By SHELLY STRAUTZ-SPRINGBORN
Michigan Correspondent

ANGOLA, Ind. — Bruce Rendon of Lake City, Mich., bought his first Jersey dairy animal in 1974.

Although he is a builder by trade, Rendon has spent much of the last 34 years breeding, showing and selling champion Jerseys and Holsteins. He currently maintains a show string comprised of both breeds.

Two weeks ago, he lent his expertise to the sale committee that put together the Midwest Spring Classic dairy sale in Angola. More than 100 Holsteins and Jerseys were consigned to the auction from farms in Indiana, Michigan, Virginia and Canada. The sale was held at Mar-Sel Holsteins in Angola, owned by the Mark and Wanita Sellers family.

In addition to soliciting consignments for the sale, Rendon was on hand to help the auctioneers by reading pedigrees and offering the background of many of the animals for the crowd of more than 150 farmers. Rendon lives by his farm motto, “Longevity is the Future,” when selecting cattle – it’s a trait that he passed along with the cattle he helped bring to Indiana last week.

He said one of his goals while assisting with the sale was to bring in animals with different genetics that would help farmers improve their herds. To do so, he turned to some Midwestern breeders, as well as Canadian producers for consignments.

Bringing in Canadian genetics is something Rendon hasn’t been able to do for a while. For about five years the border was closed, restricting the flow of cattle between the United States and Canada.
“Milk prices and things have been good,” Rendon said. “The demand for cattle is high. Since the border has opened up with Canada, we were able to bring in some good Canadian genetics.
“There’s a lot of good calves here. In Canada, their philosophy of breeding cattle is more purebred than commercial.”

Rendon said the Canadian genetics with an emphasis on type “cross well” with U.S. genetics. The result is to breed better cattle with solid dairy characteristics, quality milk production and longevity.

“I feel with these Canadian genetics you can accomplish that,” he said. “The more lactations you can get out of a cow, the less expense.”

The sale drew buyers from eight states and Canada, according to Chad Kreeger, a sale organizer and co-manager of dairy cattle marketing with United Producers, Inc., which managed the sale. The top seller was a $7,000 red-and-white Holstein calf born in December and consigned by a farm in Grottes, Va.
“She’s out of some of the best genetics in the industry,” Kreeger said.

Another of the top sellers was a June calf consigned by a Mayville, Mich., producer. “This cow family is consistent,” Kreeger said as he worked the crowd for bids during the sale. “This is another one that is just going to grow and turn into gold.”

The sale lineup was rounded out with a dairy herd dispersal from Strautz Holsteins in Stanton, Mich., owned by Pat, Chuck, Sherry and Cheryl Strautz.

Kreeger said he was pleased with the quality of cattle offered. “The purpose is to market good replacement cattle and genetics,” he said. “There were really good cattle and they sold well.”
Paul Warner, co-manager of dairy cattle marketing with United Producers, said the sale was a good opportunity for both buyers and sellers.

“This is a source for people to better genetics, milk cows and show calves for the kids,” Warner said.

This farm news was published in the April 23, 2008 issue of the Farm World, serving Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee.