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    MAYNARD, Iowa – Paul Stempfle is not usually surprised when he listens to the award announcements made at the Iowa Holstein Association annual meeting; he is on the committee selecting them. However, this year one award caught Paul by surprise.
    It was the Hall of Fame award, and Paul was the winner.
    “I was stunned,” he said. “It was a complete surprise.”
    The award was presented Feb. 26 in Waukon, with Paul’s wife, Jody, and their family on hand. Jody had gathered information for the presentation.
    It was Paul’s multi-year service to the Iowa Holstein Association board and his work chairing and promoting various events that led to the award. He is also a staunch Holstein breed supporter.
    “I’m pretty hard core registered Holsteins,” Paul said. “Just ask the guys on the board.”
    Paul and Jody own Stempfle Holsteins and work with their son, Scott, and his fiancée, Alannah Gunther. A daughter, Jessica, is a paramedic. They milk 700 registered cows.
    But, what exists now is a far cry from where Paul began. As a young man, dairying was not what Paul thought was in his future.
    “I was more of a pig guy,” he said, describing how his family had 45 sows when he was graduating from high school.
    In fact, the Stempfles have 2,000 hogs on another farm site.
    Paul and his father had a custom silage bagging business and a haymow full of hay when 45 Holsteins, a stanchion barn and 150 acres of land became available in 1989. For the next seven years, as Paul’s father reached retirement, the Stempfles’ dairy business grew. By 1986, Paul and Jody had built a double-8 herringbone parlor.
    “We went from 45 cows to 90 and put in a small parlor,” Paul said. “Then we went to 120, then 300.”
    A 200-cow freestall barn went up in 2004 at the same time as the parlor expansion. Two calf facilities were added in 2013.
    In 2016, Scott was ready to be all in at the farm. He attended Northeast Iowa Community College in Calmar, driving there each day to study dairy science while increasing his involvement on the farm. Scott is now the herdsman while Paul feeds cows and runs the business.
    “We hold down the fort,” said Jody of her role and that of Alannah’s.
    Over the next year and a half, the Stempfles tore down existing buildings, made a lagoon, put in a bunker and a dry cow barn. They also built a new double-16 parlor.
    “It was a dance,” Paul said. “But, we wanted to grow going forward.”
    The growth can still continue.
    “We already have invested in the tools,” Scott said. “Now we can continue to grow the herd and land base. But, we have to be extremely efficient and make the right decisions.”
    Scott is also focused on the herd’s genetics.
    “We’ve put in the time to breed cows that will be successful in the future,” he said, citing their current breeding program of using sexed semen on 100% of the heifers and 20% of the cows.
    Another 40% of the cows are bred conventionally to Holsteins, while the remainder are bred to Angus.
    Scott’s focus is one of Jody’s points of pride. Scott was named the District 1 Outstanding Young Holstein  Breeder.
    “I like working with my son; he’s always been about the cows,” Jody said. “Hearing his plans and goals for the future is great.”
    Scott continues to enjoy showing cattle when he can. It was Scott and his sister’s success in the show ring that sold Paul on a registered herd.
    “Scott really liked the genetics part of it,” Paul said. “But there are two different worlds: a balanced cow with a good net merit and producing a quality product, and then the show type.”
    Awards grace the cabinets in the entryway of the parlor and office building on the farm. The hall of fame clock Paul received in February is a welcome addition.

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