Breeding for beauty, balance

BRANDON, Wis. — Passion for registered Holsteins started young in twin brothers Darren and Derrek Kamphuis. Although they did not grow up with a registered herd, the show ring was the place where their enthusiasm took root.

“We got the knack for it when we started showing at 9 years old, and we couldn’t get enough,” Darren said. “We always had to purchase show calves, and our love for registered animals stemmed from that.”

The work and dedication they put in over the next 20 years resulted in Darren and Derrek being named the 2024 Distinguished Young Holstein Breeder by the Wisconsin Holstein Association. Focused on blending type with production, building a well-balanced cow has been their ambition as they strive to breed an animal that can stand the test of time.

“We like old cows and breed for longevity,” Derrek said. “We don’t breed for extreme numbers. We breed for balance, targeting feet and legs, type and components.”

Farming with their dad, Steve, and their uncle, Doug, the Kamphuises milk around 280 cows and farm 600 acres at Kampy Holsteins near Brandon. Darren’s wife, Rachel, and Derrek’s wife, Valerie, work off the farm but help as needed.

After high school, both brothers knew they wanted to farm.

Plans for expansion and a new barn began while the twins attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Farm and Industry Short Course. The two designed a barn that could cash flow while incorporating feedback from their professors. Darren and Derrek graduated in March 2015, and construction started July 1.

To fill the barn, the brothers purchased 160 registered cows to add to their growing herd of registered animals.

“We had a lot of registered cows grown from our grade herd as well as cows we had purchased as show calves,” Darren said. “We still have some of those original families.”

The Kamphuises were selective in the cows they bought.

“We wanted good genetics and maternal lines that could benefit us,” Darren said. “We were able to take pieces of all the great herds around the state, and now it’s neat to see our herd flourish from others’ genetics. It gave us a chance to build our own herd.”

Kampy Holsteins has a BAA of 110.1 and a rolling herd average of 29,792 pounds of milk, 1,196 pounds of butterfat and 935 pounds of protein for tests of 4.4% butterfat and 3.4% protein. The herd contains 79 Excellent, 166 Very Good and 43 Good Plus cows. Kampy Holsteins ranks third in the nation for BAA in herds of 250 cows or more.

Darren and Derrek have had four All-American nominations, three Gold Medal Dams, and 23 cows with more than 200,000 pounds of lifetime milk. Their herd is also a 4-time Progressive Breeders’ Registry recipient.

“We don’t try for large records,” Derrek said. “We go after profitability. In the last 10 years, we’ve been making better feed. We try to get our hay harvested quicker and our corn chopped faster. Little things like that add up.”

Darren and Derrek do most of the milking. Cows are milked twice a day in a double-12 rapid exit parallel parlor built in 2023.

“From repro and mating decisions to herd health and taking care of sick cows — all that goes through our hands,” Darren said.

When picking bulls, combined fat and protein is a number they follow.

“We make money off components,” Derrek said. “We look at pounds and percent over (Daughter Pregnancy rate) and Productive Life. We also want solid type of 2-3 points. The bulls we use must come from good cow families as well.”

The brothers use 10-12 bulls at a time while following linears like strength and leg set to correctively mate their cows.

“We’re tight on our criteria, so if we find a bull we like, we use a lot of him for a long time,” Derrek said.

One of their past favorite sires was Doc.

“Doc crossed a lot of our boxes for type and production,” Darren said. “We used him early and often. We had many Doc daughters, a lot of which were Excellent and Very Good.”

Another favorite was Redburst-Red, a bull that created top cows in the herd for components and milk, including two EX-94 daughters with over 200,000 pounds of milk.

Current sires in the rotation include Tentastic, Pazzle, Rompen-Red, Homecoming, Dropbox, Exclusive-Red and Luster-P. One-third of the Kamphuis herd is Red & White or red carrier.

“I always liked Red & White,” Derrek said. “One of the first cows we got was red, and the first heifer we showed was red.”

A Red & White named Jazz was grand champion at their local Alto fair and stood seventh in the spring yearling class at World Dairy Expo the same year. She went on to score EX-92.

Developing the best bloodlines is at the heart of everything the Kamphuis twins do. Two esteemed cow families in the herd include Inspiration and Gin Blossom. An EX-92 Dam of Merit sired by Goldwyn, Inspiration was a ninth-generation Excellent, and at one point, the herd contained 100 descendants. So far, 20 of her daughters are scored Excellent.

“That’s our longest line with 14 generations of Excellent cows,” Darren said.

Gin Blossom, an EX-93 Braxton daughter, was reserve grand champion at the 2014 Wisconsin State Fair junior show and fourth place senior 2-year-old at WDE that year. She also has many descendants in the herd.

The Kamphuises’ show circuit ranges from their community fair, to state and national shows. In 2024, Darren and Derrek achieved a longtime goal of being named premier breeder and exhibitor at the District 10 Holstein show.

The Kamphuises sell quite a few replacement cows, and April 19, they plan to share their genetics on a larger stage by hosting a tag sale. The day will start with a showing and fitting clinic for youth followed by the sale that will feature 60 cows, calves and heifers.

“It’s cool to share the genetics we’ve developed,” Darren said. “We want to let other people have fun with them, too. The goal was to get members from most of our famous cow families in the sale.”

Reaching a milestone where they can offer genetics of this magnitude is a dream worked hard for, the brothers said.

“We want to continue to grow our cow families and have fun breeding cows,” Darren said. “There is always something to build towards, and we’re always trying to get better in everything we do.”