Living the Dream

A long time ago, Tod and I made a goal/dream of bringing our own cattle with our own prefix on them to Denver.  We didn't know when the time would be right or if it would ever be right but it was definitely a stage we had hoped to walk on some day.  The possibility became a little more realistic for us after our 2014 calf crop began to arrive and take shape and we discussed all spring and summer that this MIGHT be the year we give it a go. 
    

What lie ahead of us from there on out was unknown.  A lot of unknown.  What we did know was how little we knew!  As we began to discuss the trip, we questioned our sanity more often than not.  Everything we THOUGHT or PLANNED on turned out different than we had expected.  From the heifers we would take to how the sale went on Friday night; not a single, solitary detailed went as planned.  Now I'm the first to admit, I'm as hard headed as they come but I'm not a fool.  I can learn.  And boy did we ever. We asked for help and probably alienated every connection we had that had been an exhibitor in the yards before us.  And you know what, every single one of them was as helpful as we hoped.  The tips.  The tricks of getting in and out of there.  How to set up our pen.  What to bring and what to just buy there instead of hauling 1000 miles...I cannot even begin to count the number of questions we asked and the pieces of information that trickled in over a 4 or 5 month period that when all put together, made us not feel (or look, in my humble opinion) like the first timers we were.  Are there things we would change now after having been through it once ourselves??  I think there are some notes we have made that might make things a little less chaotic but overall; the time leading up to and while in Denver has been grand champion caliber in our books to say the least.

So the Readers Digest version of the trip goes something like this:  We spent 10 nights away from our children, farm and jobs to try and make a dream come true.  We took 7 head (2 pens of 3 heifers and one Charlie the bull).  I will be frank; this was a ridiculous undertaking.  We have kind of always realized this but what made this doable was our crew.  Tod and I, a NWSS veteran who wields clippers like few others and 4 young women who make me proud.  The days before and of the show and sale were wild but some first class friends from home (who happened to bring their clippers on the airplane) and some new friends from the Midwest made the whole deal come together in an unexpected way.  That crew afforded Tod and I the opportunity to try and meet and talk to everyone who took the time to come and see us.  Before this year, I don't think we fully realized how much time that would take us and how much we would rely on the rest of our crew to keep our ship afloat.  We also had consigned the choice of our 6 heifers to our national Hereford sale with hopes that the sale would pay for our trip and what we would gain would be experience (and courage) to try it again another year.  

  

For me, the journey has been an emotional one.  For Tod too although he doesn't wear it on his sleeve like I do.  The kind man who bought our heifer asked me why I was crying (yeah, I cried), "are you happy or are you sad?"  I told him both.  I was sad because he picked the favorite.  The favorite because when all things were considered (with heavy emphasis on her personality) she was the one that was hardest to part with.  She was great for our kids.  She gave our daughter self-confidence with the cattle she had yet to discover and reinforced our son's.  She was the one you could always rely on for the novice.  When the heifers had to be worked and you were short of hands, she was the one that the kids could take without worry.  Explaining that their favorite had a new home left me sad.  I was happy though because everything that Tod and I had dreamed had come true.  And just when you thought it couldn't get any better/bigger, it did.  I was in disbelief that this was all happening.  That people I had literally looked up to my ENTIRE life in this business; whose names I would probably recognize before any professional athlete or pop star were standing in the same group of people as us.  That those people who we look up to (still) were looking seriously at our cattle and that some of them were even helping us throughout the week.  I couldn't believe we had accomplished this dream.  And when I reflected on all of it, what I realized was sad too because our dream of showing in Denver seemed so small then. 

It really was so small compared to everything that was going on around us that we tried so desperately to absorb and take in.  And maybe the most revealing part was that all this time, I realized that what we had dreamed for ourselves maybe wasn't big enough?!  What else are we capable of??!!  More than we ever imagined. 

Happy to have done it all but sad it was all coming to an end.  At least for NWSS 2015 anyway.  We are well aware of the fact that what happened to us in Denver this year may never happen again.  At least not at the magnitude that we felt it.  But the number one question I get now is, will you do it again next year?  After all the work and time and efforts and even the headaches (and heartaches)...will you try it again?  And without hesitation, the answer is yes.

