Inspired by the Sawyer Brown song of the same name, the Killian family strives to follow the right road to success.
By Danielle Nauman
The name Dirt Road quantifies more than the long gravel driveway connecting the farm of Steve and Amanda Killian to the world. The Killians chose the name to represent their breeding establishment because of a deeper meaning. They chose the name Dirt Road Holsteins because they were inspired by the song of the same name recorded by the country music group Sawyer Brown.
“The song states that the right road isn’t always easy,” says Amanda Killian, “but it’s still the one you were meant to take. It spoke to us when we started our farm, and it still does today.” Recently, she points out that Jason Aldean recorded the song “Dirt Road Anthem,” and they are still proud to be living the life of their choosing on their dead-end, dirt road.
That philosophy of living your life the right way is reflected in everything that Steve and Amanda do. Amanda tells a story from early in their relationship, after their first date, when Steve asked to see her herd of Jersey cows, as he hadn’t seen many of them before. Despite the majority of the barn being spic and span, there was that one calf pen we all have had…the one that was in terrible need of cleaning. “I knew Steve was the man for me when he showed up the next day with a pitch fork over his shoulder. He pitched several spreader loads without stopping. I always joke that I married the first man I ever met that could outwork me! You’d never guess he’s eleven years older than I am!”
That spirit of perseverance and determination follow through in the way Steve and Amanda are raising their family of five children. Family is of utmost importance to them, and they adore their children. “Our kids make all the hard work worthwhile. They keep us laughing,” says Amanda, noting that many Dr. Seuss books can be recited by memory in the Killian household.
The family enjoys being active and loves to participate in sports of all forms. Steve coaches the youth baseball teams, while Amanda shares her knowledge with her kids’ teammates on the basketball court. “Our kids are constantly playing basketball in the haymow or kickball or baseball in the front yard…there are bare spots in the lawn to prove that! Steve is a great runner, too, and the kids seem to take after him that way.” The family frequently participates in fun runs held in local communities.
The farm that houses Dirt Road Holsteins has been a work in progress. Amanda’s mother purchased the farm in 1995 from an Amish family, with no electricity or running water. This meant all the work, cleaning barn and feeding was done entirely by hand. More land was acquired as were more animals. Slowly, improvements and modernizations took place. Steve and Amanda purchased the farm when they were married in 2000, and have continued that improvement process, slowly turning it into the farm of their visions. The small farm meant to be home to 4o head, including the young stock is now home to over 200 head.
Those 200 head are a fifty-fifty mix of registered Holsteins and Jerseys. The primary goal of the Killian’s breeding program has always been to incorporate high components with great type. They are certainly achieving that goal, as they have achieved the status of being the second high herd for protein and the sixth high herd for milk in the nation earlier this year.
“We love working with the cows, and have really enjoyed being able to utilize embryo transfer with our herd,” says Amanda. “The Carlo cow family is extremely productive with embryo transfer, and we have been blessed to be able to export embryos to several countries around the world.”
“We found the perfect cow to build on when we purchased Castleholm T Carlo EX 91 4E GMD DOM in 2004. She was the start of a great legacy here at Dirt Road,” says Amanda, speaking fondly of their franchise cow. She continues to note that nearly all of their registered Holsteins trace back to Carlo. One exceptional daughter, Dirt-Road Goldwyn Cami VG 86, has been responsible for putting Dirt Road Holsteins on the map. Cami has also received both Dam of Merit and Gold Medal Dam status from Holstein USA. Cami has been responsible for producing more than 100 embryos that have been exported. Cami’s Gerard granddaughter, Dirt Road GRD Cleopatra-ET VG 87 DOM is a top genomic cow in the breed. Genomic results have recently come back on Cleopatra’s only Bookem daughter in the US. Dirt-Road Bookem Cher came back with a GTPI of +2508, and they have been told she is Bookem’s highest GTPI daughter. The Killians believe that Cher is pretty special due to the fact that not only is she sired by a proven bull, but her mother is also sired by a proven bull.
The work being done at Dirt-Road Holsteins has not gone unnoticed by the industry. In addition to the genetics from their herd being sought after by a world-wide market and sitting near the top of herd production lists in the nation, the Dirt Road herd has been honored four times as a recipient of Holstein USA’s Herd of Excellence Award.
In the future, Steve and Amanda would love to someday be able to travel to other countries, to see the animals that have resulted from embryos they have exported. “We have met so many wonderful people through this business, and we would love to see their home countries and the offspring from our cow family.”