A26-Lanost»r Farming, Saturday, July 15. 2000
Showing Cattle Takes Year-Long
Preparation For Savage Family
JAYNE SEBRIGHT
Lancaster Farming Staff
KNOXVILLE, Md. What
started as a 4-H project for
Wayne Savage more than 30
years ago is now a year-round
venture for the Savage family of
Frederick County.
Wayne and Cindee Savage
continued showing cattle after
they were married in 1973. And,
once each of their four children
reached five years old and was
big enough to handle their own
animals, they encouraged them
to begin showing.
Today 2S-year-old Chip, 23-
year-old Kelli, 20-year-old Jami,
and 17-year-old Ryan are re
sponsible for the show string,
which is kept separately from
the other cows the majority of
the year to assure proper weight
maintenance and provide spe
cialized care.
The Savages own Savage-
Leigh Farm, a 200-acre dairy
farm, where they milk 230 cows
and have about 200 replacement
animals. In addition to the home
farm, they rent about 500 acres.
Jami’s two Brown Swiss and
Kelli and Ryan’s four Jerseys
add some color to the milking
herd of primarily 100 percent
registered Holsteins.
The Savage-Leigh herd boasts
a rolling herd average of 27,000
pounds of milk, more than 1,100
pounds fat, and more than 900
pounds protein. Well known for
both its outstanding milk pro
duction and high quality genet
ics, the herd is on the highest
rating of the Holstein Associa
tion’s Tri-Star program. For two
years in a row, it was named the
Top Tri-Star Herd in Maryland.
All four children work on the
farm. Chip, who attended Vir
ginia Polytechnical Institute
(VPI) for one year, is responsible
for the show cows and takes care
of the merchandising and
embryo transfer programs.
Kelli is the farm’s herdsper
son. A VPI graduate in Dairy
Science, she milks two times a
day and handles calf registra
tion, herd checks, and record
keeping for the herd.
Studying early childhood de
velopment at Frederick Com
munity College, Jami takes care
of the calves and younger heif
ers. Part of her job includes
caring for the show heifers sepa
rately from the other replace
ments.
Ryan, who will attend VPI
this fall, takes care of the crops
Both Ryan and Jaml have enjoyed tremendous success
in the show ring. Jami Is at the halter of her Brown Swiss,
GS FLJ Tippy-ET, EX 91, who has been named both Junior
champion and reserve Junior champion at the World Dairy
Expo. She is also a two-time unanimous All-American
winner. Ryan's Jersey, Triple-S-Imperial Minuet, EX 91,
was supreme champion of the 4-H show at the 1999 Mary
land State Fair.
and equipment.
Wayne and Cindee oversee
the operation with Wayne help
ing Kelli with the milkings and
Cindee keeping the financial
records.
In addition to the family,
Dave Michalak, a VPI graduate,
is the only other employee on the
farm. He takes care of nutrition
work and feeding the herd.
“Our children began working
on the farm at a very young
age,” said Cindee. “When they
were small, showing was their
reward for working so hard on
the farm. Since we never had
time to go on family vacations, it
was like a vacation for them.”
Even though showing has
always been something that the
Savages enjoy doing, it also
takes a lot of work. In February,
the Savages make their final se
lections on what calves they will
show in the summer yearling
and senior calf classes that fall.
Winter calves are selected in
March.
Once the calves are selected as
part of the show string, they are
moved into a separate area
where Jami can get them used to
being tied up and kept on a
halter.
The area is bedded up like
show stalls, and Jami leaves
them tied during the day, feeds
them in a tub, and waters them
with a bucket. In the evening,
the animals are let loose to get
exercise. She also begins wash
ing them early in the spring to
keep their hair clean.
“If you wash the animals
when they still have their winter
coats on, the hair underneath
the winter coats will be extra
clean once you clip them,” said
Jami.
“You should never clip an
animal dirty,” she said. “We
usually clip the winter coats in
March to assure plenty of time
for the new hair to grow in
before the spring show.”
The show heifers are also kept
separately from the other ani
mals to prevent them from be
coming overconditioned and to
get them used to being around
each other. While the other ani
mals are fed a total mixed
ration, the show animals are fed
hay and a high protein diet, in
cluding 40 percent protein pel
lets.
The show cows are kept in
separate box stalls from the rest
of the herd. They are hand fed
three times a day and kept on a
diet consisting of beet pulp,
grain, and hay.
“They keep their conditioning
better on this diet,’’ said Cindee.
“They have more dairyness and
depth of rib.’’
The Savages take their show
string to county, state, national,
and international shows. In the
spring, they travel to the state
spring show.