The first few days...

This time last year, we had 5 full sisters born in a 24 hour period.  We were about to head out to Denver to watch the show and got the idea in our heads that 2015 MIGHT be the year we make our maiden voyage west with a pen of heifers.  In that 360 days or so, the gears turned (and ground) as we began asking questions of people who have braved the experience in the past and started assembling a line of equipment needed to spend 10 days in the yards.  See, being in the yards is VERY different than going to a "regular" show.  There is still washing and blowing and feeding and clipping and washing and blowing and feeding and clipping...you get the picture, but everything else is a little bit different.

What we started with...

For those that don't know, we are outside.  The entire time. Because of this, you must provide some shelter for the 2 legged variety, a place to wash the cattle that can be heated if the weather isn't favorable, stalls for the cattle to be displayed, make a windbreak by covering the pen with heavy tarps or plastic and I could go on but you get the picture.

After traveling all day Thursday, Friday was our first full day here and was spent setting up our pen.  We ordered bedding (because you cannot bring your own) and had it delivered to our pen.  Tack haulers will bring your equipment in from your trailer to your pen to make the unloading process quicker which is great!  We covered the sides with plastic to keep the wind from blowing through.  Takes a LONG TIME.

Pen is starting to take shape!

As the day progressed, things began to take shape and get organized a little more.We got the shavings down and we called it a day!  During this time we were setting up, the heifers and bull were just hanging out in their night pen.  Its kind of like tie outs but we can take their halters off and they can be free which they absolutely love.

In the yards headed back to the night pen.
Look at the ground!
Some of the original bricks and blocks.  

Saturday was spent doing a little more organizing and because the weather was so great, we washed and dried all 7 head.  When you get going, its hard to stop so we ate lunch at 2:30 in the afternoon!  Thankfully our crew is pretty much the best and there were no complaints.  Everyone wanted to get them clean and looking good!  We also had a little bit of traffic in the pen which was nice (and exciting).

When they were washed, we took them back to their night pen, fed and watered them and then helped
some other folks come in and get unloaded.  I think initially we had intended on getting back to the hotel but instead we fired up the trusty propane heater and stood in our pen with some friends; new and old, talking and laughing and sharing stories.  Good times.

I have to pinch myself sometimes.  We are here.  Just when I think it can't get any more real, our pen looks better. Our cattle look better.  Our Facebook page gets more likes. :) And then I see this....

...and I smiled.  In a few days, we will be standing in front of that infamous blue backdrop for the very first time.  And I cannot wait!

Dream Big

Anxious. Excited. Nervous. Thrilled. It's a pretty steady flow of these emotions...and then some!
 

In January of 2015, we are loading up the truck and heading west to Denver where we will be first time exhibitors at the National Western Stock Show. I will be the first to admit, I'm scared as hell. Scared of the travel with the cattle. Scared to show up and not have everything we need. Worried about not being ready. Scared people will not appreciate our cattle.  Worried this will be the year of record snowfall.. Basically you name it, I'm scared/worrying about it!  See, the reason why we are on this adventure at all is, well, my fault.  Let me explain why...
 

This all started from a childhood dream...Like 4 generations of my family before me, I grew up raising Hereford cattle and although it wasn't always easy, they have been VERY close to my heart since I can remember. Even when owning or showing Herefords wasn't the most popular thing in the barn. Isn't that a great example of true love and commitment?!  I had dreamed of "Living the Hereford Life" with a family that loved them too. As you fast forward through my 4-H days to adulthood, I was blessed with dreams fulfilled; a supportive family who loved Herefords too, a career in the industry I love and a husband and his family who also (with a little time) fell for my first love too-my Herefords.  
 

I believe then it was the Summer of 2012 is when the news broke that Star Lake was about to make a full dispersal. I was excited and saddened at the same time. I had always admired the cattle and identity Star Lake made in agriculture but I had yet to make it to see in person, this icon, at least in my eyes, and I knew the opportunity to do so was limited to just a few months with this news. My first call was to my father in law. He had a list in his office of farms/ranches he wanted to visit and Star Lake was on it. Phone call was made and it went something like, "Ben, Star Lake is dispersing."  "Really?" He said. "We better go!"  
 

