By MELISSA HART
Michigan Correspondent

FORT WAYNE, Ind. — He took over the family farm when he graduated from high school, only to enter the “school of hard knocks” – and, some 35 years later, earn the title of 2011 Master Breeder from the Indiana Holstein Assoc. (IHA).

Al Kuehnert was presented this prestigious award for years of advancing the Holstein breed and striving toward his goal of a balanced combination of functional type and good production. He and wife Cindy, with their two sons, Nathan and his wife, Sarah, and Andrew and his wife, Brittany, run Kuehnert Dairy in Fort Wayne, where they milk 320 cows and farm 800 acres.

Kuehnert began showing Holsteins at the local and state levels when he was involved in FFA in high school. When he graduated, he assumed management of the family dairy farm. Experience has been a great teacher over the years, and his desire to be a successful dairyman drove him to grow internally and expand the business to its level today.

Not allowing fear to cripple him, Kuehnert forged ahead and always strove to breed a more profitable, longer-lasting cow. This year the family had a cow produce more than 300,000 pounds of milk lifetime – and even now she is putting milk in the pail. With goals in front of them, Kuehnert finds gratification in knowing his family is willing to make sacrifices and work hard in order to achieve this kind of success.

One of the keys to a successful dairy farm, in his perspective, is knowing in your heart that you have given enough thought to a decision, then making a move and living with the decision to make it work. He added even when others say you will fail, you need to be humble enough to realize you don’t know everything – and you can always learn something valuable from someone else.
At the end of the day, Kuehnert says one needs to do the two or three things well that will overshadow the 15 or 20 things that go wrong.

An exciting future endeavor that has consumed Al’s and Cindy’s time recently is the 2013 National Holstein Convention, to be held in Indiana. As chair, this is a huge undertaking for the IHA and its members, with Holstein enthusiasts coming to the Hoosier State for the annual event.

Kuehnert had many mentors in the dairy business, those successful dairymen he said have done things the honest way and weren’t afraid of doing things the hard way. His advice to young dairy enthusiasts is to be a leader, a dreamer and a great manager of one’s time.

With 18-hour days and all the challenges of cow health, weather and equipment breakdowns, Kuehnert said he cannot imagine life without the Lord providing guidance, protection and encouragement. He also cannot imagine life without his loving family by his side.