D2—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, September 18,1982
Poust parts with
By Joyce Bupp
Staff Correspondent
MUNCY Come Tuesday
morning, Lester Poust will part
with a large chunk of his life’s
work.
Poust, of R 4 Muncy, Lycoming
County, is a registered Holstein
breeder, one of those individuals
his peers might label a “breeder’s
breeder.” Based on three foun
dation brood cows he purchased
some years ago, Poust has bred his
Mun-Cre Holsteins into pedigree
perfection spreading the herd’s
genetic influence around the
world.
But overcrowded facilities,
along with that plague of so many
dairyfarmers aching knees
have combined to nudge Poust to
skim the best from his herd of
deep-pedigreed high milk and fat
producers and offer them to buyers
at his Sept. 21 “Cream of Mun-
Cre” sale.
“We wanted to have a quality
sale when we decided to do it,"
Poust reflects, looking back to the
months of weighing pros and cons
of selling. That long-pondered
decision becomes final Tuesday,
when a large portion of the milkers
and young stock from the BAA
107.6 herd, which includes 14
Excellents, 25 Very Goods, and 14
Lasso; “Grand v :t her record over
until her untimely death earlier this year, Mun- sons are in use in both Japan and France.
Cre Elevation Lasso. 2E-95, had a five-year-old
Medley: Mun-Cre Betty Medley epitomizes Elevation influence. Scored EX at four-years-
Poust's philosophy of crossing great proven old, Medley’s from an Elevation dam that was
breed bloodlines like Ivanhoe, Chief, ABC 2E-93, and the next two dams were both 3E-
Reflection Sovereign and the more recent 92.
Good Plus animals, of the 105 of
fered, only one lone animal is not
home bred.
Like so many success stories,
Poust’s has seen tragic moments.
He lost his father as a youngster,
but the family continued dairying
with a herd of about a dozen
Milking Shorthorns.
Along came the Pennsylvania
Brucellosis testing program and
the family lost all but two of the
herd.
“It was common for people to
lose animals at that time, he says
of the now-routine testing
program. “It was hard at the time,
but the best thing that could have
happened.”
Later, Poust would return to the
dairy business, milking a mix of
grade black and whites, and
Guernseys.
It was his acquisition of Maggie
at a sale at Columbia Countian
Chris Wolff’s Pen-Col farm that
marked the turning point in Mun-
Cre herd history.
Pen-Col Ivanhoe Maggie, a
daughter of the now-legendary
Os born dale Ivanhoe, went to Poust
forafinal bid of $BOO.
One cattle dealer, learning that
Poust had bid what then con
sidered a rather steep figure,
reckoned the young dairyman
“cream” of Mun-Cre crop
<4im re * ~ tor tt mncy Creek outstanding Holstein ~ A partial dispersal
that meanders through the scenic Lycoming on Tuesday will be a first in Mun-Cre history.
County valley, is home for one of the country’s
could have brought two good cows The Mun-Cre “M” family was off
for that price. and running. Maggie would
Poust turned around and bid eventually score VG-87, and make
?gain t paying $3OO for a calf, lifetime records of more than
Maggie’s Woodbourne Inka 175,000 pounds milk, with a 4.0
Reflector daughter, Pen-Col percent test.
Reflector Misty. Mun-Cre Betty Medley, a great
grandaughter of Maggie, is a
tribute to Poust’s breeding
philosophy over the years, and a
favorite young four year old be
figures may be the first across the
sale ring.
Scored EX at four, the young
Milu Betty Ivanhoe Chief daughter
carries the Ivanhoe, Chief and
ABC Reflection Sovereign
bloodlines and Poust has combined
in his pedigree program, and
packs an ancestry whallop seldom
seen. Her dam by Elevation is 2E
-93, grandam by Standout 3E-92,
fat Her
Jng pat , put
business. Poust houses his ETs in part of his machine shed,
where each is separately tied, can receive individual attention
and be easily viewed by the several hundred visitors that
annually stop by the Muncy herd. Lester and Diane check on a
with the very best sires has produced animals like “Medley"
an EX four-year-old, and a favorite of Lester’s that he'll likely
choose to open his sale.
< T- >
~v , -
and great-granddam, an own
daughter of Maggie by Citation
Cham brie Marshall, is also 3E-92.
Maggie’s Misty calf matured
into a fine cow in her own right,
scored VG-88, and mothered
another branch of the “M’s”. Her
Citation R daughter went Ex
cellent with lifetime credits over
123,000 pounds gave Poust two
more Excellent daughters.
“The old Ivanhoe’s were the best
brood cows we’ve ever had,” in
sists Poust He credits the tall
dairyness to the Ivanhoe influence,
adding the stretch was exactly
what the breed needed at the time
to counter the smaller genetic
traits of then-predominant Burke
bloodlines.
(Turn to Page 04)
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