to feel her presence.
I need to judge that rump for myself. The conventional
approach, the safe approach, is to trust the
visual consensus in the room. So you would have
walked. I don't know if I would have been Steiner.
I think I would have walked away. And that's
exactly why I'm sitting here talking about the
$100 million genetic dynasty instead of owning
it. Steiner didn't trust the consensus. He trusted
his own experience, honed over decades, and the
deep maternal pedigree everyone else dismissed
for a cosmetic flaw. This raises a critical analytical
point. what exactly did matt steiner buy it wasn't
just a cow he bought a chance and critically
the optimal environment yes The stage. And the
key insight here comes from Missy's co -breeder,
Steve Wessing, who admitted with incredible candor,
I don't think she would ever score EX92 at our
place. Wait, that's a massive admission of humility
and self -awareness. Wessing is essentially saying,
we bred this cow, we loved her, but we also acknowledge
that our environment, our management, maybe even
our own classification expectations might have
held her back. She needed a different stage.
That's the critical piece of the puzzle. Steiner
didn't just acquire good genes. He provided the
optimal environment for those genes to express
their full potential. He gave her the stage to
perform, not just in terms of comfort and feed,
but in terms of aggressive breeding and flushing
programs designed to maximize genetic transmission.
That single anecdote forces us to question, are
we maximizing the potential of the genetics we
already own, or are we inadvertently limiting
them by the environment we provide and the standards
we impose? That's a practical check every farmer
needs to make. We spend so much time chasing
the next great bull, but are we walking past
the grade of cow we'll ever own because she doesn't
meet the visual standard that we impose, rather
than the genetic potential she truly holds? It's
a powerful moment of instinct over collective
dismissal. But to truly understand Missy, we
have to rewind further, back to the early 1990s
and the foundation of her life, a foundation
built on partnership, not profit. This is segment
two. The two Steves of partnership forged in
fire. This is where the story shifts from financial
risk to deep emotional commitment. Steve Wessing
and his wife Cheryl started out in the early
1990s with just 18 registered Holsteins from
the Milkstein herd. Just 18. A small start. And
they were immediately warned by industry veterans
that the herd lacked type. The critique was focused,
again, on aesthetics. Always the aesthetics.
And when those first cows were classified, the
industry warnings seemed accurate. Only one cow
scored. Very good. Milkstein citationed Della,
the direct ancestor of Missy. Just one. But Della
was the kind of cow you rely on. She showed up
every day, did her job, and was low maintenance.
She didn't win ribbons, but she delivered the
goods. But Wessing trusted his eyes over the
conventional wisdom. He saw consistency and depth
of pedigree, not just flash. And the other Steve,
his neighbor Steve Hayes, was also paying extremely
close attention. This is a quiet story about
observation across a shared fence line. Here's
what gets me about this part of the story. Hayes
wasn't consulting. He was studying. He walked
past that fence line every morning, watching
Wessing's young cows, how they moved, the depth
through their hearts, the structural soundness
that classification scores often miss. He was
looking for the engine underneath the paint job.
And when Della's granddaughter, Westwood Elton
Meany, came along, both Steves recognized that
she had that unquantifiable quality. Meany was
described as a treasure of a cow. Very low maintenance,
easy to work with. Her personality. She had personality.
She made sure she was always first at the feed
bunks. The quintessential farmer's cow, the kind
that pays the bills. But then the story takes
a devastating turn because farming is often brutal.
The disaster came. The fire. Anyone in agriculture
knows a barn fire is the absolute nightmare scenario.
Imagine the sound of the structure collapsing,
the smell of burning hay, the terror, the helplessness,
as years of work disappear into the smoke and
ash of one night. The sources recount that Mimi's
13 -year -old grandmother, Claudette, survived
the flames and the chaos. She had already given
Wessing a phenomenal quarter million pounds of
milk. Oh, huge producer. But the trauma caused
hip damage, effectively ending her milking career
just short of the 300 ,000 -pound milestone.
She was done. Her legacy survived, but her career
didn't. And Steve Wessing was left standing there.
staring at the ash -covered remains of his business,
doing the brutal, demoralizing math of loss.
He had no financial path forward except to call
a dispersal sale in December 1994. It's the moment
where you sign the paperwork and admit that sometimes
the uncontrollable forces win and you lose everything.
