2008 Wisconsin Holstein Association Award Winners

Thursday, February 28, 2008 1:28 PM CST

Members of the Wisconsin Holstein Association convened this weekend in Dodgeville to celebrate the group’s accomplishments in 2007 and recognize some outstanding members of the organization.

Distinguished Breeder

Maple Lawn farm and the Tom and Teri Lyon family were named the 2008 Wisconsin Holstein Association Distinguished Breeder. Tom has been a member of his local, state, and national Holstein Associations for the past 29 years. During that time he served as a delegate to national Holstein conventions and as an active member on his county Holstein board. He and Teri reside in Westfield, where they farm with their son, Tom Jr., and his wife, Brittany, and son, Carson.

Like many in the industry, Tom grew up with registered Holsteins. In 1976 he began purchasing registered cows to start a herd. In 1982 following stray voltage problems, Tom was forced to start over. In 1983, one of his cows was All-Wisconsin five-year-old and Reserve Champion of the Wisconsin Championship Show. This cow, bred by Albert and Ann Greenheck of Lone Rock, was sold after the show but Tom moved on to continue developing his L-Maples prefix.

Since then, the herd has developed into 90 cows that maintain a herd average of 23,479 pounds milk, with a 3.9 percent and 916 pound fat test and 3.1 percent and 724 pound protein test. Their most recent classification was very impressive at 110 percent BAA with 10 Excellent, 42 Very Good and 12 Good Plus cows. The herd has also been honored as Premier Breeder at numerous shows, including the Grand International Red and White Show at World Dairy Expo, the Summer National Red and White Show, the Midwest Red and White Show, and the Wisconsin District 5 Holstein Show.

The Lyons have also exhibited the winning best three females, winning dam and offspring and winning produce of dam at the Grand International Red and White show. A homebred cow has garnered Junior Supreme Champion Honors at World Dairy Expo and two cows that were developed at Maple Lawn were named Reserve Supreme Champion of the Junior Show at World Dairy Expo and Reserve Intermediate Champion at World Dairy Expo. In addition, they have bred numerous All-American nominees in both the Black and White and Red and White categories.

Maple Lawn Farm is a complete family effort, and the entire team works together to make their operation successful. Tom Lyon and his family have taken significant strides in the dairy industry to build what they have today, and are very deserving of this year’s Wisconsin Holstein Association’s Distinguished Breeder Award.

Distinguished Service Award

Henk Van Dyk, New Richmond, was presented the 2008 Distinguished Service Award by past WHA President Brian Krull. Brian commented, “The Distinguished Service Award recognizes someone who has truly made the Wisconsin Holstein Association a better organization. Henk has done this through his unending efforts over his years of involvement with our Association.”

Henk is an active member of several WHA committees and has served on Holstein USA committees at the national level. He served on the WHA Board for six years and earned the respect of his peers on the board to work his way up to become president. He has headed up shows and sales for the Association and does so with putting his best effort into everything he takes on.

When show ring ethics became a necessary evil to address, Henk stepped up to help get the rules and regulations in place. When it was time to update them he again was eager to help and continues to believe passionately in showing and doing all we can to keep the show ring fair for everyone.

With the huge task of putting on a National Convention being undertaken, it was no surprise to see Henk and his wife Bonnie step up and be a part of a dynamic executive committee and he has the knowledge to make sure WHA was not getting in too deep from a legal aspect. Krull commented “I know every year our expense column for legal fees is non-existent and Henk is totally responsible for this as he donates countless time of his legal advice at no charge, a huge savings for our Association and again, a prime example of him stepping up.”

Henk and Bonnie both work off-the-farm jobs, run an impressive Registered Holstein operation and stay active following their two young daughters’ many sporting events.

Distinguished Young Holstein Breeders

Mark and Angie Ulness of Ragnar Holsteins, Valders, were recognized as the Distinguished Young Holstein Breeders. Mark and Angie farm with their three young children, Clarissa, Garrett and Whitney, and are very busy with their family, the dairy farm and their community.

Both Mark and Angie have judged for state 4-H, Area Animal Science days and coached dairy judging teams. They have also helped their Junior Holstein Association with dairy bowl and dairy jeopardy and are active members of the Manitowoc County Holstein Association. They help with various committees and have hosted the state convention farm tours in 2003 and the county twilight meeting in 2001. Mark has served as a delegate to the National Holstein Convention and both are active within their community.

The Ragnar herd currently consists of 78, 100 percent Registered Holstein cows. They have a rolling herd average of 27,126 pounds of milk 1,053 pounds of fat and 878 pounds of protein on two times a day milking. The current BAA is 108.5 percent with 16 Excellent cows, 29 Very Good and 20 Good Plus. They have received the Progressive Breeder Herd award for six years and have six Gold Medal Dams, two Dams of Merit and six cows over 200,000 pounds of milk lifetime. They have also sold one bull to A.I.

Mark and Angie’s ultimate goal is to have a herd of Very Good and Excellent cows with the ability to produce large amounts of milk.

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