A32-Uncaater Farming, Saturday, June 5, 1999
Lynncrest Farm To Receive National Holstein Young Breeder Award
(ContiniMd from Page A 1)
recognizes that they have
demonstrated a fair amount of
Holstein breeding achievement
and success, as well as sound farm
business management, and that
they have been fortunate to have
been able to work for 18 years in
the pursuit of establishing and
maintaining a solid reputation for
producing and selling good regis
tered Holstein animals and
genetics.
And they know what it doesn't
mean that they arc better peo
ple than others.
“It’s a veiy prestigious award,”
Kirby said. “When we think of
how many outstanding breeders
From top to bottom, is dam, daughter and granddaugh
ter, all carrying the Lynne rest Holstein prefix. This cow fam
ily brings special satisfaction to Kirby and Sheryl Horst,
owners of Lynncrest Hoisteins and winners of the 1998
national Holstein Distinguished Young Breeder award. This
top gal is Lynncrest Stan Haley, the first 40,000-pound milk
per lactation producer for the Horsts, as well as the matron
of their homebred flushing and embryo marketing effort.
The cow family is noted for high fat components. Haley’s
production has averaged about 4 percent fat per lactation.
Lynncrest Stan Haley was crossed with Highlight
Converse-ET to produce this Lynncrest Converse Happy-
ET cow. Happy, also pictured with the family on the front
page, has been a strong producer of fertilized eggs for the
Horst family. She also produced good daughters. Her fat
production has averaged about 5-percent.
One of the daughters of Happy, Lynncrest Bellwood Half
pint has become a top producing cow for the embryo mark
eting business done by Kirby and Sheryl Horst of Lynncrest
Holsteins. Halfpint’s first lactation as a 2-year-old was 4.6
percent.
there are, not only in Pennsylvania,
but the United States, and to be
selected is a great honor. Probably
the highlight of our career so far.”
Sheryl said that they have been
very fortunate and they are very
grateful for their blessings, and
thankful to God for providing them
with opportunities to find some
success to support themselves and
their children, as well as for the
many people they’ve come to
know through Holstein breeding
and dairying.
They said they are very grateful
for the people they’ve met who’ve
become Mends and mentors.
Kirby said that as much as any
thing, they attribute their success
One of the prolific flush cows purchased by Lynne rest Holsteins Is Windcrest Lead
man Jessie-ET. She was purchased as a calf, and produced 17 sons for sale Into artifi
cial insemination units, and 55 embryos that sold internationally. She also gave farm
owners Sheryl and Kirby Horst a daughter that also produced well and provided
daughters that have generated interest from Al units and embryo marketing firms.
to the support of many people in
the Holstein community, especial
ly some of the local Holstein
breeders, such as Nelson Trout
man, Andy Stoltzfus, etc., and
others, who over the years shared
ideas and information, and pro
vided insights to opportunities for
possible progress.
The couple, in their mid- to late
30s, said they ate very excited
about the honor and the upcoming
trip to Boise.
They know the strength of the
competition in vying for the
award, and they know that many
Holstein breeders before them,
many not only in Pennsylvania,
but nationally and internationally,
have helped pave the way in creat
ing a Holstein industry with breed
value, and in providing and pro
ving sound advice for ways to
improve the breed.
For all Pennsylvania Holstein
breeders, the Horsts’ win also adds
to the state’s reputation and
prestige.
The win marks the fourth time
the award was presented to a Pen
nsylvania Holstein breeder since
the national recognition program
was begun in 1990.
Past winners include John and
Sue Howard of Willow Street,
Lancaster County; Steve and Chris
Wood of Littlestown, Adams
County; and Lloyd and Denise
Pease of Susquehanna County.
The Horsts arc also the third
breeding operation from Lebanon
County to win the state title.
It also means the Horsts have
made some personal sacrifices,
made some decisions about how to
manage their farm and lives, and
took some risks and were fortunate
enough to have enough luck on
their side with regard to dealing
with those things over which they
have no control.
But they have been working
hard to minimize those things they
cannot control.
For them that means communi
cating with the rest of the industry,
as well as attempting to stay in
touch with the rest of the world,
being aggressive marketers of their
cattle and promoters of the dairy
industry, and doing their
homework.
The Horsts were featured by
Lancaster Farming a couple of
years ago because of their involve
Daughter of Windcrest Lead man Jessie-ET, this is Lynn
crest Mountain Jamaica-ET. She carries a 90-pound plus
protein index, and has seven sons headed to Al units as well
as 25 embryos exported internationally.
ment and successes with flushing
high-indexing cows for merchan
dising embryos.
One of their donor cows, pur
chased at a national sale, was pro
ducing embryos in strong demand
internationally. She was providing
the Horsts with a good number of
fertilized eggs for transplanting
into recipient cows.
At the time, some may have
considered that the Horsts were
merely lucky.
It could have been one of those
once-in-a-lifetime, happy turns of
events, that can be short-lived and
mysterious when they disappear.
But in the intervening years, the
Horsts have established a herd and
breeding track record of successes
that has continued to grow, and the
Horsts have been able to continue
in the dairy industry with a bright
outlook.
While the majority of their farm
income comes from the sale of
milk, the money they have made in
merchandising cattle has given
them a healthy boost toward
achieving their long-term goal of
paying off early the 9S-tillable acre
farm they purchased from Kirby’s
family in April 1995.
Dedication to their business and
farm is also an expression of their
stronger dedication and desire to
be a family and raise their children
on a farm.
“There is nothing more satisfy
ing than raising a family on a dairy
farm,” Sheryl said.
“Our children enjoy the many
wonders of nature on the farm. Our
two daughters, Chanelle (13) and
Chelsea (10), are involved in 4-H
and enjoy showing their 4-H
calves at local, district, and state
shows.
“Chad enjoys riding bike and
playing with the dogs just
being an ordinary active 6-year
old but looks forward to show
ing a 4-H calf,” she said.
“Raising the kids on the farm is
the ultimate,” Kirby said. “We
wouldn’t want to give up that lifes
tyle for anything.”
In their award application, the
Horsts stated, “Having registered
Holsteins has, and will, give our
children so many opportunities
and benefits in 4-H and the Junior
Holstein clubs. Each child learns
valuable lessens in training a calf,
and it sure is fun watching our kids
show.”
Averaging about a 55-cow milk
ing string, they have no cows in the
herd with a classficiation under 82
points. The herd has 13 Excellent
cows, and that all combines to give
them a BAA of 110.5 percent a
rating that ranks them third in the
state and in the top 35 nationally.
(A BAA is a measure of the
breed average classification by age
group. A herd BAA is a way to rec
ognize a herd of better than aver
age breeding by comparing the
classification of all of the animals
to the current total average age
(Turn to Pag* A 33)