WEBVTT 00:00:14.189 --> 00:00:20.969 Creeping over fields of green Remembering the 00:00:20.969 --> 00:00:27.269 faces The moments unseen The hands that built 00:00:27.269 --> 00:00:33.590 a dynasty The vision in their eyes Echoes in 00:00:33.590 --> 00:00:38.810 the auction bar Beneath an endless sky This is 00:00:38.810 --> 00:01:03.640 the bull buy Turn the bar You're standing on 00:01:03.640 --> 00:01:07.400 a hillside in West Salem, Ohio. It's June 1961, 00:01:07.760 --> 00:01:11.260 and the morning dew hasn't burned off yet. You've 00:01:11.260 --> 00:01:13.459 stopped here on your way to the National Holstein 00:01:13.459 --> 00:01:16.079 Convention in Cleveland, figured you'd visit 00:01:16.079 --> 00:01:18.799 your old neighbor John Snoddy, maybe look at 00:01:18.799 --> 00:01:20.480 some cattle for the new herd you're building 00:01:20.480 --> 00:01:23.900 out in Colorado. But now you've forgotten why 00:01:23.900 --> 00:01:27.019 you came. Because the cows are coming over the 00:01:27.019 --> 00:01:31.359 hill. They crest that rise behind the barn. walking 00:01:31.359 --> 00:01:33.859 single file through the summer pasture, and you 00:01:33.859 --> 00:01:35.959 stand there like a man who's just seen something 00:01:35.959 --> 00:01:39.200 he can't quite name. At the head of the line 00:01:39.200 --> 00:01:42.799 is a five -year -old cow, tall, sharp, angular, 00:01:43.060 --> 00:01:45.959 in a way that makes you look twice. She has a 00:01:45.959 --> 00:01:48.700 head on her like nothing you've ever seen. Perfect, 00:01:48.879 --> 00:01:50.840 really, the kind of head that makes everything 00:01:50.840 --> 00:01:53.980 else about a cow fall into place. Her legs are 00:01:53.980 --> 00:01:57.060 clean and strong with exceptional heel. And the 00:01:57.060 --> 00:02:00.180 way she moves... You've been around livestock 00:02:00.180 --> 00:02:03.359 your whole life. Your father was Ohio's largest 00:02:03.359 --> 00:02:06.019 draft horse dealer. You grew up watching men 00:02:06.019 --> 00:02:08.379 read animals the way other people read books. 00:02:08.620 --> 00:02:11.819 You know what greatness looks like. This cow 00:02:11.819 --> 00:02:14.900 has it. What you can't know, standing there in 00:02:14.900 --> 00:02:17.159 the wet grass, your convention plans forgotten, 00:02:17.479 --> 00:02:20.500 is that you're looking at the cow who will reshape 00:02:20.500 --> 00:02:23.080 Holstein genetics for the next half century. 00:02:23.789 --> 00:02:26.389 that her genetics will flow into virtually every 00:02:26.389 --> 00:02:30.150 Holstein pedigree in North America, that 60 years 00:02:30.150 --> 00:02:32.710 from now, dairy farmers will still be tracing 00:02:32.710 --> 00:02:35.990 their best cows back to this moment, this hillside, 00:02:36.050 --> 00:02:38.569 this animal walking toward you through the morning 00:02:38.569 --> 00:02:42.590 light. Her name is Harborcrest Rose Millie, and 00:02:42.590 --> 00:02:44.990 the story of how she got here, that starts with 00:02:44.990 --> 00:02:47.610 a man selling pigs to buy a cow nobody wanted. 00:02:48.229 --> 00:02:51.729 Lake Stenham, you're John Snotty. and your pockets 00:02:51.729 --> 00:02:54.530 are warm with cash from market hogs you sold 00:02:54.530 --> 00:02:57.949 this morning. You stand in a drafty auction tent 00:02:57.949 --> 00:03:00.710 at the Shearer and Hodge Dispersal in Lakeville, 00:03:00.789 --> 00:03:03.789 Ohio, stamping your feet on the packed dirt while 00:03:03.789 --> 00:03:06.969 your breath clouds in front of you. One of those 00:03:06.969 --> 00:03:09.050 November evenings that seeps into your bones, 00:03:09.210 --> 00:03:12.090 the kind that makes you wonder why anyone farms 00:03:12.090 --> 00:03:15.849 in the Midwest. Around you, neighboring farmers 00:03:15.849 --> 00:03:18.560 huddle together. watching registered and grade 00:03:18.560 --> 00:03:22.300 Holsteins parade through in the dim light. Nothing 00:03:22.300 --> 00:03:25.319 special about this sale. Just another dispersal, 00:03:25.340 --> 00:03:27.879 the kind that dots the countryside every autumn 00:03:27.879 --> 00:03:30.740 when someone gives up or dies or decides the 00:03:30.740 --> 00:03:32.879 dairy business isn't worth the trouble anymore. 00:03:33.599 --> 00:03:35.719 You're looking for something to upgrade your 00:03:35.719 --> 00:03:39.060 herd. Harbourcrest Farm isn't a big operation. 00:03:39.419 --> 00:03:42.259 You and your brothers work together, run a respectable 00:03:42.259 --> 00:03:45.360 number of cows, Try to improve a little each 00:03:45.360 --> 00:03:48.300 year the way your father taught you. The pig 00:03:48.300 --> 00:03:50.599 money in your pocket represents months of extra 00:03:50.599 --> 00:03:53.900 work, animals raised and fed and hauled to market 00:03:53.900 --> 00:03:56.659 so you could stand here tonight and maybe, maybe, 00:03:56.780 --> 00:04:00.419 find something worth bringing home. A gangly 00:04:00.419 --> 00:04:02.860 two -year -old heifer enters the ring. You lean 00:04:02.860 --> 00:04:06.080 forward. She's exceptionally tall, almost two 00:04:06.080 --> 00:04:08.780 -leggy. Her udder is what you'd charitably describe 00:04:08.780 --> 00:04:12.340 as a little bitty thing. Nothing that suggests 00:04:12.340 --> 00:04:15.580 the production capacity you're looking for. By 00:04:15.580 --> 00:04:17.819 every standard measure the neighbors use to judge 00:04:17.819 --> 00:04:20.939 cattle, this heifer has problems. But you're 00:04:20.939 --> 00:04:23.259 not looking at her udder, you're looking at her 00:04:23.259 --> 00:04:26.899 sire's name on the sale sheet. Bonheur Canuck 00:04:26.899 --> 00:04:29.379 Supreme. That name tells you there's Canadian 00:04:29.379 --> 00:04:33.079 blood here. Mount Victoria Breeding. The concentrated 00:04:33.079 --> 00:04:36.060 Montvic genetics that built some of Canada's 00:04:36.060 --> 00:04:38.800 most admired cattle. You know these bloodlines. 