Wisconsin Holstein Association

On October 15, a crowd of Holstein enthusiasts met for the Wisconsin Holstein Picnic at Sugar Creek Dairy in Elkhorn. Attendees were able to take part in a judging contest, see influential cows, enjoy a pork chop lunch, tour Rick and Marleen Adams’ new heifer facility and hear from Norman Nabholz about his new book.

Sugar Creek Dairy has developed offspring from some key cow families over the last 35 years. This list includes Apple, Juror Faith, Northcroft Ella Elevation EX-97, Royal Rosas, Eroy and their homebred Die-Hard Mary family.

Rick and Marleen built their registered herd from a herd of grade cows when they started farming. Genetic progress through the years has allowed them to find success with cows producing outstanding records while scoring well in addition to breeding animals at the top of genomic lists and in the showring. They’ve been recognized by Holstein USA as a Herd of Excellence, Progressive Breeder and Progressive Genetics herd and are a leading breeder of Gold Medal Dams.

Sugar Creek is home to 60 EX cows with a herd average of 32,600 pounds of milk. They are in the top 10 for Type animals of herds with 250-plus cows.

The day kicked off with a judging contest with two classes of cows. The official judge for the day was Kirsten Metcalf. In the youth division, Aubrey Behling placed first, Melysa Stutika was second and William Adams placed third. Carrie Feucht topped the women’s division. Angela Davis Brown was second and Tammy Wesemann was third. In the men’s division, Bob Hagenow took first, and Mike Wachtendonk and Dave Kyle tied for second.

Following lunch, attendees heard from Norm Nabholz. Norm owns Nabholz Farm in West Union, Iowa. He has owned and exhibited Jersey cattle at World Dairy Expo and other big shows. He has had two Supreme Champions at World Dairy Expo, two All-American Grand Champions, two Royal Winter Fair Grand Champions and five Jersey Jug winners. The farm has been recognized as Premier Breeder and Exhibitor at World Dairy Expo and Premier Exhibitor at NAILE.

Norm answered questions from the crowd and shared his experiences on the show circuit. He also talked about his new book “The Queens’ Caretakers.” Books were for sale at the event.

Thank you to the sponsors who helped make the event possible. The event’s main sponsor is the Treasure Quest program held each spring. Ticket sales help support the event. Other sponsors include Steve Freund of Howards Grove for sponsoring the pork chop lunch, Complete Feed Service of Sharon, Sunshine Genetics of Whitewater, Vita Plus – Bob Hagenow and Dave Carlson, Ederer’s Professional Dairy Service of Waunakee and Pat’s Sanitary. Meal donations also came from Grande Cheese, Decatur Dairy and Kwik Trip.