From our side of the fence

Merrill Nettinga

Hull, Iowa

Sioux County

150 cows

Who is the best cow in your herd? #1282.

Why is she the best cow? She peaks at 140 pounds of milk, breeds back consistently and has sound feet and legs.

Does she receive special attention? She is housed with all the other cows in our freestall barn with no special treatment.

What is the key to her longevity? I believe her feet and legs have a lot to do with this.

Do you have any others from this cow family? We do not have any in the herd currently with her genetics. At her age, 7 years old, we delegate her to beef bulls as service sires now.

Tell us about your farm. We have a total of 150-160 cows. We made the move to Lely robots three years ago. It has probably been the best change we have ever made. My wife, Marlys, and I have two sons and two wonderful daughters-in-law who are raising our three grandchildren. The boys help on the farm and also have full-time jobs off the farm.

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Troy and Melissa Schreindl

Rice, Minnesota

Benton County

250 cows

Who is the best cow in your herd? 244.

Why is she the best cow? 244 is the best cow because of her longevity and milk production.

Does she receive special attention? No, 244 is just another cow in the freestall barn, but she will get some head scratches from us when she comes in to get milked.

What is the key to her longevity? The key to her longevity is good feet and legs, a solid udder and overall toughness.

Do you have any others from this cow family? 244’s dam made 200,000 pounds of milk over her lifetime.

Tell us about your farm. My wife and I farm with our two kids, Tanner and Emily; Melissa’s dad and three other employees. We milk about 250 cows in a double-6 step-up parlor, raise and finish out steers and farm around 800 acres. The crops consist of 400 acres of corn, 110 acres of soybeans, 250 acres of alfalfa and new seeding and 40 acres of small grains.

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Josh Moffatt

Hinckley, Minnesota

Pine County

500 cows

Who is the best cow in your herd? 1270 is the oldest cow in the herd. She currently has made 318,800 pounds of milk in her lifetime.

Why is she the best cow? 1270 will be 13 May 13. She has had 11 calves and very few, if any, health issues.

Does she receive special attention? 1270 does not receive any special attention as far as treats or extra feed; she is part of the herd. She will get occasional head scratches, though.

What is the key to her longevity? She breeds back easily and kind of disappears and does her thing. She is not the cow that will break production records, but her longevity makes up for it.

Do you have any others from this cow family? 1270's daughters have not shown the same versatility and longevity as their mom. We currently have one daughter milking that just started her first lactation.

Tell us about your farm. I have been the herdsman for Watrin Farms Inc. for the last 11 years and counting. The farm is owned by Mark Watrin, who took over from his dad and has expanded it to its present size. We raise all our heifers on site and grow all the crops for the dairy. We have a great team of people who make work enjoyable. Each person plays a key role in the success of the others and the farm. We farm 2,300 acres, growing corn, soybeans, alfalfa and grass.

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Julie Klatt (second from left) pictured with Pat Heeren and Parker and Katie Schwarze

Norwood, Minnesota

Carver County

36 cows

Who is the best cow in your herd? Heavenly Impuls CoCo.

Why is she the best cow? Coco is a 15-year-old registered Jersey cow that scored Excellent 92. She is a no-fuss kind of cow. She calved last January 13, 2026, unassisted without milk fever, and has been in the milking string since, milking 60 pounds a day. This cow has never caused an issue and given us three daughters and many granddaughters. Coco has been a breeze to care for and get ready at the shows and a dream in the barn at home.

Does she receive special attention? On our farm, we have what we call the "Old Lady Card." Coco became the holder of this title after we lost our 15-year-old Holstein, Lola, this winter. This title entitles her to finish out her days on the farm, never being shipped. We are looking forward to our pastures greening up and getting her out there to enjoy summer. Coco used to hold down the first stall in the barn, which we refer to as our human resource department. If you have a complaint about work, the stall’s occupant is who you tell your complaint to. This lactation, we retired her from all that burden and rewarded her by moving her to a larger stall where she can stretch out a bit more. We also gave her a gutter grate to give her more room as well. Not just her but all cows here get curried, brushed and their tails washed frequently. Our cows receive the best hay, and Coco might sometimes just get some extra grass hay as a treat.