00:04:39.230 --> 00:04:41.810 You've studied pedigrees the way some men study 00:04:41.810 --> 00:04:45.149 racing forms, traced the inheritance of traits 00:04:45.149 --> 00:04:47.689 through generations of cattle the same way you 00:04:47.689 --> 00:04:51.449 trace features through families at church. Because 00:04:51.449 --> 00:04:54.430 here's the thing about you, John Snoddy, and 00:04:54.430 --> 00:04:56.709 this is documented, not just a nice story people 00:04:56.709 --> 00:04:59.589 tell later. You have this habit of sitting in 00:04:59.589 --> 00:05:02.129 your church choir on Sunday mornings, gazing 00:05:02.129 --> 00:05:05.579 down at the congregation, studying faces. You 00:05:05.579 --> 00:05:07.860 watch how children's features combine traits 00:05:07.860 --> 00:05:10.800 from both parents. Sometimes they get the best 00:05:10.800 --> 00:05:14.319 of each. Sometimes they get the worst. You know 00:05:14.319 --> 00:05:16.720 these families going back two, three generations. 00:05:17.220 --> 00:05:20.079 You've mentally cataloged which traits dominate, 00:05:20.300 --> 00:05:23.259 which recede. You're trying to understand why 00:05:23.259 --> 00:05:26.000 one child turns out one way and the next completely 00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:29.040 different. You believe cattle work the same way. 00:05:29.339 --> 00:05:32.360 And when you look at this gangly heifer, Supreme 00:05:32.360 --> 00:05:35.420 Fae Marilyn, they're calling her. You see something 00:05:35.420 --> 00:05:37.519 in the breeding that the man standing next to 00:05:37.519 --> 00:05:42.339 you probably misses. You bid $375, below average 00:05:42.339 --> 00:05:46.019 for the sale. The gavel falls. Your wife Blanche 00:05:46.019 --> 00:05:48.360 walks through the barn to check on the new purchase 00:05:48.360 --> 00:05:51.139 while you're still unloading. You hear her footsteps 00:05:51.139 --> 00:05:55.079 stop. The heifer stands in a tie stall, her hind 00:05:55.079 --> 00:05:58.459 legs in the gutter, all awkward angles and excessive 00:05:58.459 --> 00:06:01.920 leg. She looks even worse under the bare bulb 00:06:01.920 --> 00:06:04.920 than she did in the auction tent. You hear Blanche's 00:06:04.920 --> 00:06:08.519 voice, soft, talking to herself. Oh my gracious, 00:06:08.740 --> 00:06:11.860 I hope we haven't wasted the pig money. When 00:06:11.860 --> 00:06:13.980 your brothers see the heifer the next day, they 00:06:13.980 --> 00:06:17.620 laugh. Good -naturedly, but they laugh. Too long 00:06:17.620 --> 00:06:20.100 -legged, they say. What were you thinking, John? 00:06:20.480 --> 00:06:22.839 Your neighbors stop by over the following weeks. 00:06:22.980 --> 00:06:26.259 They laugh too. You say nothing. You just keep 00:06:26.259 --> 00:06:28.759 looking at this heifer, at her pedigree, at the 00:06:28.759 --> 00:06:32.160 bloodlines converging in her angular frame. You 00:06:32.160 --> 00:06:34.939 breed her to Rainbow Sir Rose, a bull you and 00:06:34.939 --> 00:06:37.939 your brothers have proven yourselves. Rose carries 00:06:37.939 --> 00:06:41.339 six crosses to Sir Bess Ormsby Fobes' 56th in 00:06:41.339 --> 00:06:44.199 just five generations, one of the most intensely 00:06:44.199 --> 00:06:47.759 linebred animals in the Midwest. Robin Carr's 00:06:47.759 --> 00:06:50.339 concentrated breeding program in Michigan produced 00:06:50.339 --> 00:06:52.839 him, and you've seen what that tight pedigree 00:06:52.839 --> 00:06:56.139 can stamp on offspring. You're betting everything. 00:06:56.519 --> 00:06:59.360 The pig money, your reputation with the neighbors, 00:06:59.560 --> 00:07:02.610 your own judgment. that the Mount Victoria genetics 00:07:02.610 --> 00:07:05.430 in this gangly heifer will click with that Sir 00:07:05.430 --> 00:07:09.110 Bess Ormsby Phobes concentration. Christmas Eve, 00:07:09.269 --> 00:07:12.670 1955. The heifer goes into labor. You're in the 00:07:12.670 --> 00:07:16.129 barn. Same as you've been for hundreds of calvings. 00:07:16.149 --> 00:07:19.029 But something feels different tonight. The snow 00:07:19.029 --> 00:07:21.730 is falling outside. Your family is waiting at 00:07:21.730 --> 00:07:25.370 the house. And this calf. This calf matters in 00:07:25.370 --> 00:07:28.209 a way you can't quite explain. The result of 00:07:28.209 --> 00:07:31.480 that mating hits the straw. A heifer calf, tall, 00:07:31.720 --> 00:07:34.240 long -bodied, with that beautiful head and neck 00:07:34.240 --> 00:07:36.560 that will become her trademark. You name her 00:07:36.560 --> 00:07:40.259 Millie. The years pass. You watch Millie grow. 00:07:40.519 --> 00:07:43.420 As a calf, she's exactly what you hoped for. 00:07:43.560 --> 00:07:47.560 That beautiful head. That length of body. Something 00:07:47.560 --> 00:07:49.699 in the way she carries herself that confirms 00:07:49.699 --> 