But this is where the partnership truly saves
the genetics, and maybe saves the person, too.
Before the auction even started, Steve Hayes
approached Wessing. He worked at a private handshake
agreement. What's the deal? If Hayes bid highest
on Mimi, they would own her together. Wait, think
about that level of partnership and emotional
commitment. Hayes wasn't bidding primarily to
profit from his friend's loss. He was stepping
in to share the burden, to keep the genetics
alive, and to ensure his friend remained connected
to the life and the success they had both watched
and believed in. When's the last time you saw
that level of friendship and selflessness at
a high -stakes auction? I can't think of one.
Hayes kept raising his hand past the point where
most breeders would squirm and drop out of financial
prudence. When the gavel finally fell, the two
friends became co -owners of what would eventually
be one of the most valuable cows in Holstein
history. It's the definition of turning adversity
into a shared opportunity, not for selfish reasons,
but for preservation. And it paid off in 1997,
although they felt only disappointment at the
time. How so? They bred Mimi to start more Rudolph.
The AI stud specifically wanted a bull calf from
that mating, the quick cash flow. Of course,
the industry wants the immediate financial return
on a bull sale. But the result was a heifer calf.
Westwood HC, Rudy Missy. The one they didn't
want. At the time, that must have felt like a
punch in the gut. The universe actively not cooperating.
You do the math on the lost bull sale and you
feel the disappointment. It was only in retrospect,
decades later, that they could see how the thing
that frustrated them. A heifer calf became the
foundation of the dynasty that would redefine
the breed for the next 50 years. And that dynasty
was built on Missy being a genetic multiplier?
She ultimately produced 18 sons accepted into
AI service, and 42 daughters classified excellent
or... Very good. Just incredible numbers. That's
a relentless high percentage transmission of
positive traits. It wasn't a single home run.
It was a consistent line drive, generation after
generation. Which again reinforces the theme.
They were betting on a cow that didn't look perfect,
and they're betting on a partnership born of
tragedy. When the conventional industry dismissed
her rump five years later in 2003, Matt Steiner
saw the potential, completing the trifecta of
instinctual decisions that launched this empire.
It's an amazing story. Now, let's shift focus
completely and move 15 years earlier to segment
three, which shows us that the industry's failure
of conventional wisdom is a chronic, recurring
theme, often driven by the instability of outside
money. Oh, yeah. We're going to talk about how
bankruptcy breeds champions, the Black Rose story.
This takes us back to the truly chaotic 1980s
investor era, a bizarre and speculative time
in the dairy industry fueled entirely by tax
code. This was driven by Section 46 of the Internal
Revenue Code. Let's be clear about what Section
46 did, because it's crucial to understanding
the insane prices. This section essentially allowed
wealthy outsiders to write off high -value cattle
purchases against their personal income, often
through accelerated depreciation or treating
these expensive animals as immediate high -value
tax -deductible assets. Precisely. This completely
decoupled the price of a Holstein from the reality
of farming economics. The source material mentions
famous examples like John Lennon of the Beatles.
The actual Beatles. Investing heavily through
George Morgan's Dream Street operation. You had
rock stars and Hollywood lawyers throwing money
into the pot. And cattle prices soared to astronomical
heights because the tax savings were the primary
motivation, not the milk check. And Jack Stuckey
was the man for that era. He built a huge empire,
dominating shows, all based on external investor
money flowing freely into the system, chasing
those tax write -offs. But bubbles always burst
when the underlying structure is unsound. When
the IRS began challenging those tax schemes,
the outside money dried up overnight. Gone. The
speculative bubble burst and financial collapse
followed immediately. This leads to one of the
hardest parts of the story to digest, demonstrating
the destructive, immediate power of financial
failure on pure genetics. In the winter of 1985,
Stuckey couldn't pay his staff, and he was desperate
for cash flow. He ordered staff to load a trailer
with bull calves, bulls he had previously intended
to sell for breeding, and send them to slaughter.
This was purely for the immediate cash realization.
