A day in the life of the Staudingers

District show preparations fill June 27

STACEY SMART/Dairy Star The Staudinger family – Lexis (front, from left) and London; (back, from left) Angie, Ethan, Isaac, Eli and Brian – milks 2,300 cows and farms 2,800 acres near Reedsville, Wisconsin, with Brian’s parents, Bob and Mary Kay. On June 27, the family was busy preparing a string of 16 animals for their district Holstein show. Not pictured is the Staudingers’ youngest daughter, Graysen.

    STACEY SMART/Dairy Star The Staudinger family – Lexis (front, from left) and London; (back, from left) Angie, Ethan, Isaac, Eli and Brian – milks 2,300 cows and farms 2,800 acres near Reedsville, Wisconsin, with Brian’s parents, Bob and Mary Kay. On June 27, the family was busy preparing a string of 16 animals for their district Holstein show. Not pictured is the Staudingers’ youngest daughter, Graysen.
  

REEDSVILLE, Wis. – Blue Royal Dairy was a flurry of activity the day before the farm’s cattle were to head to the District 10 Holstein show. Clippers were buzzing, kids were leading animals, and the trailer was getting filled with hay, straw and other supplies to take to the show.

The Staudinger children and the friends who show with them are a hands-on group, taking full responsibility for their show animals.

“They do all the work,” Brian Staudinger said. “I help with feeding and other things as needed.”

Brian and his wife, Angie, and their children – Eli, Ethan, Isaac, London, Lexis and Graysen – milk 2,300 cows and farm 2,800 acres near Reedsville with Brian’s parents, Bob and Mary Kay. The herd consists of Holstein, Red and White Holstein, Jersey and Brown Swiss. The Staudingers show at approximately seven shows each year – from their county fair up through World Dairy Expo.

“Our summer is stacked with these kinds of things versus sports,” Brian said. “The kids do a few sports but not many. They’re either working on the farm or with their cattle.”

The Staudingers were taking 16 head to the show that would be held June 29 at the Manitowoc County fairgrounds. Competition for their district show comes from the counties of Manitowoc, Sheboygan, Calumet, Fond du Lac and Winnebago.

Eight people would be showing the Staudingers’ string that included two cows and 14 heifers and calves. Each Staudinger child would take the halter as well as friends of the Staudingers – Abby Schultz and Alanha Sholten. Angie said it would be Graysen’s first time showing, and the almost-3-year-old was going to help lead a March calf.

Although not until the end of August, the county fair was also on the kids’ minds. Lexis tended to her sheep, Salt and Pepper, while her twin sister, London, along with Eli and Isaac, worked with the pigs they will be showing at the fair. Eli, who will be a senior in high school this fall, has been doing the pig project since fifth grade. The kids walked their pigs and gave each one a bath.

“The kids wash their pigs and walk them each day to build muscle tone and endurance,” Brian said. “Our kids show dairy, pigs and sheep, so our county fair ends up being fairly competitive that way.”

Brian, Eli and Isaac headed to the fairgrounds a little after 9 a.m. to set up their area for the district show. They bedded down their section with help from Aaron Breunig and his two sons and returned to the farm about 10:45.

    STACEY SMART/Dairy Star Lexis Staudinger brushes her lamb, Salt, June 27 on her family’s farm near Reedsville, Wisconsin. Lexis will be showing Salt at the Manitowoc County Fair in August.
  

Ethan spent the morning doing clipping touch-ups, starting with heifers and finishing up with the cows.

“Clipping is a process; it’s an art,” Brian said. “It’s only Ethan’s second year doing it, so he’s still learning.”

In the afternoon, the Staudingers organized their fair box.

“We need to make sure we have the right blades in the clippers, etc.,” Brian said. “Ethan will be blowing up toplines for himself for the first time.”

At the Northeast Wisconsin High Protein Show in Shawano a week prior, Ethan won supreme champion with a Jersey cow named Krahn Girls Tequila Festivity.

“That was a highlight of our showing career,” Brian said. “We’ve never experienced anything like that before.”

    STACEY SMART/Dairy Star Brian Staudinger gives Lexis and Isaac pointers as they practice leading their calves June 27 on their farm near Reedsville, Wisconsin. The children were preparing for their district Holstein show, which would be taking place two days later.
  

Festivity was also named supreme champion last year at the Manitowoc County Fair. In the same year, one of the family’s Brown Swiss spring calves, Silver Royal J Favorite, was nominated All-American honorable mention.

“That was also a first for us,” Brian said. “We like a combination of production and type, and we breed to have the best of both worlds.”

Showing is a family affair that Brian and Angie enjoy sharing with their children as they continue to develop their show herd.

“From the last five years to now, it’s incredible to see the quality of animals we’ve grown into in a short period of time,” Angie said. “We’ve come a long way, and I’m excited to see where we’ll be five years from now.”

    STACEY SMART/Dairy Star Eli Staudinger leads his spring calf June 27 on his family’s farm near Reedsville, Wisconsin. The calf was one of 16 head going to the district show that would be taking place two days later.
  

    STACEY SMART/Dairy Star Isaac Staudinger loads hay in the trailer to take to the District 10 Holstein show June 27 on his family’s farm near Reedsville, Wisconsin. Isaac and his siblings spend much of their summer preparing and showing animals at various shows.
  

    STACEY SMART/Dairy Star London Staudinger gives her show pig a bath June 27 on her family’s farm near Reedsville, Wisconsin. London and some of her siblings show pigs at their county fair, and leading up to the fair, they walk and bathe the pigs daily.
  

    STACEY SMART/Dairy Star Ethan Staudinger finishes clipping a cow while Abby Schultz holds the tail out of his way June 27 on his family’s farm near Reedsville, Wisconsin. Ethan spent the morning fine-tuning animals the family would be taking to the District 10 Holstein show the next day.
  

    STACEY SMART/Dairy Star The Staudingers bed down their area with help from Aaron Breunig and his sons June 27 at the Manitowoc County fairgrounds. The group was preparing a section to fit two cows and 14 heifers.
  

    STACEY SMART/Dairy Star Abby Schultz clips the head of a Red and White Holstein summer yearling June 27 at the Staudingers’ farm near Reedsville, Wisconsin. Schultz, a friend of the family, is currently in her ninth year of showing.