00:07:52.120 every instinct that made you bid on her damn 00:07:52.120 --> 00:07:55.459 that cold November night. But as she grows into 00:07:55.459 --> 00:07:58.839 a heifer, something strange happens. Buyers start 00:07:58.839 --> 00:08:01.540 coming through your barn. Word gets around when 00:08:01.540 --> 00:08:03.600 you have good cattle for sale. That's how the 00:08:03.600 --> 00:08:06.600 Holstein business works. Men drive in from neighboring 00:08:06.600 --> 00:08:09.480 counties, walk through your tie stalls, point 00:08:09.480 --> 00:08:12.459 at the animals they want to take home. They walk 00:08:12.459 --> 00:08:15.980 right past Millie. Every time. Too leggy, they 00:08:15.980 --> 00:08:19.360 say. Too shallow -bodied. Too much rib and not 00:08:19.360 --> 00:08:21.819 enough middle. By the standards of that era, 00:08:21.920 --> 00:08:25.439 the late 1950s, when breeders want compact, deep 00:08:25.439 --> 00:08:28.649 -bodied animals that look safe, Millie has problems. 00:08:29.389 --> 00:08:31.509 Buyers pick the shorter heifers with more barrel, 00:08:31.629 --> 00:08:34.070 the ones that fit the picture in breeders' minds, 00:08:34.269 --> 00:08:37.029 the ones their neighbors will approve of. Millie 00:08:37.029 --> 00:08:39.549 stands in her stall, and nobody gives her a second 00:08:39.549 --> 00:08:42.730 look. But you can't stop watching her. You call 00:08:42.730 --> 00:08:45.870 it her dairy quality. That magnetism you can't 00:08:45.870 --> 00:08:48.750 quite define, but know when you see it. Something 00:08:48.750 --> 00:08:51.149 about the way she's put together, the way she 00:08:51.149 --> 00:08:54.129 carries herself. You've seen it in maybe a handful 00:08:54.129 --> 00:08:56.730 of animals in your life. that indefinable thing 00:08:56.730 --> 00:08:59.330 that separates a good cow from something more. 00:08:59.629 --> 00:09:03.269 She freshens. Goes to work. First classification 00:09:03.269 --> 00:09:07.769 at two years, 11 months. Very good 87. Nothing 00:09:07.769 --> 00:09:10.149 spectacular. Not the kind of score that makes 00:09:10.149 --> 00:09:12.830 the coffee shop gossip at the feed mill. At three 00:09:12.830 --> 00:09:16.389 and a half years, she makes 17 ,959 pounds of 00:09:16.389 --> 00:09:21.629 milk with 767 pounds of fat at 4 .3%. Solid numbers 00:09:21.629 --> 00:09:23.929 for a young cow. but not the kind that make the 00:09:23.929 --> 00:09:27.009 front page of Holstein Friesian World. You breed 00:09:27.009 --> 00:09:29.389 her three straight times to Raven Burke Arka. 00:09:30.470 --> 00:09:33.070 Ideal, an excellent gold medal sire that's clicking 00:09:33.070 --> 00:09:36.570 in your herd. First mating, a bull calf, born 00:09:36.570 --> 00:09:38.909 dead. That kind of loss hits harder than the 00:09:38.909 --> 00:09:41.590 ledger ever shows. You don't talk about it much, 00:09:41.710 --> 00:09:44.250 farmers don't, but you feel it, the potential 00:09:44.250 --> 00:09:47.470 that never got a chance. Second mating, harbor 00:09:47.470 --> 00:09:49.990 crest maple raven, a heifer who will eventually 00:09:49.990 --> 00:09:53.860 classify excellent 94. a keeper. Third mating, 00:09:54.000 --> 00:09:56.480 a bull, Harbor Crest Sunshine, good enough to 00:09:56.480 --> 00:09:59.019 go into service at Northern Ohio Breeders Association. 00:09:59.460 --> 00:10:02.139 And during that third lactation, something changes. 00:10:02.379 --> 00:10:07.259 At five years old, Millie makes 23 ,355 pounds 00:10:07.259 --> 00:10:10.799 of milk with 963 pounds of fat. Her classification 00:10:10.799 --> 00:10:14.519 jumps to excellent 91. She's grown into that 00:10:14.519 --> 00:10:17.620 frame. All that leg and length that looked wrong 00:10:17.620 --> 00:10:20.139 as a heifer suddenly makes perfect sense on a 00:10:20.139 --> 00:10:22.840 working cow. You stand in your barn, watching 00:10:22.840 --> 00:10:25.759 her, and you know. You were right. The neighbors 00:10:25.759 --> 00:10:28.899 were wrong. The pig money wasn't wasted. And 00:10:28.899 --> 00:10:30.860 that's when an old neighbor named Dick Brooks 00:10:30.860 --> 00:10:33.600 comes home for a visit. You're Dick Brooks now. 00:10:34.259 --> 00:10:36.639 You weren't born to dairy farming. You're the 00:10:36.639 --> 00:10:39.799 son of Ohio's largest draft horse dealer. But 00:10:39.799 --> 00:10:41.879 you grew up watching your father and grandfather 00:10:41.879 --> 00:10:44.580 read livestock the way other people read books. 00:10:44.799 --> 00:10:47.700 And somewhere along the line, cattle got in your 00:10:47.700 --> 00:10:50.860 blood. Before family health issues forced you 00:10:50.860 --> 00:10:53.460 west, you built a Holstein herd in Ohio that 00:10:53.460 --> 00:10:56.940 averaged 601 pounds of fat. Big league numbers 00:10:56.940 --> 00:10:59.879 for that era. You know what good cattle look 00:10:59.879 --> 00:11:03.379 like. More importantly, you know what great cattle 00:11:03.379 --> 00:11:06.379 can become. Now you're building something new. 00:11:06.940 --> 00:11:10.340 Paclamar Farms, near Louisville, Colorado. You've 00:11:10.340 --> 00:11:12.240 scraped together a partnership with a Dallas 00:11:12.240 --> 00:11:15.279 oilman and two Michigan Volkswagen dealers. Men 00:11:15.279 --> 00:11:17.679 with money to invest. men who trust your eye 00:11:17.679 --> 00:11:20.980 for cattle the name came from your wives patricia 00:11:20.980 --> 00:11:23.740 clara margaret the place doesn't look like your 00:11:23.740 --> 00:11:28.299 typical family dairy 240 acres 17 steel frame 00:11:28.299 --> 00:11:31.740 buildings a show string big ambitions but ambition 00:11:31.740 --> 00:11:35.620 needs a foundation you need cows females with 00:11:35.620 --> 00:11:38.240 enough genetic firepower to build a program around 00:11:38.240 --> 00:11:41.720 you've been searching for months attending sales, 00:11:42.000 --> 00:11:44.259 visiting herds, looking for that combination 00:11:44.259 --> 00:11:47.500 of breeding and confirmation and production that 00:11:47.500 --> 00:11:50.820 can anchor a legacy. So when you stop at your 00:11:50.820 --> 00:11:52.980 old neighbor John Snoddy's place on your way 00:11:52.980 --> 00:11:55.659 to the national convention, you're not expecting 00:11:55.659 --> 00:11:59.019 anything special. You're just being polite, catching 00:11:59.019 --> 00:12:02.100 up with a friend from back home. Then the cows 00:12:02.100 --> 00:12:05.120 come over that hill, and you see her. She's leading 00:12:05.120 --> 00:12:07.639 the herd, walking single file through the summer 00:12:07.639 --> 00:12:11.519 pasture, five years old. Tall and sharp, a little 00:12:11.519 --> 00:12:14.480 shallow in the rib both fore and rear. You notice 00:12:14.480 --> 00:12:17.120 the faults, because noticing faults is your job, 00:12:17.220 --> 00:12:19.840 but perfect in utter shape and teat placement. 00:12:20.419 --> 00:12:23.419 And her legs. You've looked at thousands of cows 00:12:23.419 --> 00:12:26.000 in your life. You've never seen legs like this. 00:12:26.179 --> 00:12:28.799 The combination of cleanness and strength and 00:12:28.799 --> 00:12:31.399 heel, it's as close to perfect as you've ever 00:12:31.399 --> 00:12:33.899 witnessed. You stand there in the wet grass, 00:12:34.120 --> 00:12:36.960 and you feel it in your gut. You want this cow. 00:12:37.500 --> 00:12:41.470 Badly. John Snotty walks up beside you. You can 00:12:41.470 --> 00:12:43.690 tell by the way he's looking at Millie that he 00:12:43.690 --> 00:12:46.049 already knows what you're thinking. He's equally 00:12:46.049 --> 00:12:49.389 determined not to sell. What follows are two 00:12:49.389 --> 00:12:53.029 days of quiet, persistent negotiation. Two breeders 00:12:53.029 --> 00:12:55.570 who know exactly what's on the table. Two friends 00:12:55.570 --> 00:12:58.330 who each have their reasons. You need cows who 00:12:58.330 --> 00:13:01.110 can put Paclamar on the map. John loves this 00:13:01.110 --> 00:13:04.169 cow. Maybe even more. He loves what she represents 00:13:04.169 --> 00:13:07.090 for his little herd. You talk in the barn. You 00:13:07.090 --> 00:13:09.100 talk in his kitchen. You talk walking through 00:13:09.100 --> 00:13:12.299 the pastures. You push. He resists. You offer 00:13:12.299 --> 00:13:16.259 more. He hesitates. Finally, you reach an agreement. 00:13:17.000 --> 00:13:19.299 Harborcrest Rose Millie will go to Paclamar Farms 00:13:19.299 --> 00:13:23.940 for $5 ,000. Serious money in 1961, but not outrageous 00:13:23.940 --> 00:13:27.179 for a proven excellent cow. She'll stay in Ohio 00:13:27.179 --> 00:13:29.639 through her current lactation. She'll be bred 00:13:29.639 --> 00:13:32.159 to whiz captain before she leaves. Driving away, 00:13:32.379 --> 00:13:35.240 you feel satisfied. Good cow. Great breeding. 00:13:35.480 --> 00:13:38.450 Strong record. Years later, you'll write the 00:13:38.450 --> 00:13:40.970 line that shows how small even your vision was 00:13:40.970 --> 00:13:44.149 compared to what she became. No one, including 00:13:44.149 --> 00:13:46.690 John and myself, who probably liked her more 00:13:46.690 --> 00:13:49.610 than most, ever dreamed she should develop to 00:13:49.610 --> 00:13:52.169 the point of being all -time All -American and 00:13:52.169 --> 00:13:56.029 one of the greatest brood cows of all time. The 00:13:56.029 --> 00:13:58.210 next four years are where Millie leaves the realm 00:13:58.210 --> 00:14:01.450 of great cow and moves into legend. You're standing 00:14:01.450 --> 00:14:04.679 ringside now, watching her campaign unfold. In 00:14:04.679 --> 00:14:08.200 1963, she shows as a dry cow between lactations, 00:14:08.340 --> 00:14:10.940 still sharp as a tack, still that presence that 00:14:10.940 --> 00:14:13.500 stops people in their tracks. She's named Grand 00:14:13.500 --> 00:14:16.659 Champion at the Utah State Fair. Honorable mention, 00:14:16.860 --> 00:14:20.559 All -American dry cow. That same year, classifiers 00:14:20.559 --> 00:14:25.100 raise her to excellent 96. Then comes 1964. You're 00:14:25.100 --> 00:14:27.480 holding the All -American ballot results. You've 00:14:27.480 --> 00:14:29.639 gone through the stack twice, certain there must 00:14:29.639 --> 00:14:33.139 be a mistake. Every single judge has placed Harbourcrest 00:14:33.139 --> 00:14:37.419 Rosemilly first. 30 ballots. 30 firsts. Zero 00:14:37.419 --> 00:14:42.139 seconds. Zero thirds. 210 points. Unanimous. 00:14:42.220 --> 00:14:44.860 No cow will match that feat for another 16 years. 