And these weren't just any bull calves. No. Among
them were three sons of the legendary Continental
Scarlet. Wait, an AI stud had already spoken
for one of those bulls. The potential was known,
the future pedigree was there, but Stooky couldn't
wait. The bills couldn't wait. Think about the
hired hands loading those prime calves onto the
trailer, knowing the generational potential they
were sending to the rail simply because a corporate
balance sheet had collapsed. It's a moment of
absolute visceral loss. Genetics that could have
shaped the breed for decades were wiped out for
the sake of a weekly payroll, the direct consequence
of leveraging pure genetics with unsound external
financing. But where most people saw only the
wreckage, Louis Prange saw potential. This is
the moment where we see another exceptional stockman
who trusted his eyes over the chaos. Right. Everyone
else was running from the stooky mess and the
smell of bankruptcy, but Prange knew the world
-class genetics were still there, locked up in
legal limbo. He worked out an incredibly clever
deal with the bankruptcy trustee. He would lease
the best cows, flush embryos, and split the proceeds.
This allowed the genetic legacy to survive the
courtroom drama and the financial meltdown. And
among those salvaged genetics... Was Nandette
T .T. Speckle -Red? a dominant red and white
show cow. Branch's next move was a textbook example
of advanced breeding philosophy, the corrective
cross. Speckle Red was a stunning show cow, but
needed a boost in certain structural areas and
components. So he planned to breed her to Tumar
Blackstar, a proven production powerhouse who
needed structural help. He was aiming for that
perfect, balanced combination of type and production.
And here's Stooky, even in bankruptcy, trying
to exert control. When it came time for the Black
Star seaman delivery, Stuckey allegedly tried
to interfere, telling Prange that his tank ran
dry. Unbelievable. A final petty attempt to sabotage
the future of his own cattle line. But Prange
followed his gut and his vision. On March 24,
1990, Stuckey Elm Park Black Rose was born, conceived
not through corporate mandate, but through vision
in the shadow of the bankruptcy court. Again,
she was just a calf. But when she hit the auction
block in December 1991, selling for a modest
$4 ,500. A fraction of the investor error prices.
Significantly lower, yeah. A fitter named Mark
Rueth saw her. And Rueth, who spent his life
analyzing cattle movement and confirmation, saw
the potential. He told his partner, Mark Vanmersbergen,
that this heifer was special. Deep -ribbed, wide
-rumped, you just know. You just know. Another
moment where Instinct absolutely trumped the
low price tag. They partnered with Indian Head
Holsteins on the purchase. And Black Rose grew
into an absolute force of nature. Her numbers
were exceptional. EX96 classification and massive
production. 42 ,229 pounds of milk at five years
old with huge components. A 4 .6 % butterfat
average. Just a powerhouse. But the real industry
-changing legacy of Black Rose came through her
lineage. That line eventually led to lavender
ruby red rose red, who in 2005 did something
truly unprecedented. She became the first and
only red and white cow ever named supreme champion
over all breeds at World Dairy Expo. We have
to let this moment land with our listeners. For
decades, decades, red and white breeders had
been considered second tier. Absolutely. They
were told their cattle were beautiful, competitive
within their color class. But structurally, visually,
or genetically, they would never stand against
the best black and whites in the ultimate contest.
It was institutional dismissal of an entire genetic
pool. The conventional wisdom had written off
the color and the people who championed it. When
Red Rose Red stood alone in the Coliseum at Madison,
above every single other champion in the building,
it was complete vindication. It was a massive
industry -wide correction. It proved something.
It proved that the genetic potential salvaged
by Prange didn't care about the bankruptcy court
that tried to kill it or the conventional wisdom
that dismissed its color. They won the whole
damn thing. And the dynasty is still active today,
proving the long -term power of Prange's vision
and the Black Rose Cow. That same bloodline flows
through Lady Rose Caught Your Eye, who was EX95
and dominated the color shavings at the 2024
World Dairy Expo. It's a lineage that began in
the wreckage of a financial collapse and defied
every aesthetic bias in the book. It's the ultimate
proof that you cannot kill great genetics with
bad business decisions or restrictive classification
standards. That brings us to segment four. where
we reiterate the uncomfortable truth by looking
at the definitive historical comparison. The
cheap cow wins. Again, we have to question, why
does the industry keep making this mistake? The
pattern holds relentlessly across eras. Let's
go back to the legendary Hanover Hill dispersal
sale in 1985, the very heart of that chaotic
investor era we just discussed. On one side,
you had Brookview Tony Charity. She was the conventional
sure bet, the consensus pick, the... The poster
child for the investment bubble. All the hype.