Tod and Gail really weren't hard sells either and plans were made to attend the sale. We ended up with what Monte Soules said on the block was, "a good buy". A breed icon. Star Spiridge Kessey 321L ET and as I like to refer to her as, the mother of champions!  She may be a shoe-in for an AARP card in cow years now but she still has "it"...she has a January 2014 daughter that recently won the open Hereford show at the Wisconsin State Fair. This. Girl. Is. Timeless. 
 

Her first calves for us made sleepless nights in bitter cold January and February but they are the reason, (or maybe the credit is Kessey's), why we are headed for the yards of the National Western with two pens of 3 heifers. All from Kessey. Each pen is comprised of full siblings from two matings with the hopes of making the most uniform groups and putting Next Generation Genetics' best foot/hoof forward! We will also be offering the pick of our pens on the prestigious Mile High Night Sale.  I have nothing to worry about, right? 

We hope you will join us on this adventure!  Only 2 months and 23 day left.... :)

Here's Your Sign

I have anticipated today for quite some time. Besides being Friday, and who doesn't enjoy the end of the work week, today is the day our farm sign got a face lift.



Micheleen and Tod
Farm sign from the early 1980s hand painted by a summer intern. 

There really have only been a few signs over the years as Ben and Gail can recall. I've shown the original in a previous post here that talks about the Brancel Brothers operations in the early to mid 1900s. After that, there was likely an old Wisconsin Dairies sign that no one today can agree on the exact location of where it was hung or what it said. Then in the early 1980s, a hand painted plywood sign and the size was increased then at that time to 4x8 reading Brancel Farms Registered Holsteins Endeavor, Wisconsin.

The most recent look has been there for several years (from the late 1980s to this morning) and holds a lot of history. Its color scheme is familiar to anyone who has followed local or state politics as Ben's assembly campaign signs had the same color block pattern; red on the top, white on the bottom.

 

Ben's Old Campaign Sign

You can find the remnants of those campaign signs and that infamous pattern in various other spots around the farm, too. Usually in a place where part or all of a 4x8 sheet of plywood was need! Back in the day, all those signs were hand painted on wood and we are still getting mileage out of them! An easily recognizable pattern, the farm sign was created with the same look and usually, if you have been by the farm, you remember seeing the sign. I admit that I lovingly joke about it being the size of a small billboard.  With traffic moving at the rate of speed it does in front of the farm, it most certainly needs to make an impact for someone to remember; not unlike a campaign sign, right?!

Nee-Val Princess-Inspiration for the cow on the sign.

Originally adorned with a Holstein cow (modeled after the grand dam of Tod's Junior All-American) which served the farm and the sign well for years, the black and white beauties had all left the farm in the late 1990s. Even as the Angus cows moved in, this sign remained. Sometime just prior to our wedding, Ben's parents felt it needed to be updated and the Holstein on the sign was replaced with this little lady.

She is a little "beefier" than her predecessor and much closer to an accurate portrayal of what we do here. But, if there is one thing you can count on, it's change, right?! The Angus cow was fitting for 6 months or less and Tod and I were married and the red and white loves of my life once again made the sign out of date. We have spent the last 8 years "false advertising" with the sign. Okay, maybe not false. More like not telling the whole story. In that time, we have added more Herefords, changed ownership in the farm and have tried to streamline the name that we market with. Might I also add that although milking operations ceased in the 1990s and the farm sign has changed, it hasn't kept the Holsteins off the farm. Throughout the course of a year you can usually find a pen of embryo calves just weaned, several old donor cows or a sassy (spoiled) show heifer.

So why the history lesson? When Tod and I (and Ben & Gail) began discussing the change of the sign, Tod has not wanted ANY animals on the sign. I, however, was less in favor of this. “How will anyone know what is going on here without some pictures,” I thought.  Tod stood his ground. “Let them wonder,” he told me. "We could be international exporters of chickens some day! How would that sign reflect us then?" Point taken although we are NOT in the chicken business.  Yet.  Animals on the sign now could make us end up with a farm sign that has as many stickers on it as the corner of your license plate to reflect our changing/growing business!

