To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Virginia Holstein Association we will be posting features that will track their history. Click Here to see the all the articles posted to date. And Happy Anniversary to the Virginia Holstein Association!

The Virginia Holstein Association celebrates its 100th Anniversary in 2016 and we look back on the people, events, and registered Holstein animals that have had an impact on not only the state organization but Holsteins across the state, nation, and world. No one Holstein animal can claim the impact worldwide as Round Oak Rag Apple Elevation.

Bred by well-known Holstein breeder Ronald A. Hope, Purcellville, Virginia on August 30, 1965. His dam, Round Oak Ivanhoe Eve (4E-94), “a big, tall, open-ribbed Ivanhoe daughter”. She traces 20 times to Johanna Rag Apple Pabst, founder of the Rag Apple bloodlines. His sire, Tidy Burke Elevation, was an inbred Wis Burke Ideal son tracing 11 times to Wisconsin Admiral Burke Lad, the foundation of the Burke bloodlines.

The magical mating of two inbred Holsteins was the collaboration of Ronald A. Hope and his cousin, George Miller. George was then with Virginia Artificial Breeding Association which later became part of Select Sires, Inc.

July 20, 1966 was a very historic day for Virginia Holstein members. The annual state Holstein Field Day was held at Foxlease Farm, Upperville, Virginia. The featured speaker was Representative Gerald Ford of Michigan. A group of breeders representing VA ABA traveled a few miles away after the day’s program to consider the purchase of a yearling bull, Round Oak Rag Apple Elevation. Never before had the organization paid more than $1,000 for a young sire but finally agreed to settle for a purchase price of $2,800. Who could have predicted that Gerald Ford would become President of the United States and that young yearling bull would become the most influential Holstein bull in the world!

Early sampling of Elevation was done by VA ABA and Sire Power. Virginia breeders were some of the first to recognize the improvement that Elevation daughters made on just normal, average Holstein females. Virginia Holstein sales soon featured Elevation daughters and buyers from all over the U.S. came to buy. In the 1977 California Galaxie Sale the top three selling animals were all Virginia bred Elevation daughters.

It is estimated that over 95% of all Holstein animals worldwide can trace their bloodlines back to Elevation. Several geneticists say it is a very laborious task to find a Holstein without Elevation in their bloodlines. It is estimated that Elevation’s offspring today number close to nine million.

His daughters equally excelled in production and type. Probably most notable was Northcroft Ella Elevation (EX-97) and Brookview Tony Charity (EX-97), a maternal granddaughter.

In 1999 Holstein International named Round Oak Rag Apple Elevation “Bull of the Century”.

In 1974 at the Virginia Sale of Stars, Jimmie Eustace of Willowlyn Farm, Catlett, Virginia consigned Willowlyn Elevation Lou, a senior calf. She was purchased by a young junior Holstein member, Teresa Myers of Walkup Farm, Harrisonburg for $2,050. She was bred to Paclamar Astronaut which resulted in Walkup Astronaut Lou Ann (4E-94-GMD-DOM). “Lou Ann” produced many great daughters with two of the most notable being Walkup Valiant Lou Ella (EX-92-GMD, DOM) and Walkup Bell Lou Etta (VG-88-GMD, DOM). “Lou Ella” became the dam of Rothrock Tradition Leadman and “Lou Etta”, a Rotate daughter, became the dam of Europe’s Etazon Lord Lily ET. “Lou Ann” was the third highest ranking female in Holstein International’s Cows of the Century” recognition contest.

The majority of the twenty-six Holstein cows nominated in the Virginia Holstein Association’s “Cows of the Century” contest can trace their bloodlines back to Elevation, with one being Elevation’s dam.

Elevation put it all together in one package: type, production, good feet and legs, udders, ability to transmit, longevity, and marketing demand for offspring. Some of Elevation’s notable “firsts”:

He was the first Holstein sire to have 10,000 registered sons and the first to have over 600 sons in A.I. Some of his most notable sons include: Starbuck, Tradition, Mars Tony (Virginia bred), Elevation Mars, Bova, and Sexation. For many years his son, Hanoverhill Starbuck was the leading sires of All Americans.

In 1984 he had 54,843 daughters on test, a record at that time for any sire worldwide.

As of March 1, 1982 he had 1000 registered daughters in the 1000 pound fat bracket on DHI test.

By 1982 he had over 200 daughters that had achieved 30,000 pounds of milk in one lactation of 365 days or less.

As of November 1984 he had sired 2862 Excellent daughters.

