2013 National Red & White Convention Review - Cowsmo

2013 National Red & White Convention Review

The 2013 National Red & White Convention Dunkirk, New York in the beautiful Chautauqua County from August 13-15, 2013. It is looked at as a great success thanks to our hosts Darren and Heather Carlstrom, along with their friends and family. Chautauqua County is known for their production of grapes and dairy cattle along with more agriculture production and sales with vegetables, fruit, timber and maple products. With being located right near the northern part of Lake Erie the views are breathtaking to say the least.

The week started with business meetings for the Red and White Dairy Cattle Association Board of Directors and staff. As the week continued, the Carlstrom’s opened their farm to all with a welcoming barbeque to start off the week right. They also featured wine tasting, raffle and door prizes, along with good company to make everyone feel welcomed.

Continuing the week, the Carlstrom’s had planned a day of tours with goat milk fudge tasting at the Webb’s Candies. We saw the fudge being made through the viewing window and were able to make our own purchases in the gift shop and store area.

The next stop on the bus tour was Wall Street Dairy where they milk around 40 cows. The owner of Wall Street Dairy, Jeff Winton, gave us an introduction and welcome and explained to us the roots of Wall Street and how they got to where they are today. A cow that was featured at Wall Street and is having a huge impact on their successful herd of young cows is Spring-Fed Shark Attack EX-93-4E. Shark Attack will be 14 years old this year and has daughters on the farm by Sanchez, Goldwyn, Planet, Advent, Atwood, Alexander, Gold Chip and Braxton. Aside from the cows, Wall Street Dairy is beginning to look into cheese making by hiring a young lady to be the head and start to their cheese making process.

From Wall Street Dairy we traveled to Noble Winery where Wall Street Dairy sponsored and prepared a wonderful lunch for us. Not only was the food a hit, but the wine tasting was too. In 2006, Pete and Diane Noble started Noble Winery where they harvest their own grapes and produce a wonderful wine product. When approaching the winery, we were able to see all the beautiful grapes they raise and at the top of the hill the breathtaking view of Lake Erie. You can visit their website at www.noblewinery.com and learn more about them and the wines they have available.

The next stop of our bus tour was to Chad Fredd’s farm, Grape-View Farms, where they milk with robotic milkers. Chad welcomed us along with his wife, Jill. The Fredd’s split us into groups to look at three different stations. One being the robotic milkers where we were able to watch a cow get milked by a robot. Another station was the calves where they were in group pens and fed on an automatic robotic calf feeder. All the robots were products of Lely. The last station was the tour of the free stalls and maternity pens. Chad then gathered us all together to answer any questions we had.

The last stop on our bus tour was to 21 Brix Winery which was started in 2011. At 21 Brix, we were able to tour the whole facility. We saw the wine barrels, vats for wine making and ended with wine tasting. At 21 Brix they explained they have been in the grape business for years and the wine business in the new and exciting part to the grape production. To learn more about 21 Brix and their specialty wines they have available, visit www.21brix.com.

To continue into the evening, we had our 49th Annual Banquet where we named many distinguished awards to breeders and youth from all over the county, as well as the new National Red and White Queen and 1st Alternate. Some of our award winners included: Mr. Jake Skinner of Mercersburg, PA as the award winner for the Albrecht Distinguished Service Award, Mr. Richard Green, Sr. of Middletown, DE as the Larry Moore Master Breeder Award recipient, Wayne Cyrus Conard of Sharon Springs, NY as the Junior Breeder Award winner and Darren and Heather Carlstrom of Sinclairville, NY as the Gary Mayhew Keystone Award winners. Another honorary award that was named was the 2013 National Red and White Queen to Cecilia Morse from Troy, PA and the 1st Alternate Red and White Queen to Rose Morian of Atlantic, PA. Also announced were the new directors and retiring directors. New directors include Dennis Gransee of Sanborn, MN and Doug Lyons of Castalia, IA. Retiring from the RWDCA Board of Directors are Dr. Kim Olson of Atwater, MN and Jennifer Keilholtz-Hill of Thurmont, MD. New officers of the RWDCA were announced. Jake Skinner of Mercersburg, PA remains as President, Mike Brown of Coalville, UT remains as Vice-President and Yvonne Preder of Plymouth, WI remains as Treasurer. Gary Janssen of Wauconda, IL was named the new Board Secretary. Welcome to our new directors and to our retiring directors, thank you for your years of service!

Our last day at the National Red and White Convention was watching the National Red and White Convention Sale that averaged $3,928.72 on 94 full lots, with a high seller of $15,700. The high selling lot was Lot #1, Palmyra M-O-M Manhattan-ET-RC, consigned by Chris and Jen Hill & Ryan Shank. She was purchased by Bovine Genomic Partners of Michigan. Chris and Jen Hill of MD-Hillbrook Sales and their staff allowed everyone the opportunity to get into the Red and White Breed during this event. Pre-Sale refreshments were sponsored by Wall Street Dairy, MD-Hillbrook and Hermann J. Weimer Vineyard.

Overall we were very pleased with our turn out of people and participation throughout convention. We thank Darren and Heather Carlstrom and their friends and family for a great convention. Also, we extend the invitation to all to attend the 50th Anniversary National Red and White Convention next year in Elkhorn, Wisconsin. We will be having tours along with a show and sale during next year’s convention that will be held July 22-26, 2014. We hope to see you in Wisconsin!

Founded in 1964, the Red & White Dairy Cattle Association has been located in Crystal Spring, Pennsylvania since 1975 and Clinton, Wisconsin since 2009. The RWDCA strives to encourage and promote the progressive breeding and development of superior Red & White Dairy Cattle by providing breeders with information, programs, and services to help track, evaluate, and improve the breed from one generation to the next. The Association is based on the principle of an open herdbook and currently serves over 1,300 members. For additional information, you may contact the RWDCA at (608) 676-4900 or 4909 or visit www.redandwhitecattle.com.

Red and White Convention Tour Group at 21 Brix
Red and White Convention Tour Group at 21 Brix
Cyrus Conard Junior Breeder from Anna Troester
Cyrus Conard Junior Breeder from Anna Troester
Darren, Heather & Shyanne Carlstrom Keystone from Stephanie Stout
Darren, Heather & Shyanne Carlstrom Keystone from Stephanie Stout
High Seller 2013 Red & White Convention  Sale
High Seller 2013 Red & White Convention Sale

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