She had the pedigree, the look, and the hype.
She sold for $1 .45 million. That was the price
of guaranteed pedigree and perceived certainty.
And then you had designer miss. She was the absolute
overlooked cow. She sold for $2 ,100, the lowest
price of the entire sale. She was the ultimate
reject. The one every bidder walked past and
dismissed as structurally inferior or lacking
the necessary immediate pedigree hype. And yet,
history tells the tale. Every single reject we've
discussed, Missy for $8 ,100, Black Rose for
$4 ,500, Designer Miss for $2 ,100, outperformed
the conventional million -dollar sure bets of
their respective eras in terms of deep generational
genetic impact and longevity. The cheap cow won
the legacy race every single time. What stands
out to me is that the data available at the time,
whether it was classification scores or the immediate
pedigree hype, simply couldn't capture what made
them special. They couldn't see it. The classification
standards missed the depth of heart. The auction
consensus dismissed the slightly unbalanced rump.
The industry was blinded by immediate hype and
structural perfectionism, confusing a beautiful
animal with a foundational animal. So let's bring
this analysis right up to the present. We are
sitting here in December 2025. We have genomics
now. We have tools that tell us more about a
cow's potential than we've ever known. Health
indexes, fertility indexes, advanced TPI weightings.
Are we, as an industry, any better at avoiding
this persistent mistake? I'm not sure I buy the
conventional take that we are. We've just substituted
one form of paper perfection visual classification,
which was flawed, with another, genomic scores
and indexes, which can also become dogma. That's
a great point. The fundamental human challenge
remains the same. The biggest mistake isn't buying
the wrong cow. It's walking away from the right
cow because she doesn't look perfect on paper
or meet the current trending genomic consensus.
That's the crux of the issue. We still apply
human bias to the data. We prioritize a high
immediate index score that aligns with the current
market fad. And we risk dismissing the cow with
slightly lower numbers, but deeper proven maternal
consistency. the kind that built the Missy and
Black Rose lines. The sources reinforce that
the legacies are still active and generating
massive value today. We have the living proof.
Genesaur's captain from the Missy line is a defining
sire of his generation. And Lady Rose Caught
Your Eye from the Black Rose line continues to
dominate the show circuit. And let's bring back
one point that emphasizes generational transmission
over individual flash. Rudy Missy's great -granddaughter,
Ammon Peachy Shawna E .T., was named 2015 Global
Cow of the Year. So that means? That means the
grandmother and the great -granddaughter were
back -to -back global cow winners. That kind
of consistency across multiple generations is
not luck. No. That is not luck. It's evidence
of deep -seated genetic destiny and profound
transmission ability. That ability to relentlessly
pass on positive traits regardless of immediate
environment or visual appraisal is the core value
the industry keeps overlooking. And it seems
the Steiner family, who bought Missy, they still
get this. They still host tours and teach that
maternal lines that consistently transmit health
and production across three generations matter
more than the most recent flash -in -the -pan
bull selection. And while Skill positioned these
breeders Wessing breeding the Milkstein line,
Prenge making the precise corrective Crosty,
we must acknowledge the role of luck. Oh, absolutely.
The fire didn't take more. Hayes had the money
and the heart to bid. Steiner took the critical
phone call. But those skilled stockmen were positioned
to capitalize on the lucky break precisely because
they kept trusting their observation when everyone
else relied on easy convention. The lesson here
is, skill puts you in the game, instinct helps
you recognize the winning card when it's dealt,
and luck decides when the jackpot hits. That
leads perfectly into our final segment. What
does this all mean for the farmer who's driving
to the feed store right now? How do these historic,
dramatic stories apply to the very practical
decisions being made in your barn this week?
These stories are fundamentally about small human
decisions. Neighbors, phone calls, risking careers,
not giant corporate breeding programs. It's about
maintaining a clear long -term vision in the
face of crisis and consensus. Let's break down
the four lessons from the matriarchs. Lesson
number one, trust your eyes over conventional
wisdom. We saw this with Steve Wessing, who bought
registered Holsteins. Others warned him about
lacking type. We saw it with Matt Steiner, who
made that sight unseen $8 ,100 phone bid, ignoring
the consensus fixated on the unbalanced rump.
