The Luchsinger Family of Silver Spring Farm, Syracuse, N.Y., is the 71st recipient of the Master Breeder Award of the American Jersey Cattle Association.
The Master Breeder award is bestowed annually to a living AJCA member, family, partnership or corporation that, in the opinion of the Board of Directors, has bred outstanding animals for many years and thereby made a notable contribution to the advancement of the Jersey breed in the United States.
The presentation to Charles and Susan Luchsinger will be made on June 25, 2014 at the Breeders’ Recognition Banquet, the opening event of the AJCA-NAJ Annual Meetings at the Holiday Inn & Suites-Historic District in Alexandria, Va.
Silver Spring Farm has been a family operation for four generations, beginning with the purchase of the farm in 1914 by John Luchsinger, Chuck’s grandfather. Chuck and his wife Sue took over the farm in 1986 and operate it today, with their son Charlie and daughters Jenny and Ali. They continue the same philosophy of the generations preceeding them—to breed cows that produce profitably and can compete at shows with the best of them. Of the 125 cows in the herd today, 53 are scored Excellent with the entire herd averaging 87.7%. A total of 97 305-day lactations completed last year averaged 740 lbs. fat m.e.
The Luchsinger family has been showing Jerseys since the early 1920s. Their show ring success was first brought to the national stage with the purchase of Golden Faithful by Chuck’s father, Fred, in 1969. His daughters went on to win at state and regional shows, as well as winning Premier Sire honors four times at The All American Jersey Show. One of his daughters, SSF Faithful Flora, was the Winner of the 1978 National Jersey Jug Futurity. Since then, Silver Spring has bred and/or owned six Reserve Winners in Jersey Jug Futurity. They also bred the 1997 National Grand Champion of The All American Jersey Show and have earned four Premier Breeder Awards there.
Other accomplishments include 13 Grand Champions and 50 Premier Breeder Awards at the New York State Fair, with 39 consecutive Premier Breeder wins from 1961 to 1999. The family has also received Premier Breeder awards at Eastern States Exposition, Pennsylvania All-American Dairy Show, and the Royal Winter Fair.
“The truest compliment to their breeding program is the success enjoyed by other breeders who have purchased cattle from them,” notes Paul Chittenden, past President of the American Jersey Cattle Association. The most recent are SSF Prestige Carla, Reserve Winner of the 2013 National Jersey Jug Futurity for Paul Stiles of Virginia, and SSF Tequila Fantasia, the 2013 Reserve All American Senior Calf for Jordan and Whitney Ebert of Wisconsin. A consignment to The All American Jersey Sale in 1999, SSF Barber Prisilla, is the dam of C-Bar Hallmark Geronimo, the breed’s former #1 bull for milk. The list extends to animals exported to Brazil. Two SSF cows have been National Champions at ExpoMilk and two others were Reserve National Champions.
A notable list of headline-producing bulls have been bred at Silver Spring Farm. Silver Spring Belmont is the breed’s former #3 bull for type and the sire of the 2010 National Jersey Jug Futurity winner. BHF-SSF Parade Louie-ET, bred in partnership with Brier Hill Farm, has nearly 4,500 daughters in his proof and a PTA of 1,231 lbs. milk. Six sons are ranked in the AJCA Top 100 Bulls by Jersey Performance Index™, including All Lynns Louie Valentino-ET who ranks fifth.
Both Chuck and Sue have given generously of their time to state and national Jersey activities. Chuck served on the Board of Directors of the AJCA and National All-Jersey Inc., and has been a director for the New York State Jersey Cattle Club since 1980. They were co-chairs of the national annual meetings in 2009.
The American Jersey Cattle Association, organized in 1868, compiles and maintains animal identification and performance data on Jersey cattle and provides services that support genetic improvement and greater profitability through increasing the value of and demand for Registered Jersey™ cattle and genetics, and Jersey milk and milk products. For more information on the association’s complete line of services for dairy business owners, visit the website at www.USJersey.com or connect at Facebook.com/USJersey.