Of Elevation’s top 100 selling Holstein offspring 49 were sold in 1977 and his top 100 selling offspring by 1977 averaged $11,402.

Today it is estimated that Elevation has over 100,000 registered Holstein worldwide.

From 1977 to 1983 he had 89 All American nominations.
Elevation was exhibited as a bull calf in the 50th Anniversary Virginia Spring Holstein Show and placed second in his class.

Celebrating its 100th Anniversary in 2016 the Virginia Holstein
Association conducted the Cows of the Century Contest.
Twenty-six cows that were bred by Virginia breeders carrying
their prefix were nominated. Current members of the Association
were eligible to vote for their top seven cows and after the
final ballots were tallied only one farm/prefix were allowed in
the final top seven Cows of the Century. The cow profiles were
provided by Walter S. McClure, Sr. and are presented in alphabetical
order.




Brookfield Elevation Pretty 3E- 94 DOM
Born 1/11/75 9058489

Pretty was bred by Bill Harrison and developed by Larry and
Wayne Kibler. Pretty, sired by Elevation, was out of an Excellent
Matt daughter, a combination that produced a lot of outstanding
daughters. Pretty was purchased by Larry Kibler in 1979 just
at the time when embryo transplant work was advancing. Larry
flushed her, getting 25 daughters with the Ken Wan prefix before
selling her to Dreamstreet Farm in New York where she
produced 18 more daughters with the Dreamstreet prefix. During
her lifetime, Pretty had 40 classified daughters – 7 EX, 19
VG, 9 G+ and 1 Fair. Pretty was Grand Champion of numerous
Virginia Holstein Shows and many state fairs. Bill sold part of
his herd in the early sixties to Bill Blalock which became the
foundation of the Park Forest Herd.




Harvue Roy Frosty 3E- 97 GMD
Born 11/7/02 52378753

Harvue Roy Frosty, scored 3E- 97, is one of the greatest show
cows of the last decade. Frosty is sired by Roy and out of an EX
93 DOM granddaughter of Skybuck, whose VG 88 dam is a VG
Virginia Holstein’s Cows of the Century
86 GMD DOM Bell daughter. Frosty is the very best of many
high scoring cows bred and developed by Harvue. I was amazed
at her strength and dairyness when she was first place three year
old at Madison. Frosty’s show record includes All World 2010
Holstein International, Supreme Champion World Dairy Expo
2010, All-American Aged Cow 2010, Unanimous All-American
Five Year Old 2009, Unanimous Canadian All-American Five
Year Old 2009, Supreme Champion World Dairy Expo 2009,
First Five Year Old, Royal Winter Fair, All-American Sr. Three
Year Old 2007, Sr. and Grand Champion 2007 International
Show, and nominated All-American Sr. 2 Year Old 2006. Her
current milk record is 5 yrs 7 mos 2x 365 days 44,710 milk
5.0% 2222 fat 3.0% 1332 protein. She now has 10 Excellent
daughters and 18 Very Good daughters. The Frosty story is just
beginning to unfold as she is the youngest member of the cows
for Virginia Cow of the Century.




JPG Standout Kandy 2E- 96 GMD
Born 9/30/71 8085585

JPG stands for John P. Garber who is a son-in-law of H. Ralph
Fields, Centerfield Farm. John was herdsmen at Centerfield and
owned a small herd within the Centerfield herd. John called
George Miller at Virginia Animal Breeders to discuss breeding
Kandy’s dam. After a lengthy discussion it was decided to use
Sunnyside Standout. I was going to Loudoun County the next
day so I agreed to take 5 units to John. When I arrived, the cow
was in heat and John bred her that evening resulting in Kandy.
I followed Kandy as she developed. At that time, I was assisting
Horace Backus selecting cows for National sales. We tried
unsuccessfully to have her consigned to the 1976 PA convention
sale. The next year the sale was in Ohio and John finally agreed
to consign her. Kandy topped the sale at $41,000.00 going to Pete
Heffering of Hanover Hills, where she went on to be three times
All-American Aged Cow and twice Reserve All-American Aged
Cow. Kandy was ranked 4th All Time All-American Aged cow in
1984 behind Northcroft Ella Elevation EX 97, Harborcrest Rose
Milly EX 97 and Gene Acres Felicia Mae EX 97. Kandy had two
excellent daughters and one at VG 89. Center-Field Knight Kandy
EX 90 sold in the 1979 Windswept Dispersal for $18,000.00
purchased by Bear Path Farm in NY.




