Lynncrest Farm To Receive (Continued from Page A 32) classification of the breed.) In the Horsts’ application for the award, they reported that 1998 was good to them at the time the herd was averaging 23,522 pounds of milk, but the cnd-of-ycar Pa.DHIA results (September 1998) showed a slightly higher average; they had their first 40,000-pound lactation cow; and they sold their first bull to Japan, and their 64th bull in artificial insemination. According to the Horsts, they breed three different strategies within their herd some are bred for index for genetic merchandis we at Triple H construction believe our experience with agricultural projects Insures our fulfillment of your needs, in an agricultural application, we are the one company you can absolutely trust to handle every step of construction. h Construction 430 Springville Road, Ephrata, PA 17522 717-738-2142 • 1-(800)-874-7531 • 1-(800)-TRIPLE-1 Custom Builders of Dairy, Horse, Storage, Residential & Comm ing; others are bred for deep pedi gree and type; and they also breed red & white Holsteins. “For our herd, we feel the best way to reach goals is through a balanced blend of various kinds of genetics," Kirby said. "After each sire summary, we like to select a group of bulls that are going to fills the needs of our herd, whether that may be index, contract animals, extreme type bulls. Red and White bulls, or the most marketable genetics. “When selecting bulls, we con sider udder, foot and leg compo sites; milk, fat and protein pounds. We like to use high-TPI bulls to 180 Cow Freestall Bam 450 36'xlOO’ open Front Bedded Pack Heifer Barn w Freestall Barn & Milking Center National Holstein Young Breeder Award satisfy our type concerns. “We reevaluate and upgrade our requirements for bulls we are con sidering, and try to gather as much information as possible on pros pective mating sires. “We like to use the Red Book and information horn AI (artificial insemination) organizations, as well as information we can gather from other breeders who might have seen some daughters of a par ticular sire. “The last several years, we have placed strong emphasis on percent fat and protein, which has paid great dividends with some very marketable genetics.” They also acknowledged that they have been lucky. “Breeding cattle is not an exact science, a little luck is needed as well. We enjoy working with great looking cows and expect our 2-year-olds to score high Good Plus, or Very Good in their first lactation, and Excellent by their third or fourth lactation. “One ingredient of a good breeder not mentioned so far, is the ability to find a promising animal at a sale, to have an eye for ayoung cow that has potential to grow and mature into a fantastic individual. “We’ve had the good fortune of finding several of those ‘diamonds Free Dry Cow & Heifer Barn Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 5, 1999-A33 Barn Give Us A Call! We would be pleased to show some of our completed facilities lercial Buildings in the rough’ over the past few years for bargain prices. Most of these animals were purchased as bred heifers, or unscored 2-year olds.” Kirby said that the first 10 years of fanning for he and Sheryl was fairly similar to others getting started. But he enjoyed registered Hols teins, and breeding and seeing improvements. It’s something that gives him a reward, and keeps his interest He said purchasing Windcrest Lcadman Jessie-ET as a calf got them started into merchandising. Jessie is a Very Good 89- cow with an Excellent mammary. The Horsts sold 17 sons from her in AI and SS embryos international ly. They also kept four daughters. One of the daughters, Lynncrest Mountain Jamaica-ET, a Very Good 88 with an Excel lent mammary and a 90- protein index has proven to be prolific. But the cow family that they’ve been work ing with more, and that brings them more per sonal satisfaction is founded on a 3-month old calf purchased for $BOO, Len-Lyn Winken Hope, VG-88, Ex mammary. They have four of her daughters, and one has produced especially well, Lynncrest Bell Boss Haley, VG-88, VG-mammary. The three daughters have done well Lynncrest Slocum Halo-ET, VG-88, Ex mammary at 3 years; Lynncrest Slocum Holy-ET, VG-86, Ex mammary at 3 years; and Lynncrest Majic Hillary, GP-83 VG-86 mammary at 1-10, a potential bull mother. But Haley was their first homebred breeder. They flushed her as a virgin heifer and got Lynncrest Converse Happy-ET, Ex-91, Ex mammary, with a first lactation record of 2-2, 365-day, 28,440 pounds milk, 1,413 pounds, or 5-percent fat, 990 pounds, or 3.2 percent protein. Happy has become their most heavilyt con tracted cow. She was the first homebred VG-89 Ex-mammary 2-year old. She has been success fully flushed resulting in 140 fertilized embryos recovered. Sixty-four of those were sold interna tionally, and 14 sons were sold to A.I. Two of bar sons have gone to Japan, one to Germany and 11 to United States AI units. Eleven daughters were sold and 10 remain on the farm. (Turn to Page A4l)