The final listing of the top 20 Favorite Herds No long in business. Our thanks to those who nominated their favorite herds, to those who took the time to put some sort of rank to these herds and for Tim Baumgartner for his contribution of the herd summaries.

Number 1: Mount Victoria – T.B. Macaulay owned this 300 acre farm in Hudson, Quebec. He made the purchase as a weekend and summer residence but as a student of genetics he explored the breeding of plants and animals. This gentleman farmer got serious with his breeding program when he bought his first cow Oakhurst Colantha Abbekerk for $9,000 in 1924. Five other prize cows followed and then he got really serious when he spent $15,000 on his first bull, Johanna Rag Apple Pabst. The herd grew and developed and was dispersed in 1942 with over 2000 people in attendance, averaging $1926 on 68 head.

Number 2: Hanover Hill-  In 1973, R. Peter Heffering purchased Hanover Hill in Port Perry, Ont. They proved 177 bulls in Canadian Al and became the only herd to have bred nine class extra sires. The most successful was Hanover Hill Starbuck with over 60,000 daughters in Canada alone. The influence of Hanover Hill bloodlines is obvious, as 92 per cent of all heifers born and raised in Canada over the last five years carry the pedigree. Hanover Hill was very successful in show rings throughout North America, including the only herd, including the only herd to six Supreme Champions at World Dairy Expo. The Hanover Hill Herd dispersal in 1985 attracted more than 2,500 people who witnessed the sale of Brookview Tony Charity for a World Record $1.45 million.

Number 3: Elmer Dawdy Tidy Burke Holsteins The Tidy Burke herd of Elmer Dawdy, Salina, Kansas was small, never  exceeding twenty-four head of milking age.  Wis Burke Ideal rocketed to national fame through his offspring at Elmer Dawdy’s.   The Tidy Burke prefix can be found in the pedigree of most of the popular cow families in the breed today and most often, be found numerous times.

Number 4: Osborndale: Frances Osborne Kellogg and her “Osborndale” herd were a moving force in the Holstein circles from 1920 through 1956. They had purchased the finest possible foundation bulls and females, beginning with two sons of King Pietertje Ormsby Piebe and followed that with a $6,200 bull at the Minnesota Holstein Company Dispersal in 1927. Later, she attended the Mount Victoria Dispersal and purchased Montvic Lochinvar with J. W. Natwick and Paul Misner of Dunloggin. After Lochinvar, the next purchases were Sir Bess Ormbsy Burke Fobes and Clyde Hill Royal. Her last purchase before her death was Wis Maestro from the Wisconsin Reformatory in Green Bay. Mrs. Kellogg died on September 26, 1956 and on May 8 & 9, 1957 the herd was dispersed. The dispersal averaged $1,182 on 144 head for a total of $170,180. . Wis Maestro was high selling bull at $30,000, breaking a 37 year record and top female was $2,600. (Let the record show that 18,000 head were sold via U.S. public auction that year for an average of $356.)

Number 5: Dunloggin – Named because the lumberjack Joespeh Natwick, who owned the farm was done loggin timber from the farm the dairy known as the model for breeding dairy cattle was aptly named Dunloggin. This was one of the first herds to keep pedigress and breed for type and production.

Number 6 Pabst Farm – of Wisconsin, this was the home of the influential bulls Pabst Forbes Burke, Pabst Prime and one of their Waterloo grand champion cows, Plain View Inga. Pabst helped anchor the Wisconsin State Herds in the show ring and launched careers of great cowmen like Elis Knutson, Sylvester Weiler and Russ and Butch Ridge. As a side note, they also owned Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer.

Number 7 Roybrook Farms, owned by F. Roy Ormiston of Brooklin, Ontario. Roybrook was one of the most highly regarded Holstein herds in the world. Ormiston developed the herd with deep linebreeding and equal emphasis on type and production. Roybrook bloodlines had worldwide impact through sales of bulls, females and semen.

Number 8: Round Oak – of Virginia, Round Oak Farm is the home of the world renowned Round Oak Rag Apple Elevation. The sire to over 70,000 Holstein cattle, with descendants numbering over 5 million, Elevation was named Bull of the Century by Holstein International Association in 1999.

Number 9: Rosafe Owned by Hector I. Astengo of Ontario, Canada, Hector developed this herd into a vital cog in the wheel of acceptance of Red and Whites in the 1960s with the famed bull, Rosafe Citation R (EX), producing many EX daughters. Hector was named Canadian Master Breeder in 1959.