00:14:45.039 --> 00:14:48.100 Not until Northcroft Ella Elevation does it in 00:14:48.100 --> 00:14:51.059 1980. And here's what really makes you shake 00:14:51.059 --> 00:14:53.679 your head in disbelief. She's not doing this 00:14:53.679 --> 00:14:55.960 as a pampered show princess who produces like 00:14:55.960 --> 00:14:58.179 an afterthought. She's doing it while working 00:14:58.179 --> 00:15:00.750 like a freight train. At 8 years old, Millie 00:15:00.750 --> 00:15:06.169 produces 24 ,941 pounds of milk at 5. % butterfat, 00:15:06.350 --> 00:15:10.909 yielding 1 ,242 pounds of fat. No all -American 00:15:10.909 --> 00:15:13.710 -age cow has ever reached 1 ,200 pounds of fat 00:15:13.710 --> 00:15:16.950 in a year. Millie is the first. She comes back 00:15:16.950 --> 00:15:21.750 at 9, with 25 ,630 pounds of milk and 1 ,140 00:15:21.750 --> 00:15:24.690 pounds of fat, her third straight record over 00:15:24.690 --> 00:15:28.039 1 ,000 pounds. Only one cow in the breed's history 00:15:28.039 --> 00:15:31.799 has done that before her. In 1965, she collects 00:15:31.799 --> 00:15:35.340 her third All -American Aged Cow title. In 1966, 00:15:35.779 --> 00:15:38.820 at 10 years old, she makes just one state show 00:15:38.820 --> 00:15:41.580 appearance, the Nebraska State Fair, where she's 00:15:41.580 --> 00:15:44.279 Grand Champion. Even with that limited schedule, 00:15:44.639 --> 00:15:47.580 she earns Reserve All -American and still receives 00:15:47.580 --> 00:15:50.659 more first -place votes than any other aged cow 00:15:50.659 --> 00:15:54.460 in the country. And then, on August 8, 1966, 00:15:55.240 --> 00:15:57.879 the classifiers walk into her stall at Paklamar. 00:15:58.440 --> 00:16:00.639 The thing about those old -time classifiers, 00:16:00.899 --> 00:16:04.159 they don't hand out high scores to be nice. This 00:16:04.159 --> 00:16:06.399 isn't a digital system averaging numbers from 00:16:06.399 --> 00:16:08.840 a tablet. These are men who've walked through 00:16:08.840 --> 00:16:12.039 thousands of barns, studied legs and udders in 00:16:12.039 --> 00:16:14.500 the cold and the dust, and they guard those top 00:16:14.500 --> 00:16:17.559 scores like a vault. They work methodically, 00:16:17.679 --> 00:16:20.960 checking every angle, making notes, conferring 00:16:20.960 --> 00:16:23.659 quietly. When they're finished, They do something 00:16:23.659 --> 00:16:26.139 they've only done twice before in Holstein history. 00:16:26.419 --> 00:16:29.659 They score Harbourcrest Rose Millie 97 points. 00:16:30.039 --> 00:16:33.960 A 97 in 1966 means you're not just looking at 00:16:33.960 --> 00:16:36.320 a great cow, you're looking at the edge of what 00:16:36.320 --> 00:16:39.960 they believe is possible. The first 97 went to 00:16:39.960 --> 00:16:43.899 Linden Dictator Wimpy in 1963, the second to 00:16:43.899 --> 00:16:47.019 Millie's own stablemate Snowboots in July 1965. 00:16:47.820 --> 00:16:50.659 Now there are exactly three cows on the planet 00:16:50.659 --> 00:16:53.559 with that number beside their name. And Millie, 00:16:53.659 --> 00:16:56.419 the heifer nobody wanted, the one neighbors laughed 00:16:56.419 --> 00:16:59.100 at, the one Blanche hoped wasn't a waste of pig 00:16:59.100 --> 00:17:02.000 money, is one of them. You're back in Dick Brooks' 00:17:02.179 --> 00:17:06.380 boots now. It's January 1964. While the Gemini 00:17:06.380 --> 00:17:08.579 program is ramping up and America is looking 00:17:08.579 --> 00:17:10.839 toward the moon, you're looking at a newborn 00:17:10.839 --> 00:17:13.940 bull calf in a straw pen at Paclamar. He's out 00:17:13.940 --> 00:17:16.980 of Harbourcrest, Rose Millie, sired by your herd 00:17:16.980 --> 00:17:20.720 bull, Thanima Ormsby -Senator. You name him Astronaut. 00:17:21.039 --> 00:17:23.900 He's tall and gangly. not particularly strong 00:17:23.900 --> 00:17:26.720 in his top line. Kept him from smoothing up, 00:17:26.759 --> 00:17:29.500 you'll write later. Standing here now, looking 00:17:29.500 --> 00:17:31.900 at this calf, you're not seeing the second coming. 00:17:32.640 --> 00:17:35.200 Senator wasn't a fashionable choice for a sire. 00:17:35.319 --> 00:17:38.539 On paper, he's a minus -production bull, predicted 00:17:38.539 --> 00:17:42.339 at negative 1 ,089 pounds of milk. That's not 00:17:42.339 --> 00:17:45.000 what the industry wants to hear. But his daughters 00:17:45.000 --> 00:17:48.359 average 82 .8 classification points and carry 00:17:48.359 --> 00:17:52.170 tremendous type. You're a believer in Bill Weeks' 00:17:52.170 --> 00:17:54.950 AA breeding system, which matches cattle strengths 00:17:54.950 --> 00:17:58.109 and weaknesses. You picked Senator after studying 00:17:58.109 --> 00:18:01.009 Millie's profile, decided he could improve at 00:18:01.009 --> 00:18:04.130 least one of the traits Weeks flagged, temperament 00:18:04.130 --> 00:18:07.930 and teat size. Senator is bred the way you love, 00:18:08.109 --> 00:18:11.349 packed with Kansas Triune Burke blood, the kind 00:18:11.349 --> 00:18:14.839 of line breeding that stamps a family. That spring, 00:18:15.119 --> 00:18:17.640 sale manager Billy King comes through Paclamar 00:18:17.640 --> 00:18:20.240 looking for consignments to the 1964 National 00:18:20.240 --> 00:18:23.440 Convention sale at Gaithersburg, Maryland. He 00:18:23.440 --> 00:18:25.799 takes one look at Millie's calf and begs you 00:18:25.799 --> 00:18:28.599 to put him in the sale. You go all in on promotion. 00:18:28.900 --> 00:18:30.920 You buy the center spread of Holstein Friesian 00:18:30.920 --> 00:18:33.000 World and run Millie's picture across it with 00:18:33.000 --> 00:18:35.720 a bold promise. You can own a son of the only 00:18:35.720 --> 00:18:39.299 all -American 96 -point cow with over 1 ,000 00:18:39.299 --> 00:18:43.460 fat. The phone starts ringing. The buzz builds. 