Pottsdale Flip Kamille 4E- 95
Born 6/10/95 15812163

Flip was first place summer yearling and was not shown again
until she was a five year old in 2000 where she was Reserve
Grand Champion and Best Udder of the show. Her dam Pottsdale
Mandingo Kamilah scored 4E- 92 at 18 years and produced
313,234 milk lifetime. Flip’s granddam was Pottsdale Bell Kandy
2E-91 X Pottsdale Mars Katrina VG 88 DOM X Pottsdale
Cinnemon Karla VG 85 GMD DOM X Patson Royal Kingpin
VG 86. Flip was sired by Cook Farm Starbuck Flip. Flip daughters
included Pottsdale Durham Kallie EX 90 and two VG Leduc
daughters. Kallie had excellent daughters by Lou and Encore.
This is the maternal line that continues to impact the Pottsdale
herd today. Flip’s daughter Pottsdale Encore Kandy EX 92 was
sold to Bulldog Holsteins and was Reserve Grand Champion
at the 2004 Maryland Spring Show. She was later sold to FDB
Holsteins, Escalon CA where she was Reserve All-California
in 2005. Another sister was EX 91 and a third sister Pottsdale
Wistar Krista 3E-90 sold to Walkup Holsteins. However, Flip
was not through as a show cow winning Grand Champion, Best
Udder, Best Bred and Owned as a nine year old in the 2004 VA
Summer Show. She was last classified in 2007 going 4E- 95. She
impressed the classifiers with her style, dairy strength and youthful
appearance. Flip lived seventeen years producing 170,292
M 6494 F 5460P lifetime. Pottsdale is the prefix of Dogwood
Farms operated by Mike and Nancy Potts and their family. They
are the only dairy herd left in Loudon County.




Rilara Mars Las Ravena EX 91 GMD DOM
Born 8/5/79 10183316

Ravena was consigned as a bred heifer to the Southeast Show
Window Sale held in North Carolina in 1981, and was purchased
by Alan Johnson, Hamptonville NC. Alan developed her,
flushed her (over 100 embryos) and when she was in her prime
EX 91 sold her as a feature in the South Fork Sale in Texas hosted
by Price’s Dairy. I attended the sale with Nelson Gardner and
we watched her sell for $225,000.00 to Mike Rainey in Georgia.
Mike put her in a very intense flush schedule and over the
next years he registered 168 animals out of Ravena and exported
over 100 embryos. Ravena and her dam Las were recognized in
1993 as Super Donors for having over 200 registered offspring.
Ravena has been on the cover of the Holstein World, Southeastern
Holstein News and featured in the Holstein International and
the Veeteelt, a Holstein publication in the Netherlands. One of
Ravena’s most famous daughter was Briarpatch- R Misty EX
GMD DOM sired by Thonyma Secret. This is the family that
produced CMV Mica-ET, a popular bull at ABS. Ravena and
Misty’s family were featured in the Holstein Hot Spots in 2012.
Ravena has offspring in over 27 states, the countries of Canada,
Germany, Netherlands, France, Italy, Japan and South Africa.
This is a cow family that continues to leave its impact on the
Holstein breed. The top TPI bull in the breed Seagull Bay Supersire–
ET goes back to Ravena and a full brother Headliner
will have proofs out in August ’15, both being at Select Sires.
They go back to the Misty cow. Ravena was sired by Marshfield
Elevation Tony out of Rilara Haven Charming Las-TW.