Number 10 Arlinda Holsteins–A Turlock, California herd developed by Wallace N. Lindskoog, into an outstanding production herd and the source of some of the finest genetic seed stock for the Holstein breed. The Sire Summary for 1977 listed 59 Holstein sires with the Arlinda prefix. Not included in this count was one of the great AI sires of all time, bought in dam by Lindskoog, Pawnee Farm Arlinda Chief.

Number 11: Wisconsin Reformatory Herd in Green Bay, Wisconsin, this was the premier herd of all the Wisconsin State Institutions providing many breeding bulls including Wis Ideal Crusader that produced a nice crop of daughters winning get-of-sire classes at shows across the Midwest.

Number 12: Thonyma -Lyons, Kansas. Owned by Edward and Steve Reed, the herd was on official production test since 1928, and has been classified for 45 years. There were over 100 Thonyma-bred bulls were sold to A.I. and they bred over 20 Gold Medal Dams and Gold Medal Sires along with over 50 females and 20 males classified "Excellent." Reeds bred the only seven generation group of "Excellent" females all carrying the same prefix.

Number 13:  Paclamar - W.R. (Dick) Brooks developed one of the most widely recognized herds in Holstein history at Paclamar Farms in Louisville, Colorado. The herd produced many outstanding AI sires prepotent for excellent type and high production. He developed two, Excellent-97, All-American, Gold Medal Dams--Harborcrest Rose Milly and Snowboots Wis Milky Way.

Number 14:  Crescent Beauty -  of Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin was the home of the legendary Allen Hetts. It was a select herd of Holsteins where individual care and attention to detail was king. Establishing an export marketing program to Japan and South America, the milk check was secondary to breeding stock sales. Crescent Beauty was the home of many spectacular cows and bulls including Crescent Beauty Lady Gloria, Crescent Beauty Admiral Milly, Crescent Beauty Commander and Gene Acres Felicia May Fury

Number 15:  Pinehurst- Owned by David Backmann, Sr., Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin and in 1976 Pinehurst became the first herd to be named Premier Breeder and Premier Exhibitor at all three National Shows, an impressive honor they repeated in 1980. No other herd has repeated this accomplishment to date. Pinehurst has won the Premier Breeder and/or Premier Exhibitor banner over 35 times at National Shows and numerous other times at the Wisconsin Championship Show and many State Fair competitions.   At the World Dairy Expo, Pinehurst has exhibited the Grand Champion female in five different breeds, and two went on to be named Supreme Champion

Number 16:  Romandale -  In the 1960’s and 1970’s the Romandale Farms’ herd of Stephen and George Roman was a commanding force in Holstein affairs.  At this point in history, the Canadian Holstein was beginning to dominate the industry.  This Unionville, Ontario dairy farm in its glory years fielded North America’s leading show herd, in its four decade history setting the record for All-Canadians bred and owned.  David Houck joined the firm in 1953 as herd superintendent.  These 3 gentlemen combined made the Romandale legacy for forty-three years
 
Number17: Gray View Farm- Owned by Harvey Nelson and Sons{Gene & Pete} Union Grove Wisconsin. Gray View bred two very influential cows of the 50's and 60's. Gray View Skyanne the Dam of Skyliner and Gray View BD Crissy the dam of Crisscross. Crisscross was a magnificent typed bull who's daughters and sons dominated the showring in the 60's. The Crissy breeding was popular world wide and just recently Holbrich Farm in Illinois just received an excellent recognition on a 11th generation Ex Crissy.

Number 18: Spring Farm- Owned by J.M. Fraser of Ontario. Spring Farm was one of the elite show herds in Canada. Their longevity was most impressive. A Master Breeder herd in 1944, they bred Spring Farm Juliette Grand at the Royal in !949,1950 and again in !953 and Spring Farm Citation Rosetta Grand in 1977. Spring Farm was the Premier Breeder at the Royal in !958,75,77,and 79. They bred  Spring Farm Fond Hope and Spring Farm Reflection

Number 19: Elmwood Farms- Owned by Robert Rasmussen of Skokie Illinois. Elmwood's prefix was Skokie and they bred and owned many of the elite cows and bulls in the mid 20th century. Bob was a great cowman and bought a lot of his foundation animals from Dunloggin. Elmwood was one of the premier show herds in the 40's and 50's.

Number 20: Bond Haven Farm-  Owned by C.J. Cerswell of Simcoe, Ontario This herd won the Prestigious Master Breeder recognition in 1957,1987 and 2002. Among their most famous home bred animals are Bond Haven Signet Sally who was Grand Champion Female at the Royal Winter Fair in 1961,62 and 1963. They also bred the famous bulls, Bond Haven Nugget and Bond Haven Rag Apple Maple.