SIDNEY, Ohio — Holstein breeders from the west side of Ohio “put on the dog” to host the Ohio Holstein Assoc. (OHA) Convention and Sale in Sidney on March 8-9.

The two-day event included a high averaging sale, a queen contest, lively discussion and awards to deserving recipients. On March 8, buyers packed the sale arena at the Shelby County Fairgrounds for the Ohio Holstein Convention Sale. The highly successful sale boasted an average of $3,584 on 76 live lots.

The high seller, at $36,000, was Lot #3 Pine-Tree 4233 Mogu 5523-ET. She was of the well-known Wesswood-HC Rudy Missy-ET family and had contract interest from several AI organizations. Consigned by Pine-Tree Farms of Rittman, Ohio, she was purchased by the Ohio River Syndicate, Hartline Valley Farms, Inc. and Zimmerview Dairy of Marietta and Tim Cottrill of Point Pleasant, W.Va.

That afternoon, the regional Holstein Assoc. USA (HAUSA) meeting was also held, with board member Mike Jones of Marshall, Ind., leading the discussion in the absence of HAUSA CEO John Meyer. Darin Sheffield was also in attendance to give a report from the association.

The majority of the meeting discussion centered on the controversial topic of the U.S. dairy genetic evaluation program being put in the hands of the Council on Dairy Cattle Breeding, as the USDA has decided to stop funding the processing of dairy cattle proofs. Several in attendance voiced concerns, and Jones assured the group he would report the comments back to the HAUSA board.

Saturday morning was the OHA Annual Meeting, with committee reports and officers elected. Officers are Dallas Rynd of Ashville, president; Randall Kiko of Salem, vice president; Cathy Berg of Bellville, secretary; and Lisa Kerr of North Fairfield, treasurer. HAUSA Field Representative Glen Saegeser gave a report on the national association.

Hardware was handed out after lunch, as several members were honored for their service and accomplishments. Julie Renner of Dalton received the OHA Distinguished Service Award, recognizing her continued hard work for the group.

The Ohio Holstein Women presented their Woman of the Year award to Suzanne Spreng, Longacre Farms, Inc. in Bucyrus.

Two divisions of the Buckeye Breed Builder Awards were presented. The Junior Award went to Russell Kiko of Salem, while the Senior Award was presented to Mary Lou Topp of Botkins.

The focus then turned to the younger generation of Ohio Holstein breeders. The Junior Memorial Award went to Mikayla Conrad of New Holland. Earning the Distinguished Junior Member awards were Louis Liming of Mineral Ridge and Allison Mangun of Burbank. These two will go on to represent Ohio in the national Distinguished Junior Member competition.

The Ohio Holstein Junior Assoc. raffled prizes just before the Ohio Holstein Women held a fun auction selling several donated items, raising $3,740 to add to its scholarship funds.