This article was featured in our February issue and was written by Julie Ashton.
Take an All-American, add seven generations of Excellent dams along with a dash of AI stud success and the end result is a complete dairy package. The family of Raemelton Prime Majestic is just that and more for the Guernsey breed. With numerous cow families knocking on the door of the 8th generation Excellent, which would be the longest running for the breed, Majestic and her descendants are at the forefront of this pack and making a hard push to open that door.
Raemelton Prime Majestic scored EX-94 at 10-05 and was a 5th generation Excellent for Ralph and Martha Turley of Mansfield, OH. Ralph was the manager of the Raemelton Farm, which had been home to an impressive Guernsey herd since the 1930s. When Ralph retired from Raemelton, Majestic was moved to Select Embryos for flushing, and then onto Villa Crest Farm Goshen, IN, owned by Verl and Gretchen Weaver. Since the mid-2000s when the Turley and Weaver partnership began, the Majestic cow family has expanded and had tremendous success across numerous avenues.
Longevity backs the Majestic cow family, with her dams scoring Excellent all over 6 years of age, with lifetime milk up to 160,000 lbs. Majestic herself had a lifetime of 144,830M 6416F 5173P with a best record of 26,670M 1010F 920P at 7-09. She was the National Guernsey Gold Futurity winner in 1993 and followed that up with being named HHM All-American 4-Year-Old in 1994. She had three Excellent and two Very Good daughters who would continue the legacy that Majestic started. One of her greatest contributions to the Guernsey breed was through her son, Mar Ral Royal Mentor, sire to nearly 300 tested and scored daughters. His most famous daughter is Springhill Mentor Jazzy-ET (EX-95), 2017 National Grand Champion and 4X All-American.
Of Majestic’s three Excellent daughters, Mar Ral Royal Martha-ET stands out from the crowd. Scored EX-94, she was All-American 5-Year-Old in 2006, Reserve All-American 4-Year-Old, HHM Senior 3-Year-Old and Aged Cow. Martha produced over 156,000 lbs. milk with great components. Her son, Mar Ral Tiller Misson-ET, was syndicated at World Dairy Expo and marketed by Select Sires. The proceeds from the sale of the bull and semen sales royalties were used to establish the Turley Scholarship Fund, which provides two scholarships each year for National Guernsey Youth.
To date, Martha has five Excellent daughters who are continuing the great heritage already established by this family.
- Mar Ral Tiller Morgan (EX-92), All-American Junior 2-Year-Old 2008, 3-8 365D 24,880M 4.4% 1090F 3.1% 776P
- Mar Ral Tiller Martha-ET (EX-93), Nominated All-American Aged Cow 2017, 3-2 365D 24,150M 4.2% 1025F 3.1% 752P, 6 daughters who are potential 8th generation EX
- Mar Ral YB Margo Two-ET (EX-90), 4-2 365D 26,860M 6.3% 1701F 3.3% 875P, 8 daughters who are potential 8th generation EX
- Mar Ral Marty Ann-ET (EX-90), 3-9 365D 30,640M 5.3% 1631F 3.2% 967P
- Mar Ral Tiller Margaret-ET (EX-90), 4-9 365D 30,150M 4.5% 1344F 2.9% 884P
The only female from this family offered at public auction was the choice of seven American Pie daughters of Margo Two which sold in the National Guernsey Convention Sale in 2017. Lang, Overholt & Basse of Big Prairie, OH, purchased the choice for $8100.
Today, this family continues to impress and make headlines. Mar Ral Maestro Milly scored EX-93 93-MS in November 2019. While her dam is Excellent, unfortunately her grandam maxed out at VG-87. Her next seven dams are all Excellent. Milly was the winning Aged Cow and Nasco Type & Production Award Winner at the National Guernsey Show in Louisville this past November and secured an All-American Nomination. In 2108, she was 2nd at World Dairy Expo and was named Reserve All-American 5-Year-Old.
The success of this family would not be possible without the care and management behind the scenes. At 92, Ralph Turley still houses and cares for heifers at his home in Orient, OH, while the other partnership cattle are housed and managed with tender loving care by the Weavers in Indiana. Both Turley and Weaver have been honored individually with the Master Breeder Award by the American Guernsey Association, and Ralph and Martha have been recipients of the Distinguished Service Award by the AGA. Ralph was also a 1982 Inductee into the Dairy Science Hall of Fame at The Ohio State University for his work at Raemelton as well as his judging career.
Villa Crest was started in 1939 by Verl’s father, Virgil, and has a long-established history of excellent in production, type and tanbark performance. The herd has utilized linebreeding extensively, using mostly homebred bulls and a small percentage of AI studs. The herd has earned numerous All-American nominations, Premier Breeder and Exhibitor banners and Grand Champion wins over the years.
In 2019, Villa Crest earned Gold Star Breeder recognition from AGA, and placed 5th in the nation for milk, 3rd for fat and 7th for protein. The RHA was 20,527M 5.4% 1113F 3.3% 674P. The most recent national production class leading record for fat was made in the 4th quarter of 2018 by Mar Ral Answer Marissa (VG-86) with 34,490M 6.4% 2216F 3.1% 1082P. Marissa’s 3rd dam is the family matriarch, Raemelton Prime Majestic.