The major showing season
starts in July with the district
show. In August is the Maryland
State Fair. The All-American
Dairy Show comes in Septem
ber. And then they travel to
Madison, Wi., in October for the
World Dairy Expo. They finish
up in November with the Mid-
Eastern National Dairy Show in
Louisville, Ky. The Savages
have even showed a couple
times at the Canadian Royale in
Toronto, Canada.
“We don’t drag our cows to
all of the local and county
shows,” said Cindee. “The cows
need their exercise, and too
many shows can tire them out.
Unless you’re really trying to
promote an animal, it’s not nec
essary to take them to every
show around.”
The Savages have always en
couraged their children to do ev
erything on their own. “We told
our children that if they didn’t
work with the animals at home
and didn’t take care of them,
then they didn’t get to show
them,” said Wayne and Cindee.
“It was their responsibility to
make the animal look as good as
they possibly could.”
Although the Savages taught
their children the basics in
showing, the kids fine-tuned
their showing skills while watch
ing expert showmen and fitters
at the various shows.
“When Chip was little, he
used to stand and watch people
like Billy Jo Heath and Chris
Hill fit the animals,’* said
Cindee. “Douglas and Mary
King of Kingstead Farm, along
with George Edgerton, really
worked with Chip and taught
him showing techniques like
holding the head at the right
angle and setting up the feet
properly.”
The Savages have learned a
lot from going to shows and vis
iting with dairy people from all
over the continent.
“We’ve gotten to interact
with some of the top breeders in
the industry and made a lot of
friends through showing,” said
Cindee. “When you’re at the
shows, you can talk to people
from different areas and they’ll
tell you about their operation.
You can take their ideas and try
to adapt them to your own
farm.”
When the children were
young, Cindee used to video
tape them so they could critique
their showing skills after the
show.
“Parents often put too much
stress on their children by ex
pecting them to win,” said
Cindee. “I always let my kids
decide how to handle their ani
mals. I always encouraged them
to never make excuses why they
didn’t win, but to look for ways
they could improve so they
could win next time.”
Wayne and Cindee have
worked hard to instill good
sportsmanship in their children.
“There’s been times when we’ve
been disappointed with a plac
ing at one show and then have
that animal win at the next
show,” said Cindee. “No matter
what happens, we want them to
congratulate the winner.”
The Savages have won many premier breeder and exhib
itor awards at the various shows. Here are Chip, Cindee,
and Kelli accepting the premier breeder award for the
1997 Mid-East National Holstein Show in Louisville, KY.
Savage-Leigh Bellwood Linda, EX 92, owned by Ryan is
well-known in the Holstein industry- She was named re
serve* grand champion at the Maiyland Spring Show in
both 1999 and 2000. Linda, along with the other show
cows, is kept in a separate area from the milking herd to
receive extra care.
Cindee always reminds her 4-
H kids that at each show it is
only that one judge’s opinion on
that particular day.
“The worst thing you can do
is be a bad sport and intimidate
the judge,” she said. “You don’t
want to burn bridges that you
have to cross again in the
future.”
Although show ring ethics has
received some negative public
ity, the Savages only have posi
tive things to say about the
professional fitters and show
crew who help them prepare
their animals for the shows.
“Working with professional
fitters and showmen has had a
very positive impact on our chil
dren,” said Wayne. “If we are
going to spend the money to
show, we want our animals to
look good.”
“All breeders and show
people need to work together
and compliment each other,”
said Cindy. “Negative com
ments about other breeders only
make you look bad.”
The Savages also work hard
to create a positive image of the
dairy industry when they show.
“The appearance of the show
man is important,” said Cindee.
“Their job is to show off the
animal and be almost invisible.
However they should look
neat.”
Keeping the stall area clean is
also a priority for the Savages.
“When you’re at the shows, you
want people to see a neat and or
ganized display,” said Cindee.
“People don’t want to see a
cluttered aisle or cots scattered
around.”
According to the Savages,
showing has helped them build
recognition for their herd, from
which they have sold embryos
worldwide. “The animals you
take to the shows can show
people the type of animal you
can breed at home.”
To Cindee, breeding cattle has
always seemed like an art. “You
have to really study families and
know genetics,” she said. “I love
watching the shows at Madison
because there are so many out
standing coWs there. It amazes
me to see the different type traits
that are carried through in the
different families.”
Although both Wayne and
Cindee enjoy going to the shows,
they now let their children
handle the show string.
“All of our children are very
independent and quite capable
of taking care of the animals
themselves,” said Wayne and
Cindee. “Now we only have to
go on show day.”