So, here it is!  It was like opening a really great gift on Christmas morning when I got home from work this evening!  And then I saw the old sign.  Waiting for its new home.  Somewhere.  And it was a little sad.  Let’s be clear; the change of the sign is not the end of an era but just the beginning of a new one. We will keep the old signs and hang them somewhere although likely will not be used in the same way those sheets of plywood have been!

For us, the new sign symbolizes our family partnership. It symbolizes the goals and dreams we have for ourselves, our children and our cattle. And most of all, I hope that not only for us but for Ben and Gail, it is something they can be proud of. We (and this farm sign) have a great FAMILY tradition to uphold.

Goin' Showin'

On the eve of our district Holstein show I can't help but get all excited for a whole bunch of reasons.

First, I love to see how Blake is growing in this little project. She picked up this year right where she left off after last year's show. Time and schedules maybe haven't allowed for as much "practice time" as we did last year but she is doing well and a lot of support from some good friends (big shout out to Walk-Era; especially Marci, Alli and Brett who generously gave of their time to teach), who are offering her a calf to show have, in large part, made our dreams as parents, become a reality once a year. Well, at least one of our dreams for our kids. 

I'm taking pictures tomorrow! Last year I took pictures for our friends at Walk-Era and I was so humbled by their acceptance of the photos. If there is one thing I'm not, it's a professional photographer.  That and a swim suit model. Not either one.  I do enjoy it immensely though. The photography part. NOT trying on swim suits!
I particularly enjoy photography when I have a few images in the hundreds that are shot that make me LOOK like I know what I'm doing!  I had someone else ask if I would snap some for them too and I'm excited to be wanted!  Tomorrow, my photographer sister-in-law is coming and taking pics with me!  Very excited to work with her and learn from her. Danielle, can I say you are my "second shooter"?!  ;)  I can't wait to share the pics with you all in the coming days.  Check out our Next Generation Genetics Facebook page for the link. Like us while you are there!  **shameless plug**  

Last but not least, I'm very excited for the opportunity to see some great friends and great cattle!  These people have been very kind to me (especially since my roots don't go back to Holsteins).  There is a great junior program going in our district and I'm thrilled that our children will have the opportunity take part in this experience as they grow in agriculture. 

The only thing missing tomorrow will be Tod. Work is VERY busy right now for him and sometimes I admit, I feel like we are all missing out. On the other hand, I was reminded, in several ways over the last week, to be thankful. Thankful for life, work, our health...EVERYTHING we have and to practice what we are preaching at home about having an "Attitude of Gratitude".  We are truly blessed with great family, friends and this wonderful industry we call home. So many reasons to be thankful as we are goin' showin'! 

Lets catch up...

So all I ask is that the world stop turning for just a minute so I can jump off...anyone else feel this way?

The winter drug on and on and on and now all of a sudden the leaves are coming on the trees and the grass is FINALLY starting to grow.  We have the manure hauled (well most of it), pastures fertilized and we are shoulder deep in getting cows bred.
Our W2 jobs keep us all plenty busy but add a couple kids, too many cows, a chronic short in the fence and a woods clearing project gone wrong to the mix and you're looking at an exponential increase in the stress level.  And oh yeah, we're hosting a stop on the summer Hereford tour so that has added a few extra projects to the to-do list. My dad has an expression for this over abundance of work but it wouldn't be appropriate. Not here. Not now. 

Fortunately, we were presented with the opportunity to have an intern this summer and the timing couldn't be more perfect. Intern sounds so formal but it is just a little nicer way to say summer help.  Plus, when you have gotten a little ahead of yourself on commitments, it's good to call in reinforcements. 
We'll no sense in getting too chatty . . . there is work to be done after all.  I figure if I can get one little project done every day, I'll be doing pretty good.  Tonight, I got flowers planted and the kids fed.  Some days, you can't expect much more than that! 
Head over and take a look at our Facebook page for some pictures from the winter and early spring.  We appreciate you stopping by and we hope you'll join us later in the summer on the tour.  In so many ways, the excitement is just beginning!