00:18:43.960 --> 00:18:46.900 This is going to be the calf of the sale. But 00:18:46.900 --> 00:18:49.420 when Astronaut walks into the Gaithersburg barns 00:18:49.420 --> 00:18:51.660 that June, he doesn't look like a world -beater. 00:18:51.980 --> 00:18:55.599 He looks frail, almost sickly. The long trip 00:18:55.599 --> 00:18:58.759 from Colorado hasn't agreed with him. The word 00:18:58.759 --> 00:19:01.279 starts spreading through the barns. You hear 00:19:01.279 --> 00:19:04.079 it in snippets, in hushed conversations that 00:19:04.079 --> 00:19:06.859 stop when you walk by. Curtis Breeding Service 00:19:06.859 --> 00:19:09.519 isn't going to bid. When folks try to talk to 00:19:09.519 --> 00:19:11.960 AI representatives about Millie's bull, They 00:19:11.960 --> 00:19:14.400 get quick subject changes and polite smiles. 00:19:14.900 --> 00:19:18.019 Sail day. Beautiful weather. Packed pavilion. 00:19:18.339 --> 00:19:21.819 The energy is high. These national sails draw 00:19:21.819 --> 00:19:24.339 the serious breeders, the men with checkbooks 00:19:24.339 --> 00:19:26.859 and ambitions. Astronaut comes into the ring 00:19:26.859 --> 00:19:29.819 looking as good as he's looked all week. And 00:19:29.819 --> 00:19:32.160 still, he doesn't take anyone's breath away. 00:19:32.819 --> 00:19:35.880 Bidding starts slow. Billy King's syndicate pushes. 00:19:36.180 --> 00:19:38.940 A Washington lawyer stays in for a bit, then 00:19:38.940 --> 00:19:43.440 drops out. $9 ,000. The gavel falls. You stand 00:19:43.440 --> 00:19:45.599 at the back of the pavilion, and you feel the 00:19:45.599 --> 00:19:47.660 disappointment settle into your chest like a 00:19:47.660 --> 00:19:51.880 weight. You expected 30 ,000, maybe more. I was 00:19:51.880 --> 00:19:54.259 the most disappointed person there, you'll write 00:19:54.259 --> 00:19:56.940 later. Here's what nobody in that arena understands 00:19:56.940 --> 00:19:59.940 yet. The genetics don't care what a calf looks 00:19:59.940 --> 00:20:02.660 like at five months. Within a few years, this 00:20:02.660 --> 00:20:04.980 gangly, sickly -looking calf becomes the youngest 00:20:04.980 --> 00:20:07.700 bull ever to earn gold medal status through AI. 00:20:08.019 --> 00:20:13.960 By 1987, Paklamar Astronaut has 59 ,949 tested 00:20:13.960 --> 00:20:16.619 daughters on record, more than any sire in U 00:20:16.619 --> 00:20:19.539 .S. history at that time. He ranks just behind 00:20:19.539 --> 00:20:22.299 Round Oak Rag Apple Elevation in every major 00:20:22.299 --> 00:20:25.660 category that matters. The $9 ,000 disappointment 00:20:25.660 --> 00:20:28.579 turns into one of the greatest sires the Holstein 00:20:28.579 --> 00:20:31.960 breed has ever seen. Through him, Millie's genetics 00:20:31.960 --> 00:20:35.240 pour into the national herd. His daughter, Anakris 00:20:35.240 --> 00:20:38.119 Astronaut Ivanhoe, produces a calf at Hanover 00:20:38.119 --> 00:20:40.990 Hill Farms. They name him Hanover Hill Starbuck, 00:20:41.049 --> 00:20:44.329 who goes on to sire 41 All -Americans and 34 00:20:44.329 --> 00:20:47.750 All -Canadians. Another daughter, Jim Mar Dee 00:20:47.750 --> 00:20:50.390 astronaut Gail, becomes an equally important 00:20:50.390 --> 00:20:53.529 bull mother for a different group of sires. Start 00:20:53.529 --> 00:20:57.029 more Rudolph. His third dam is an astronaut daughter. 00:20:57.509 --> 00:21:00.549 Today, try to find a high genomic Holstein that 00:21:00.549 --> 00:21:02.990 doesn't trace back to Millie through astronauts 00:21:02.990 --> 00:21:05.650 somewhere in the pedigree. Go ahead, it'll take 00:21:05.650 --> 00:21:07.599 a while. You're standing in the National Western 00:21:07.599 --> 00:21:10.279 Stadium sale pavilion in Denver. It's November 00:21:10.279 --> 00:21:13.420 1967, and Pac Lamar is dispersing part of the 00:21:13.420 --> 00:21:18.259 herd, 249 head from the 425 on the farm. The 00:21:18.259 --> 00:21:21.140 catalog is thick. The buyers are ready. The air 00:21:21.140 --> 00:21:23.680 crackles with the energy of serious money about 00:21:23.680 --> 00:21:27.640 to change hands. For lot one, Dick Brooks does 00:21:27.640 --> 00:21:30.259 something gutsy. He pairs his two greatest assets 00:21:30.259 --> 00:21:34.000 and offers buyers choice. Harborcrest Rose Millie, 00:21:34.079 --> 00:21:36.970 nearly 12 years old, and Paclamar Bootmaker, 00:21:37.210 --> 00:21:39.829 the young, excellent bull out of snow boots who 00:21:39.829 --> 00:21:42.289 looks ready to take on the world. The bidding 00:21:42.289 --> 00:21:46.549 starts, climbs fast. Eugene Vesely of ELV Ranch 00:21:46.549 --> 00:21:49.809 in Michigan pushes hard, stopping at $77 ,000. 