Champion cows, camaraderie

SEYMOUR, Wis. — The Moeller family of Go-Make Holsteins has made exhibiting at the Shawano County Fair one of their family traditions.

Ken and Andrea Moeller milk 35-40 cows on their Shawano County dairy farm near Seymour.

“We have slowly been downsizing,” Ken said. “We were up to as many as 80 cows at one time, when we bought the farm from my parents. We farm about 200 acres and do more cash cropping. The cows are something we enjoy doing.”

The Moeller family has been loading up a trailer and traveling to Shawano for the Shawano County Fair for over half a century.

“My family has been exhibiting here for 51 years; for me, this is my 46th year showing here,” Ken said. “I keep coming back because I still like doing it. When you’re here, you make friends with other exhibitors, some people you may only see once a year, here at the fair. We’ve been here in this same spot for 31 years.”

The Moellers share their passion for competing with their children, and they say that lends to the enjoyment they find each year exhibiting at the fair.

“We’ve got a little granddaughter now,” Andrea said. “One of these days, she’ll be ready to show her first calf. Being here, it’s all about making those kinds of memories.”

With his years as a 4-H exhibitor far behind him, Ken said the competition and respect he has for his fellow breeders keep him coming back.

“I still enjoy bringing our best cows out and seeing where they land,” Ken said. “There are so many good breeders here that have such good cattle, they do well at (World Dairy) Expo and stuff. It’s a good show, and when you can do well, it’s rewarding.”

The Moellers take pride in how their cows compete at the fair, year in and year out. This year they exhibited the grand champion Holstein, Go-Make D-Back Renegade EX-94, who was the winner of the 5-year-old cow class.

“Renegade has only missed one year coming to the fair,” Ken said. “She didn’t come as a fall yearling, but she was here as a calf, and this is her fourth year being here as a milking cow.”

Over the years, the Moellers have claimed 13 supreme championship titles, one of which was Renegade’s dam, Go-Make Atwood Rampage EX-94.

“What I’m most proud of is that 11 of those 13 cows were homebred,” Ken said. “That makes it that much more gratifying.”

Currently, the Moellers’ herd is entirely homebred, a point of pride for them.

“There really isn’t one dominant cow family; they’ve pretty much all come from different families,” Ken said. “We don’t really do much of any flushing or (in vitro fertilization) work.”

One of the Moellers’ cows, Go-Make Guthrie Flame EX-95, was a 3-time supreme champion at the fair, only the second cow to ever capture a trio of titles at Shawano. She is also the only cow the Moellers have had to earn repeat titles. Flame recently made an appearance at the Wisconsin Holstein Association District 7 Show in the 150,000-pound lifetime production cow class.

“It’s nice to see Renegade have a chance to shine,” Andrea said. “She’s always been competing with her mother and with Flame. For the last seven years, we’ve either had her mother or Flame, or both, here at the fair.”

The first year the family had the top cow of the show was in 1989, with a 2-year-old named Go-Make Valiant Heather VG-88, who they sold that year to Quality Holsteins Ltd., in Vaughan, Ontario.

“That’s the only cow we’ve ever had that has won at a young age,” Ken said. “Most of our cows that have won have been older cows.”

Longevity is a cornerstone of the Moellers’ breeding philosophy. They strive to breed balanced cows that stand the test of time.

“I have actually gotten to where I don’t try to breed for stature anymore,” Ken said. “I concentrate more on selecting for strength and width, especially in the front end. And they have to have good udders and good feet and legs.”

Shipping their milk to Agropur, where it is used for cheese production, the Moellers have focused on ensuring their cows produce high-component milk.

“For a long time we used a lot of milk bulls like (Robthom) Integrity and Highlight (Mr Mark Cinder), and a lot of those were really nice cows, but they were terrible component cows,” Ken said. “So over the last 20-plus years, I have really selected for components. That is something I don’t usually compromise on too much.”

The Moellers are using bulls like Jacobs Showtime, Jacobs Bruins, Vogue Illustrator-P, Siemers RZ Pazzle 34954 and Farnear Delta-Lambda, along with Mr D Apple Diamondback.

“I’ve used a lot of Diamondback, I’m actually running out of cows to use him on,” Ken said. “He’s worked well for us, made a lot of really nice cows.”

Knowing their dairy career is beginning to wind down, the Moellers are beginning to look toward the future.

“The cows graze next to a pretty main highway,” Ken said. “You’ll see people stop and take photos of them out grazing. That is kind of neat. There is nothing like seeing a herd of cows out grazing. I won’t say I’d never have beef, but I don’t think I’d enjoy beef cattle like I do the dairy cows.”

As long as going to the barn is something the Moellers enjoy, they say they will keep milking cows.

“People ask me how long we’ll keep going,” Ken said. “We could go as long as 10 years or we could be done in 10 days — it’s hard to say. As long as I still love being with the cows, I’ll keep doing it.”