Lynn & Sara Harbaugh excel in breeding highly competitive individuals from great cow families.
The word bella means beautiful in Spanish, and a photo of Lynn and Sara Harbaugh’s Bella-View Holsteins could be found next to the dictionary entry. Not only is the farm, located in northeast Wisconsin near the town of Marion beautiful, the bovines who reside there are too. Along with their three children, Lynn and Sara raise heifers on their small farm, which derives its name from one of the best cows Lynn feels he has ever worked with, Harbaugh Bella EX 92.
The barn at Bella-View is set up to allow them to care for and develop 20-25 heifers, most of which they own. There are four group pens and five box stalls, with each pen having access to pasture. The barn also has a milkhouse, indoor washrack and an office.
The majority of the Harbaugh’s herd traces back to three cow families: Farmdale Integrity Dixie *RC EX 94, who was nominated Junior All-American in 2003; Rosedale Go For Gin EX 93, who is a full sister to EX 95 Rosedale Lexington; and Kingsmill Ashlyns Ashore EX 92 at three years of age and is a Goldwyn daughter of Tri-Day Ashlyn EX 96.
After moving to their new home and building the new facility in 2010, the Harbaughs purchased both Go For Gin and Ashlyns Ashore to become foundation animals in their herd, adding them to the small nucleus of deep-pedigreed heifers that came with them to the new Bella-View facility. Since that time, they have worked steadily to grow and increase their herd using traditional embryo transfer and utilizing IVF as well.
In short order, Lynn and Sara have accomplished great things. In 2011, Bella-View Shot of Gin entered the spotlight being named Junior Champion at the Mid-East Fall National Show in Louisville, KY. In 2012, Gin was back again, garnering a nomination for All-American Fall Yearling after selling in the March Madness sale for $26,500 that spring. Shot of Gin is now scored VG 89 and is a Shottle daughter of Go For Gin.
Showring success continued for the Harbaughs throughout 2013 as they bred the top three placing Summer Yearlings at the Wisconsin Championship Show. Bella-View Alex Ashanti-ET anchored the group after being named the All-Wisconsin Summer Yearling and Reserve Junior Champion. Ashanti, an Alexander daughter of EX 92 Ashlyns Ashore, was purchased by Paige Vossekuil of Brandon, WI in the 2013 Quest For Success. The Reserve All-Wisconsin Summer Yearling was Bella-View Angels Apple-ET, owned with Cory and Cara Biely of Pine River, WI. Apple is a Dempsey from a VG 87 Aftershock granddaughter of KHW Regiment Apple-Red EX 96. The final member of the trio, placing third was Bella-View Goldwyn Julip-ET, a Goldwyn from a VG 87 Shottle daughter of 2nd-Look Durham Juba EX 95. Julip is owned with Kurt and Sarah Loehr of Eden, WI. Julip went on later in the summer to be named the Reserve Junior Champion at the Mid-West Fall National held at the Minnesota State Fair.
The Bella-View breeding program is a frequent favorite of Junior members looking to make a purchase that will garner them awards in the showring, calve into good cows and become foundation animals. Three heifers they have sold to Junior members have been named Junior, Reserve or Honorable Mention Junior Champions in the national junior show competition: Ashanti has done that for Paige, and Kayla Krueger has been lucky enough to garner these honors with both Bella-Ridge Go For Broke and Bella-View Braxton Allure. Ashanti was also named Junior Champion of the Wisconsin Championship Junior Show in 2013 for Paige, while Allure did the same for Kayla in 2014. Bella-View-bred heifers are also not strangers to the Junior Champion selection at the world’s largest junior show, the Wisconsin Junior State Fair.
In addition to having great bovines, the Harbaughs count themselves lucky to have great family and friends to work with as partners, and who house their milking cows, such as Sara’s family at Hilrose Holsteins, Chad and Amy Ryan of Ryan-Vu Holsteins and Kurt and Sarah Loehr of Forest-Ridge Holsteins. The Harbaughs have developed an extensive partnership with the Loehrs, and the Bella-Ridge prefix is used for the animals resulting from that collaboration.
With the Ryans, Lynn and Sara hosted the very successful Quest For Success in 2013. Averaging over $9,000 on nearly 100 lots, the sale surely lived up to its name, especially when the successes the animals sold have achieved is factored in. Several went on to compete at high levels for their new owners, and were there both All-American and Junior All-American nominations who passed through the sale ring on that blustery March day. The Harbaughs and Ryans are teaming up again to host the Quest For Success II which will be held on March 27, 2015 at Bella-View, with an exciting line up already being formed.
Lynn has had many opportunities to take his eye for good animals into the center of the showring, and has enjoyed officiating many shows throughout the US, as well as in Canada and Mexico. Lynn has had the good fortune of judging on the colored shavings four times, sorting the Milking Shorthorns, Ayrshires, Guernseys and Red & Whites.
No grass grows under this family. In addition to the farm, Lynn and Sara both hold full-time jobs within the dairy industry. Lynn serves as an Area Sales Manager for Northstar Select Sires and Sara is a Territory Business Manager with Zoetis. If all that weren’t enough, they are avid volunteers when it comes to youth, both serving as 4-H and Junior Holstein leaders. This is becoming increasingly important to them as their children enter these programs. Jacob (9), Logan (7) and Madison (nearly 4) have all been bitten by the registered Holstein bug and are coming to take an interest in the farm and cattle. Like all parents, Lynn and Sara are enjoying watching them begin to compete in activities such as judging and dairy bowl, as well as competing in the showring.