What is the key to her longevity? Good genetics and great care. We pride ourselves on the methodology that you get out of your cows what you put into them. Keeping up on hoof trimming and consistency in daily care and feeding is important. Lots of love goes into our girls.

Do you have any others from this cow family? She has had 11 calves. She currently has three daughters in the herd.

Tell us about your farm. Here at Evergreen Farm, we milk 36 cows in seven breeds. I am a seventh-generation owner of the farm that was originally bought in 1881 by the Barlau (my mom's) family. We still milk cows in a tie stall barn built in 1894 and added onto and remodeled in 1952. We farm 20 acres of hay ground and buy all the rest of our feed. We feed a grain ration, top dress and dry hay; we do not feed any silage. We have a great daily care team for our cows, consisting of my significant other, Pat Heeren, and me. My sister, Katie Schwarze, her son, Parker, and husband, Nate, are very important, supportive and part owners of some of the ladies. We make a great team. The farm had a huge success this winter in having bred our first Excellent 94 cow, a jersey, Evergreen Irwin Elvis. We exhibit dairy cattle at many local, state and national shows, a continued tradition of the family since 1962.

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Jerry Schmidt

Melrose, Wisconsin

Jackson County

30 cows

Who is the best cow in your herd? Indie-View Impression Penny was our favorite cow recently; we just sold her a few weeks ago. She was a sixth-generation Excellent cow and a favorite of mine. She has one daughter in our herd that is a calf.

Why is she the best cow? It’s the family she was from. She continued the type in that family from generation to generation. Being a sixth-generation homebred Excellent, she was a special cow.

Does she receive special attention? She was just one of the “girls.” She was never treated any differently from any other cow. She bred back and did have a heifer calf that looks to be pretty special. As a calf, it looks like she has all the right components.

What is the key to her longevity? She is only 5 years old. Her granddam was 12 years old when I sold the majority of my cows. At that time, she was EX91-2E. She was an Atwood daughter, so it’s in the cow family. Going all the way back, they tended to live a long time and were pretty much trouble-free. You don’t notice them much; they took care of themselves.

Do you have any others from this cow family? Right now, we just have her daughter. At one time, there were a lot of cows in that cow family, and when I sold the original group of cows in the fall of 2021, most of them went. I think I sold 60 cows that year, so they’re pretty much all gone except for a few individuals. She and her daughter were the last ones left from that particular family.

Tell us about your farm. We have 50 stalls available, and we’re milking 30 cows currently. We have 120 acres of tillable land. At the last classification, we had a 109.3 BAA. The majority of the cows are just 2-year-olds at the present time. The rolling herd average is 21,000 pounds of milk, with a butterfat test of 4%. My oldest son is a professional cattle fitter, so he’s in and out. My wife also helps. The farm has been in the family since 1946.

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Kurt Loehr (pictured with his wife, Sarah (from left), and their daughters, Adella and Ainsley)

Eden, Wisconsin

Fond du Lac County

120 cows

Who is the best cow in your herd? A herd favorite is Forest-Ridge Miami-Red EX94-2E. She is sired by Addiction-P. Her dam was an Excellent Advent, then an Excellent Jordan, then Michelle-Red EX93-3E, whom I purchased as a young cow.

Why is she the best cow? Miami is 9 years old and recently calved for the seventh time, but with only her second natural heifer calf. She is typically a very easygoing cow, easy to care for and one of those cows you almost forget is in the barn. Miami was the junior show reserve intermediate champion at the Wisconsin Red & White show and reserve junior All-American in 2020. She was nominated Junior All-American in 2021.

Does she receive special attention? Miami likes head and butt scratches and an occasional bath but does best when she is with the full herd in the free stalls and can do her own thing. Although she is one of the largest cows in our barn, she prefers the deep- bedded sand stalls with plastic dividers for comfort over the box stall.

What is the key to her longevity? Her attitude plays a part in her longevity. Being a red cow, she is a little spunkier than some but has also gained some of that attitude from her great-granddam, Michelle. Michelle disliked any type of medical treatment, but otherwise was an easy cow to work with in general. Miami had a couple of health scares that we weren’t sure she would recover from, but she has marched on.