00:21:50.170 --> 00:21:53.410 A buying syndicate bumps it to $80 ,000. The 00:21:53.410 --> 00:21:56.289 gavel falls. The syndicate has the choice. They 00:21:56.289 --> 00:21:58.789 take Bootmaker. The young bull, with his whole 00:21:58.789 --> 00:22:02.210 future in front of him, goes to new owners. Millie, 00:22:02.289 --> 00:22:05.000 the queen, the three -time All -American, The 00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:08.720 97 -point matriarch stays at Paclamar. Vesely 00:22:08.720 --> 00:22:10.960 was bidding for Millie. He'd have taken her home 00:22:10.960 --> 00:22:13.740 in a heartbeat. She was just outbid by a bull 00:22:13.740 --> 00:22:16.700 she'll never meet. You see John Snotty in the 00:22:16.700 --> 00:22:20.660 crowd. The man who started it all with $375 in 00:22:20.660 --> 00:22:23.779 pig money. He's here to watch, to see what becomes 00:22:23.779 --> 00:22:26.259 of the cow he bred on that Christmas Eve 12 years 00:22:26.259 --> 00:22:28.940 ago. He walks up to Millie's stall afterward, 00:22:29.180 --> 00:22:32.480 stands beside her one more time. The Ohio breeder 00:22:32.480 --> 00:22:35.190 and the Colorado legend. Millie keeps right on 00:22:35.190 --> 00:22:38.710 working. In January 1968, she drops a bull calf 00:22:38.710 --> 00:22:41.450 by Jossal Skyliner Bellina that goes into service 00:22:41.450 --> 00:22:44.609 at American Breeders Service. In April 1969, 00:22:45.069 --> 00:22:47.809 she gives them her last daughter, Paclamar Reflection 00:22:47.809 --> 00:22:51.630 Millie, who will score excellent 93. After that, 00:22:51.849 --> 00:22:54.369 breeding her gets harder. They try to settle 00:22:54.369 --> 00:22:58.109 her artificially. Fail. Try again. Fail. Month 00:22:58.109 --> 00:23:00.369 after month, the same result. You're watching 00:23:00.369 --> 00:23:03.130 a 15 -year -old cow. ancient by dairy standards, 00:23:03.329 --> 00:23:05.529 and you still believe there's one more calf in 00:23:05.529 --> 00:23:07.950 her, one more piece of those genetics to put 00:23:07.950 --> 00:23:10.990 on the ground. Finally, in a move that shows 00:23:10.990 --> 00:23:13.170 how much faith still exists in this old cow, 00:23:13.450 --> 00:23:16.069 they haul her over to Boulder Valley Farms and 00:23:16.069 --> 00:23:18.809 breed her naturally to her grandson, Paclamar 00:23:18.809 --> 00:23:24.109 Triune Jethro. She sticks. In June 1971, at 15 00:23:24.109 --> 00:23:26.750 years old, Harbourcrest Rose Millie calves again, 00:23:26.970 --> 00:23:30.430 a bull. By all accounts, an outstanding -looking 00:23:30.430 --> 00:23:33.630 youngster. Finally, after all the failed attempts, 00:23:33.869 --> 00:23:36.970 one more piece of the legacy on the ground. About 00:23:36.970 --> 00:23:40.029 an hour after he's born, Millie lies down. On 00:23:40.029 --> 00:23:43.349 the calf. He dies. You're standing in that barn, 00:23:43.430 --> 00:23:45.609 and the weight of it hits you. All those months 00:23:45.609 --> 00:23:48.490 of trying. All that hope. One more piece of those 00:23:48.490 --> 00:23:51.869 genetics, finally on the ground. Gone. Whether 00:23:51.869 --> 00:23:54.250 she was exhausted. Whether her legs simply gave 00:23:54.250 --> 00:23:57.150 out. The record doesn't say. It just says the 00:23:57.150 --> 00:24:00.849 calf died. During that 15th lactation. Paclamar 00:24:00.849 --> 00:24:04.309 partner Daryl Pigeon milks her by hand. She's 00:24:04.309 --> 00:24:06.390 always gone through the parlor before, but by 00:24:06.390 --> 00:24:09.250 now she's getting frail. They give her this consideration. 00:24:10.589 --> 00:24:13.250 Millie and nine others are kept in roomy box 00:24:13.250 --> 00:24:16.130 stalls, turned out into a small paddock with 00:24:16.130 --> 00:24:19.130 good hay. Millie was not the kind of cow who 00:24:19.130 --> 00:24:21.710 trembled from nervousness, Daryl will remember, 00:24:21.950 --> 00:24:24.289 but she was strong -headed and would occasionally 00:24:24.289 --> 00:24:27.509 show this trait when being milked. Even at 16, 00:24:27.809 --> 00:24:31.250 she has opinions. Even at 16, she's not about 00:24:31.250 --> 00:24:36.130 to pretend to be ordinary. July 3, 1972. 16 years 00:24:36.130 --> 00:24:38.470 and 6 months after her birth on Christmas Eve, 00:24:38.549 --> 00:24:42.230 1955. Harbor Crest Rose Millie dies. They don't 00:24:42.230 --> 00:24:44.930 need to carve anything fancy on a stone. The 00:24:44.930 --> 00:24:47.349 record has already written her epitaph. The numbers 00:24:47.349 --> 00:24:51.910 alone stop you. Lifetime. 21090 pounds of milk 00:24:51.910 --> 00:24:57.769 at 4 .2 % for 8741 pounds of fat. Three All -American 00:24:57.769 --> 00:25:00.829 aged cow titles. all -time all -American aged 00:25:00.829 --> 00:25:03.349 cow, part of the all -time all -American produce 00:25:03.349 --> 00:25:06.329 of dam, eight offspring, seven scored excellent, 00:25:06.529 --> 00:25:09.450 six earning gold medal status, five sons, all 00:25:09.450 --> 00:25:11.730 transmitting plus thousand pounds of milk back 00:25:11.730 --> 00:25:13.750 when that was the benchmark for a real sire. 00:25:13.849 --> 00:25:16.369 But numbers don't quite capture what Millie meant. 