And we absolutely saw it with Louis Prange, who
risked his reputation and invested in genetics
everyone else had abandoned in a bankruptcy court,
trusting the potential of the corrective cross.
Practically speaking, you must develop your own
eye and trust it. Don't dismiss a promising heifer
because she falls outside the herd average TPI
by 20 points or because the classifier noted
a small structural flaw. If she consistently
shows up every day, if she's low maintenance,
if her daughters outperform the average conventional
wisdom be damned, that cow is paying your bills,
not the index scores. Lesson number two, build
partnerships that share your vision. The two
Steves are the perfect... powerful example here.
They kept the genetics alive through a devastating
crisis because they committed to sharing the
burden. They created more together, Missy, than
either could have created alone. 100%. Great
genetics need great teams, especially when disaster
strikes. And the partnership has to be based
on shared long -term values, not just shared
short -term profit. Hayes wasn't trying to make
a quick buck off Wessing's loss. He was trying
to preserve a friendship and a genetic line they
had built together. If you can't trust your partner
when the barn is literally burning down or the
bank is calling, they're not the right partner
for generational success. Lesson number three,
focus on transmission, not just individual performance.
This is the absolute critical difference between
a flash -in -the -pan high seller and a genetic
dynasty. The cows that built these empires were
the ones who consistently passed their best traits
to the next generation, regardless of their own
show ring status. Like Missy, the genetic multiplier.
And the incredible rare feat of her great -granddaughter,
Shawna E .T., achieving global cow status. Applying
this directly. How does focusing on transmission
change your breeding choices this season? Are
you selecting for the highest single trait index?
Or are you looking at the proven deep maternal
lines where the dam and grand dam consistently
produce offspring that transmit health, production,
and longevity across three or four generations?
The smart money goes where consistency is proven.
And finally, lesson number four, be patient through
adversity. Fires, bankruptcy, dismissive options,
these were not endpoints for these breeders.
They were necessary stepping stones. They kept
going when quitting would have been easier, quieter,
and probably, on paper, fiscally smarter in the
short term. It took 15 years for Black Rose's
lineage to deliver that supreme champion win,
vindicating the entire red and white segment.
It took years for Missy's sons to fully prove
the value of the $8 ,100 bid. Genetic change
is measured in generations, not quarters, not
annual sales cycles. You have to be willing to
wait for the bet to pay off, especially when
the market and the critics are telling you that
you've wasted your time and money. That is the
essential insight from these matriarchs. The
best genetics don't announce themselves with
a million dollar price tag or a perfect rump.
They show up every day, demonstrate durability,
and patiently wait for a stockman with the vision
to recognize them and the environment to support
them. So let's crane the actionable takeaways
for the farmer driving to the feed store right
now. What three things do you absolutely need
to remember from this deep dive? First, this
week, walk your barn. Look hard at the heifer
everyone, including your neighbor, is walking
past, the one that doesn't quite fit the mold
on paper. Reclassify her in your mind based on
observation, efficiency, and depth of heart.
Ask yourself, is this my missy, waiting for the
right opportunity? Second, this quarter. Find
your Steve Hayes. Identify someone who truly
shares your long -term vision, someone who would
step in to help you manage the genetics or share
the burden, not just buy the genetics. Build
a partnership that can withstand adversity, because
disaster is always one phone call or one night
away. And third, long -term. breed for consistent
transmission across generations. Stop chasing
the individual flash of the moment and focus
on the deep, proven maternal power that keeps
paying dividends 20 years down the line, ensuring
that your legacy is measured in centuries, not
just seasons. That's been our deep dive into
the hidden genetic dynasties of the Holstein
breed, the stories of cows too good for conventional
wisdom. That's the bull vine. More straight talk
and industry analysis at www .thebullvine .com.
Subscribe wherever you listen. New deep dives
drop regularly. We'll leave you with this final
provocative thought. The next Rudy Missy, the
next Black Rose, is somewhere right now, quietly
carrying the genetics that will reshape our industry
for the next 50 years. The experts are walking
away from her because her rump isn't balanced
or her genomic index is 20 points too low. Maybe
the phone is ringing in your back office right
now. Maybe that cow nobody's fighting for is
standing in your barn tomorrow morning. That
might be the one. 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 use. Hear their stories
now. Legends live here