Round Oak Ivanhoe Eve 4E-94
Born 7/14/1962 6749578

Dam of Elevation. When Eve was born I was working as Extension
Dairy Agent in Loudoun County. Eve was sired by Osborndale
Ivanhoe who was quickly becoming the most exciting
bull in the Holstein industry. Over the next few years I watched
her develop into a tremendous cow both in production and type.
She produced a maternal line 6 generations of excellent dams.
Eve’s son, sired by Tidy Burke Elevation, Round Oak Rag Apple
Elevation EX 96 Gold Medal was born on 8/30/1965. I left Loudoun
County to work for Virginia Animal Breeders Association
in 1966 and followed the Round Oak herd in my new duties as
sales manager for the VABA. I was visiting with Ronald Hope
in early July of 1966 and Ronald took me to see Elevation who
was tied up in preparation for the upcoming show season. Ronald
stated that we needed to purchase this bull calf for the stud. On
the following Monday, I visited with George Miller, Manager
of VABA. George was aware of Elevation as he had convinced
Ronald to mate Tidy Burke Elevation to Eve, resulting in Elevation.
George stated that he and Ronald could not make a deal and
told me it was okay for me to contact the VABA Holstein Sire
committee concerning Elevation. The committee agreed to go to
Round Oak after the Holstein Field day on July 19, 1966 held
at neighboring Foxlease Farm managed by Ted Haberland. The
Committee, composed of Chairman Jack Hunt, Harold Craun,
Leonard Crowgey, G.E. Fisher, Doug Child, George Miller and
me, traveled to Round Oak to look at Elevation. Ronald priced
Elevation for $3,000.00 which was more than VABA had ever
paid for a Virginia bred bull. The committee visited and instructed
George to make an offer to Ronald. George came back and stated
that Ronald agreed to sell Elevation to VABA for $2,800.00 but
he would retain him until after the Eastern National Show. Elevation
had a new home at VABA – later a part of Select Sires.
Elevation had two full sisters that scored Excellent but Elevation
was her only offspring that made a significant contribution to the
breed. Eve’s lifetime production was 196,030 M 4.1% 8,070 Fat.
Eve sold in Round Oaks first sale March 5, 1970 before Elevation
was well known to Calvin Will of PA for $11,000.00. The
influence of Elevation “Bull of the Century” has resulted in his
being in the pedigree of over 90% of recent Holstein bulls in almost
every major dairy country worldwide as reported by AIPL
USDA Interbull Bulletin, Volume 33, Page 93. Elevation…”The
Holstein Bull of the Century, and his dam Round Oak Elevation
Eve.”




Walkup Astronaut Lou Ann 4E- 94 GMD DOM
Born 1/19/1976 9174127

Willowlyn Elevation Lou EX 91, the dam of Lou Ann, was
the purchase of Walkup Holsteins and Teresa Myers in the 1974
Virginia Sale of Stars for $2,025.00 at approximately 6 months
of age. Lou was bred to Paclamar Astronaut and Walkup
Astronaut Lou Ann was born on January 19, 1976. Lou Ann
developed into one of the most famous cows in the World. Lou
Ann, always showed as a Junior entry by Teresa, was nominated
six times as Jr. All-American. She was named Jr. All- American
as Jr. Yearling, 2 yr old, 3 yr old, twice Reserve All-American
as an Aged Cow and High Honorable as a 4 yr old. Lou Ann
was 4 times Grand Champion at the Virginia State Show. Lou
Ann developed into an outstanding brood cow producing female
offspring that were in high demand. Her Bell daughter Walkup
Bell Lou Etta was a feature of the 1986 Exclusive V Sale bringing
$11,000.00 purchased by Tom Piersiak in Maine where she
wasVG-88 GMD. At High-Sights she had 1 EX, 13 VG, and 3
G+ daughters. A Rotate daughter produced the highly proven
Etazon Lord Lilly bull. Lou Etta daughters produced many proven
A.I. sires. Lou Ann’s most famous daughter, Walkup Valiant
Lou Ella EX 92 GMD DOM, was a feature of the 1983 National
Holstein Convention Sale in Norfolk, VA selling as a bred heifer
for $33,000.00 to Rothrock. Lou Ella had 89 calves at Rothrock;
44 were females, 3 EX (EX 94,EX 93,EX90), 16 VG, 14 G+, 4
Good , 1 Fair and 7 never classified. Four daughters were Gold
Medal Dams. Lou Etta sons were popular in A.I. with 3 earning
Gold Medals. Six sons exported to Japan, 2 sons to Puerto Rico,
7 sons to Canada and at least 8 to US A.I. studs. Walkup Astronaut
Lou Ann’s influence worldwide made her one of the most
famous cows of the last century. Lou Ann’s legacy through her
daughters on the international scene produced the sires Leadman
in the United States, Lord Lily and Canvas in Holland, Mascol
in Germany and Restell in France. All of this contributed to Lou
Ann’s lasting global influence, resulting in her being named the
Third Highest Ranking Female in Holstein International’s Cows
of the Century.

Virginia Holstein’s Cows of the Century
100th Anniversary Powerpoint

During the 100th Anniversary Banquet a powerpoint is being
prepared by Carol McComb to highlight the Virginia Holstein
Association throughout the past 100 years. This can only be
accomplished with the help of its members. If you have photographs
that you would like to be included in the powerpoint
contact Carol to either scan a high quality version and send to
her, or send the photo directly to her to have scanned in.
We are looking forward to the walk down memory lane celebrating
the accomplishments from the past 100 years, so be
sure to contribute to this special event. Carol can be reached by
phone (540-338-6113), mail (19701 Silcott Springs Road, Purcellville,
VA 20132) or email (grandmamccomb@gmail.com).