00:25:16.849 --> 00:25:19.950 Her son Astronaut, standing in AI studs instead 00:25:19.950 --> 00:25:24.369 of show rings, puts 59 ,949 tested daughters 00:25:24.369 --> 00:25:27.700 into American barns. That conservatively means 00:25:27.700 --> 00:25:30.960 150 ,000 or more Millie granddaughters poured 00:25:30.960 --> 00:25:33.859 into the national herd as those daughters calved 00:25:33.859 --> 00:25:36.680 and multiplied. His daughters, Anachris astronaut 00:25:36.680 --> 00:25:39.920 Ivanhoe and Jim Mardee astronaut Gail, become 00:25:39.920 --> 00:25:42.380 two of the most influential bullmothers of their 00:25:42.380 --> 00:25:45.460 generation, opening the door for Starbuck, Rudolph, 00:25:45.759 --> 00:25:49.039 and a host of others. Remember that homely heifer 00:25:49.039 --> 00:25:51.759 John Snoddy bought at the Shearer and Hodge dispersal 00:25:51.759 --> 00:25:55.839 in 1954? Supreme Fae Marilyn quietly milks until 00:25:55.839 --> 00:26:00.059 she's 20 years old, stacks up 166 ,000 pounds 00:26:00.059 --> 00:26:03.200 of lifetime milk, finally scores excellent in 00:26:03.200 --> 00:26:06.099 her 20th year. That family, Marilyn, Millie, 00:26:06.200 --> 00:26:08.359 Maple Raven, Reflection Millie, the astronaut 00:26:08.359 --> 00:26:11.180 daughters, is, by any fair measure, the most 00:26:11.180 --> 00:26:14.519 influential Holstein cow family of the 1960s 00:26:14.519 --> 00:26:18.259 and 1970s. The pig money gamble more than paid 00:26:18.259 --> 00:26:21.480 off. Go stand in any good Holstein barn in North 00:26:21.480 --> 00:26:24.920 America today. You're there now. The morning 00:26:24.920 --> 00:26:27.140 light coming through the windows. The hum of 00:26:27.140 --> 00:26:29.579 ventilation fans. The rhythmic sound of cattle 00:26:29.579 --> 00:26:31.640 going about their business the way cattle have 00:26:31.640 --> 00:26:35.319 for generations. Pull a few registration papers 00:26:35.319 --> 00:26:37.839 from the office drawer. Trace back the maternal 00:26:37.839 --> 00:26:41.220 lines. Follow the sire stacks. Map the genetic 00:26:41.220 --> 00:26:44.940 pathways like fence lines on a section map. You'll 00:26:44.940 --> 00:26:47.799 find her. Through Astronaut. Through Starbuck. 00:26:47.940 --> 00:26:51.599 Through Rudolph. Through countless sons and grandsons. 00:26:51.900 --> 00:26:54.420 whose names are half forgotten but whose genetics 00:26:54.420 --> 00:26:57.819 keep multiplying in every generation. Millie 00:26:57.819 --> 00:27:00.440 proved that extreme size and extreme production 00:27:00.440 --> 00:27:02.859 could live in the same frame, that you could 00:27:02.859 --> 00:27:05.500 have a cow who won the biggest shows in the land 00:27:05.500 --> 00:27:09.000 and still posted records that made DHIA testers 00:27:09.000 --> 00:27:11.799 blink. That concentrated breeding, those Sir 00:27:11.799 --> 00:27:14.819 Bess Ormsby Phobes lines stacked on Mount Victoria 00:27:14.819 --> 00:27:17.279 genetics, could produce something greater than 00:27:17.279 --> 00:27:19.619 anyone expected when a choir -singing breeder 00:27:19.619 --> 00:27:24.789 in Ohio raised his hand at $375. More importantly, 00:27:25.029 --> 00:27:27.490 she proved that genetic greatness can come from 00:27:27.490 --> 00:27:30.529 anywhere. John Snoddy bought her dam with pig 00:27:30.529 --> 00:27:33.049 money, bred her to a bull he and his brothers 00:27:33.049 --> 00:27:36.049 had proven themselves. And from that modest beginning 00:27:36.049 --> 00:27:39.390 came a dynasty that touches almost every modern 00:27:39.390 --> 00:27:42.430 Holstein on the continent. Every time you see 00:27:42.430 --> 00:27:45.349 a tall, sharp Holstein cow with that indefinable 00:27:45.349 --> 00:27:48.269 dairy quality, that magnetism Snoddy recognized 00:27:48.269 --> 00:27:50.819 but couldn't quite name, you're looking at what 00:27:50.819 --> 00:27:54.380 Millie left us. Every time a classifier steps 00:27:54.380 --> 00:27:56.980 into a stall and sees something that stops them 00:27:56.980 --> 00:27:59.900 cold, they're still chasing the standard she 00:27:59.900 --> 00:28:02.799 set. The hillside behind John Snoddy's old barn 00:28:02.799 --> 00:28:05.519 is probably somebody else's pasture now. Maybe 00:28:05.519 --> 00:28:08.039 it's grown over, the fence lines sagging, the 00:28:08.039 --> 00:28:11.980 tracks of those old cows long gone. The big steel 00:28:11.980 --> 00:28:14.539 barns at Paclamar have been repurposed or torn 00:28:14.539 --> 00:28:17.039 down, the land folded into a different kind of 00:28:17.039 --> 00:28:20.630 operation. The way land always is. the way farming 00:28:20.630 --> 00:28:24.069 always changes, even as it stays the same. But 00:28:24.069 --> 00:28:26.789 if you stand in a barn on a summer morning, your 00:28:26.789 --> 00:28:29.309 barn, maybe, and thumb through the pedigrees 00:28:29.309 --> 00:28:31.329 of the cows chewing their cud in front of you, 00:28:31.410 --> 00:28:33.849 you can still see that family, moving across 00:28:33.849 --> 00:28:36.470 the grass, toward a future none of them could 00:28:36.470 --> 00:28:40.529 have imagined. A $375 heifer, a pig money gamble. 00:28:40.930 --> 00:28:43.650 A cow who came over a hill in Ohio and changed 00:28:43.650 --> 00:28:47.130 everything. Harborcrest Rose Millie, born Christmas 00:28:47.130 --> 00:28:51.990 Eve 1955. Died July 3, 1972. Proof that legends 00:28:51.990 --> 00:28:55.250 aren't born looking like legends. They're bred 00:28:55.250 --> 00:28:58.369 by people who see what others miss. This has 00:28:58.369 --> 00:29:00.930 been the Bullvine Podcast. For more stories of 00:29:00.930 --> 00:29:03.190 the cattle and the people who shaped the dairy 00:29:03.190 --> 00:29:06.930 industry, visit thebullvine .com. Until next 00:29:06.930 --> 00:29:24.240 time, keep looking for what others miss. It never 00:29:24.240 --> 00:29:28.660 will die. From the show ring, from the tune, 00:29:28.920 --> 00:29:34.180 the quiet strength they knew. Hear their stories 00:29:34.180 --> 00:29:40.579 now, coming right on through. Oh, tell the tale, 00:29:40.859 --> 00:29:45.880 tell the tale, the Beaumont legends live here.