Breeding the next great cow

HAMPSHIRE, Ill. — Focused on elite type, brothers Joe and Matt Engel breed for high-scoring, show-winning cattle. Marketing their genetics worldwide, the Engels are known for creating cows of exceptional width and strength equipped with beautiful udders.

“Our two favorite things are the challenge of breeding the next really good cow and then watching her develop well for someone else,” Joe Engel said. “We’re always selling our best cows.”

The Engel family’s accomplishments in the Holstein breed were recognized by Holstein Association USA Inc. when Dennis and Beth, Matt, and Joe and Margaret Engel of Luck-E Holsteins were given the 2025 Elite Breeder Award.

The Engels milk 120 cows and farm 400 acres near Hampshire. Cows are milked in a tiestall barn and housed in freestall barns.

Engel’s parents, Dennis and Beth, bought their first registered animal as a wedding present to each other in 1968. From there, the Engels continued to invest in registered Holstein genetics.

“My dad is still out on the farm every single day at 79 years old,” Engel said. “And God bless my mother; she’s still doing all the books.”

To date, the Engels have bred nearly 700 Excellent cows, including two EX-96, five EX-95, and 54 EX-94 animals. They have also bred 18 Gold Medal Dams and 28 Dams of Merit and have multiple sires in A.I.

Engel said the “A” and “K” families are two of their most influential bloodlines, with Luck-E Advent Asia-ET EX94-2E being their best brood cow.

“When Matt was 15, he took all the money he had and bought a Starbuck daughter,” Engel said. “This was the start of the Asia family. I would venture to say that today, 80%-90% of our herd has Asia in the pedigree at least once, if not 2-3 times.”

It was the granddaughter of Matt’s purchase — Luck-E Blitz Australia VG-87 — that helped the farm make its mark. Australia was Blitz’s No. 1 Cow Type Production Index daughter and a source for embryo and bull contracts, Engel said.

“That cow brought them in, and then they would start looking at our other cows,” Engel said. “Australia opened a lot of doors for us.”

Those doors included global opportunities, as Engel said the family’s high components fit well into European markets.

Asia has over 40 Excellent daughters and was the Red Impact Cow of the Year in 2020. She is also the dam of Awesome-Red.

“His first proof came out with the highest udder compositive there has ever been in the Holstein breed, and to my knowledge, it still is to this day,” Engel said.

In 1981, Engel’s dad bought an animal at the World Classic sale at World Dairy Expo that was the kickoff of the K family. Her descendants did well in the show ring, and when Engel was 15, he won grand champion at the Illinois State Fair with Luck-E Royal Klassy EX-94.

“She gave me the passion for show cows and high type,” he said.

Her granddaughter, Luck-E Advent Kandie-Red EX95-2E 96MS, won senior grand champion and best udder at WDE in 2014.

“Just like the Asias, the K family has a super-wide chest and really nice udder,” Engel said. “We made our first 94-point cow and other really good ones in the K family. There’s an EX-95 Red cow in Wisconsin that goes back to the K family as well as a 96-point cow in the A family.”

The Engels have a large inventory of genetics and have earned a reputation for selling quality cattle.

“My dad instilled in us that you sell cattle the way you would want to buy them,” Engel said. “That’s a significant part of why we’ve had success marketing and selling animals. We sell sound and right cows. We bought and sold thousands of cows between the 1990s and early 2000s. We still sell a lot of animals and sell more money in genetics than in milk.”

The Engels were early adopters of embryo transfer and have exported over 1,000 embryos. They also use a lot of sexed semen, and about 90% of the calves born at Luck-E Holsteins are heifers.

A 2- or 3-year-old in her prime is the main type of animal the Engels sell. While many of their animals are sold privately, the Engels have also hosted on-farm sales in 2019, 2023 and 2024. In last year’s sale, 180 head averaged $5,776. The Engels’ next sale is scheduled for April 2027. Buyers hail from across the U.S. and world, including England, Scotland, Holland and Australia.

Cattle move through the doors of Luck-E Holsteins continuously, where the bulk of animals are either a donor or recipient.

“We always need two great donors to create that next group, and then we sell those donors six months later,” Engel said. “There is always someone new coming up behind them as a donor.”

To breed at this level of quality and quantity, Engel said breeding goals have to be well defined, and the breeder has to stay committed to their goals.

“Knowledge of cow families is also important,” he said. “You have to combine old-school breeding knowledge with today’s genomics. That’s when you get that special sweet spot. That’s what helped us sell so many good ones and have more behind them.”

Engel said they have eliminated the bottom half of their herd by utilizing genomic data, which has produced higher-valued animals to sell.

“We don’t have those disappointments coming through very much,” he said. “Whenever we do a mating, we look at worst-case scenario instead of best-case scenario and make the worst case the best case we can.”

The Engels like cows that are wide from muzzle to rump and carry a beautiful udder.

“We want a really high and wide rear udder and a long-wall attached fore udder,” Engel said. “We believe that chest width is the building block for all of that.”

Cows that walk on sound, functional feet and legs are another of the Engels’ breeding trademarks.

“That’s why we get so many return customers,” Engel said. “Our cows can leave here and go to any type of facility and do well.”

It is gratifying to see animals they bred be successful for others, Engel said. Even though the Engels themselves did not show any animals in 2024, at least a dozen with their prefix earned All-American or Junior All-American nominations. The family was also the premier Red & White breeder at the Ohio State Fair last year, despite having never shown there.

Engel said the fall 2024 No. 1 type animal in the world for Holstein and Red & White Holstein, the No. 1 conformation animal in the world, and the No. 1 type animal in the United Kingdom carry the Luck-E prefix. Two of the three animals are sired by Luck-E bulls as well.

The Engels continue to add traits to their breeding program, with red genetics being one they incorporated early. Now, over 80% of the herd is red or red carrier. They have also added polled traits and are starting to be more conscious about improving health traits. Components are another area they focus on.

“We watch our butterfat and protein percentages, particularly on the maternal side,” Engel said. “We will not compromise on high type, but if there are other things we can add to increase value, we will.”