Do you have any others from this cow family? Miami hails from one of my original registered cow purchases. She has a milking daughter by Moovin, a yearling daughter by Master and a red baby calf by Hastoric. She also has a granddaughter by Major. Probably one-third of the herd traces back to Michelle, the original purchase.

Tell us about your farm. Our farm, Forest Ridge Holsteins, is owned by my wife, Sarah, and me, and our daughters, Adella and Ainsley. We milk 120 cows in two Lely robots. Cows are housed in sand-bedded free stalls and some bedded pack. Our milk is shipped to Sartori Cheese in Plymouth. We farm about 270 acres of corn, alfalfa-hay and wheat.

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Levi Ulrich

Ogema, Wisconsin

Price County

20 cows

Who is the best cow in your herd? The best cow in my herd is Woodmohr Easter Lily EX-92.

Why is she the best cow? Lily, sired by Victorious, is in her sixth lactation and averages 60 pounds of milk. While she is not one that gets taken out to shows, Lily is proving to be a great brood cow. She has daughters of high type and style, the kind of cows I like. Lily has a great pedigree, tracing back to Hollylane Jerseys in Canada. Her dam is Woodmohr Synergy Lily EX-95, and she has eight generations of Excellent and Very Good cows behind her, in Canada.

Does she receive special attention? Lily is treated no differently than any other cow in the herd. She is a very easy keeper and pretty much takes care of herself.

What is the key to her longevity? The key to her longevity would be the cow family behind her.

Do you have any others from this cow family? Lily currently has two daughters and a granddaughter in the herd, and all three are very promising animals that make for an exciting future.

Tell us about your farm. We run an 80-acre farm consisting of pasture for grazing and growing grass hay, with the majority being made into baleage. We like keeping things simple; the cows are on a complete grain mix with baleage in the winter and grass when it is available. The focus is not on cow numbers but rather quality and functional type.

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Austen Schmidt

Cascade, Wisconsin

Sheboygan County

70 cows

Who is the best cow in your herd? My favorite cow at the moment is Oakfield Unix Zig Zag.

Why is she the best cow? Zig Zag is classified EX-94 and was a result of a package of four embryos I purchased. Her dam is an EX-95 Doorman out of Beaverbrock Goldwyn Zoey EX-95 — a cow that I was fortunate enough to work with at a few shows when she was a young cow, and I really took a liking to her. Zig Zag looks the same every day as she does when she has gone to a show. She has been the reserve grand champion at the District 10 Holstein Show and second place at the very competitive Sheboygan County Futurity.

Does she receive special attention? Zig Zag thrives being with the rest of the herd. She has a strong demeanor and isn’t a fan of extra attention. Additionally, she has been in vitro fertilized a few times and makes very fertile embryos, with some of her first daughters just fresh. I am excited about these young cows. All her daughters’ names contain the word zoo, such as Zookeeper, Zoo Animal and Petting Zoo.

What is the key to her longevity? Zig Zag is 6 years old. The key to her longevity is that she had her first calf when she was 1 year and 10 months old and has calved in one month earlier for the last four lactations. She has never had a natural-born heifer, even with being bred to sexed semen.

Do you have any others from this cow family? Zig Zag has Sidekick and Energy daughters and has recently been IVF'ed to Delta Lambda. Zig Zag has had two full sisters on the farm that have daughters as well. Both sisters were first and second spring yearlings at our district show one year.

Tell us about your farm. Elmlo Registered Holsteins is a 70-cow dairy owned by my parents, Jim and Dina Schmidt. My dad and I are on the farm daily and receive extra help from my wife, Michelle, and a few friends who help as needed. Cows are milked in a 70-stall tiestall barn, and we ship our milk to Cedar Valley Cheese. We have a BAA of 111.6, which ranks in the top five for our herd size in the United States. We exhibit cattle at the District 10 Holstein Show, the Wisconsin State Show, the Sheboygan County Futurity and World Dairy Expo.