Be careful, Ronnie; It might hurt your reputation

By Ronald Eustice

 Past director of the Red & White Dairy Cattle Association

In September 1963, I entered the University of Minnesota as a freshman. On the first day of the fall quarter, I began work at the University’s dairy barn. One of my duties was to care for a group of bulls and steers housed in a shed behind the dairy barn. This rather diverse group of animals was involved in a variety of feeding and reproductive studies.

Most of the animals were fairly non-descript, but two of the bulls were intriguing. They were red and white in color, far too large to be Ayrshires and too sharp and angular to be Milking Shorthorn. I soon learned that they were Red & White Holsteins “on loan” to the University from a man named Larry Moore who lived in Suamico, Wisconsin. The bulls were named Larry Moore Pioneer and Larry Moore Nobile. I recalled that we had a red and white calf born to a Holstein cow on our family farm in southern Minnesota during the 1950’s. That calf turned out to be one of our better cows.

Dr. R. B. Graves, a medical doctor at Red Wing, Minnesota owned Mor-Ayr Farm. He had made a huge investment in high quality Ayrshire cattle.  I worked three summers (1961, 1962 and 1963) at Mor-Ayr Farm. Mor-Ayr farm manager Jerry Strandlund, a University of Minnesota graduate had encouraged Dr. Graves to donate a small group of Ayrshires to the University of Minnesota in 1962. The hope was that the University would establish a small but select herd of Ayrshires. That was not to be. During the winter and spring of 1964, a few of the Ayrshire cows in the University herd began to give birth to fancy red and white calves that didn’t quite look like Ayrshires. When I checked the breeding records, I learned that the most of the Ayrshire cows in the University’s herd had been bred to these Red & White Holstein bulls. I was a bit taken back by this discovery, because I knew that the Ayrshires had been a gift to the University from Dr. R.B. Graves of Red Wing, Minnesota on whose farm I had worked during the previous three summers. Dr. Graves had donated the animals with the understanding that the University would establish an Ayrshire herd.

One of my jobs at the university dairy barn was to feed the calves. Twice a day I fed the newborns including these red and white calves. They seemed especially active and over the summer quickly grew into some promising heifers. In the fall of 1964, Dr. C.L. Cole, then head of the University’s Dairy Science Department, offered to sell me the four crossbred calves. We worked out a deal, and by Thanksgiving the calves were on our family farm near Waseca.

About this same time, I visited Harriet and Wayne Brown at their Apple Acres Farm near Hastings, Minnesota. Their Registered Holstein herd was one of the most respected in Minnesota and was known throughout the US and the world. The best heifer in the lot, in my opinion, was a tall, straight and stretchy red and white heifer. I learned that this yearling was a daughter of a Holstein bull named S.R.D. Advancer Three, who was in service at American Breeder’s Service and known to carry the “red factor.” I asked the Browns about their plans for the heifer, and was told that she was for sale because although a purebred, she was ineligible for registration in the Holstein-Friesian herd book. I was interested in buying and the Browns were willing to sell. We made a deal, and my red and white herd grew to five head. I registered the heifer in the newly formed Red & White Dairy Cattle Association, and gave her the name Color Crest Miss Scarlet. Dr. Cole provided me with some semen from one of the Red Holstein a bull at the University and Scarlet was soon in calf to Larry Moore Pioneer. Nine months later, a heifer calf arrived and Scarlet turned out to be everything I had hoped for.

My interest in Red & Whites grew and I expanded my contacts among the founders of the breed. I developed friendships with some of the early Red & White breeders including John C. Gage, Dr. John Ostrander, Elmer Carpenter and Larry Moore. My passion for Red & Whites raised a few eyebrows. Some of the prominent Holstein breeders were not happy to see these so-called outcasts legitimized. The Holstein Association was considering by-law changes that would allow red and white offspring of purebred black and white parents to enter the herd-book. This idea was controversial, but had proponents such as Ralph Wayne, University of Minnesota Extension Dairymen who actively campaigned in favor of opening the Holstein herdbook.

There were others who were openly hostile to the Red & Whites. One prominent Holstein breeder took me aside for some fatherly advice and said, “Ronnie, you have a good future ahead of you, but if you keep on with these Red & Whites, you might ruin your reputation.” The Holstein Association eventually voted to accept Red & Whites and Ralph Wayne of Minnesota was the one who seconded the original motion. While some Red & White Breeders were skeptical of this action, time has shown that the acceptance of Red & White Holsteins by the Holstein Association was mostly beneficial to all concerned because an increasing amount of Red Holstein genetics became available through artificial insemination and from the herds of breeders who saw opportunities to pursue an exciting new area of dairy cattle breeding.

I continued my studies at the University of Minnesota and graduated in 1968. I accepted a position with Successful Farming magazine in Des Moines, Iowa, but continued my involvement in Red & Whites.

In 1968, the directors of the Red & White Dairy Cattle Association took a huge step forward and sponsored the first National Red & White Show and Sale in conjunction with the World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wisconsin. Color Crest Miss Scarlet, then a three year old, was due to calve about a week after the show. I knew that she could be “tough to beat.” I entered her in the show, and was asked to consign her to the sale. Hays Farms Ltd of Ontario managed the sale. It was a difficult decision to sell Scarlet, but I had college expenses to pay, and it became increasingly evident that my future would not be in production agriculture but in agribusiness.

Color Crest Miss Scarlet won the three-year old class, was named Reserve Grand Champion of the show. She topped the first national sale at what was then a good price of $1,000. John Gage of Eudora, Kansas encouraged Clifford and Claudine Boatright of Wellington, Kansas to buy Scarlet. At Boatright's Bardine Farm, Scarlet had six daughters and was classified Very Good 87. Later the Boatrights sold their herd to Allen Sell and family in Watertown, Wisconsin. Scarlet’s descendents that I owned included Color Crest Miss Snowdrop, by Citation R Maple, who scored Very Good 87 and had several outstanding records including a high record in excess of 27,000 pounds of milk. One of Snowdrop’s daughters was Junior Champion at the National Red & White Show and was exported to Brazil and another daughter was All-American Red & White Junior Yearling and Reserve Junior Champion at the National Show.

My interest in and involvement with Red & Whites continued through the years. In 1969, I was asked to manage a very successful Second National Red & White Sale, and later served on the board of directors of the Red & White Dairy Cattle Association. In 1983, as executive director of the Minnesota Holstein Association, I helped a group of Minnesota breeders establish a Red & White Club. Today, that Minnesota Red & White Club is one of the most active local associations in the US.

Color Crest Miss Scarlet became a “poster lady.” A head-shot of Scarlet appeared on the front cover of Farm Journal and later graced the ABS Red & White Sire Directory on several occasions. Scarlet became the "cover-girl" for what the Farm Journal article described as "The Bright New Breed." The popularity of Red & Whites today is growing quickly. The legacy of Color Crest Miss Scarlet-Red was to be the billboard for the bright new breed.