World Dairy Expo Supplement (complete PDF) - Hoards Dairyman

HOARD’S DAIRYMAN
Around the world of dairy
Capturing opportunities:
Key to success for Klussendorf-Mackenzie winner
THE first time the 2010 Klussendorf-MacKenzie
Award winner,
Nicky Reape, came to World Dairy
Expo it was to help with someone
else’s cows. For her, the opportunity
to work with good show cows was an
experience she felt lucky to have.
“Our family showed at state shows
and at the Harrisburg and Louisville
shows, but we never had anything
good enough to bring to Madison,”
Reape says. “So, when I was asked
to help with a string at Madison, I
jumped at the chance.”
Seeking opportunities is what propelled
Reape from helping with cows
at Expo to bringing an elite string
of cattle she owns in partnership
with Mark Rueth who won the 1995
Klussendorf-MacKenzie Award and
the 2008 Klussendorf Award.
Since her first journey to Expo,
Reape carved a trail from working
shows and sales in the Northeast
to developing their herd of
cattle. “There were a lot of people
who helped me and taught me as I
learned to take care of cattle.”
One of Reape’s mentors was Joan
Coyne-Seidel, a dairy cattle fitter
from New York, who taught her a lot
of tricks of the trade. “I was always
fascinated with Joan. She always
approached things with a businesslike
manner,” Reape says. “There
are a lot of characters out there, but
Joan was a real businesswoman,
and I learned a lot from her.”
Reape has developed her own business
sense and reputation for being a
The author is an agricultural writer based at
Dansville, Mich.
Naturally ahead
hard worker with a strong work ethic
and high level of accomplishments.
“If you want to keep working in
this field, you got to work. Some
people might find me standoffish at
the shows because I am focused on
the cattle and why we are there,” she
says. “I was never afraid to take on an
opportunity. When I first started, I
would work for meals and the chance
to be around great cattle. Now a lot of
people just look at how much money
they can make and not the opportunity
to be with great cows.”
Reape got her start working
cattle sales in New York with
Delarm-Treadway and then with
the Cattle Exchange. Her knowledge
and strong work ethic quickly
made her a favorite of herd owners
and sale managers.
Planted roots
Biofix ®
BIOMIN America Inc.
1842 Lockhill Selma, Suite 102
San Antonio, TX 78213 U.S.A.
Tel: +1 210 342 9555
Fax: +1 210 342 9575
www.biomin.net
After a decade of working shows
and sales, she and Mark settled
into their own place in Wisconsin.
“Mark had cattle at herds all
around the country and Canada.
We felt it was time to work for ourselves
and really develop our herd
of cows,” Reape says.
They first moved to Deerfield,
Wis., and then moved five years
later to their current home in
Oxford, Wis. They have worked to
remodel the facilities to suit their
outstanding string of Rosedale cattle.
Today, the couple milks 70 head
at their farm. An extensive flush
and in vitro fertilization program
keeps the replacement herd strong.
They focus all their attention on
the cattle, buying all their feed. “If
Biofix ®
by Laura Moser
we didn’t have the type of cattle we
do, we would have a hard time making
it. The milk check alone is not
enough when you buy all your feed,”
Reape adds.
A rich history
Plus
The Rosedale herd traces back to
Stookey Elm Park Blackrose, a twotime
All-American cow. Seventy-five
percent of the Rosedale genetics go
back to Blackrose, including the 2005
World Dairy Expo Supreme Champion
Lavender Ruby Redrose-Red, the
first Red and White to win Supreme
Champion at World Dairy Expo.
“It is always exciting to have a winner
at Expo or to have an All-American,
but when they are ones that we
More milk is the result of keeping the rumen
healthy and systems functioning normally.
Plus is the right solution for
your herd, especially when feed quality
isn’t what it should be.
Biofix ®
Plus, to maintain milk
production with more profitably.
For trials and additional information email us at:
office.usa@biomin.net
Circle No. 47 on Reader Response Card
EXPO 34Ad_Biofix September Plus_NES_8_2011_LS.indd 10, 2011
1 16.08.11 14:49
IT’S RARE THAT BOTH individuals in a partnership win the Klussendorf-Mackenzie Award, but
with hard work and an array of experience, Mark Rueth and Nicky Reape, have done just that.
bred and I raised as a calf, they are
even more special,” she adds.
While Mark is the “front man” of
Rosedale, the one at the shows and
sales, Nicky is the self-proclaimed
worrier. “I worry about things all the
time — if cows are bred on time, calving
on time, and how they are coming
together. Mark is more laid back than
I am. I don’t like to travel with Mark
when he goes to sales or judges shows
because I worry so much about what
is happening back in the barn.”
Dream come true
Although raising show cattle the
caliber of the Rosedale herd is a
stressful venture, Nicky can’t imagine
doing anything else.
“I was bitten by ‘that bug’ at a
young age,” Nicky says, “I knew this
is what I wanted to do. And I am so
glad to be doing it.”
Being named the 2010 Duncan-
MacKenzie Award winner was a
surprise to Reape. Not liking to be
in the spotlight, she was humbled by
the honor.
“I admire a lot of the people who
have won this award. It is a real
honor to be included with the past
winners,” she says. “I have a lot of
respect for the people who have won
this and the Klussendorf Award.”
Reape remembers well her first
introduction to a Klussendorf winner,
William Chilcoat. She had brought
a Guernsey to the Harrisburg show
when she was 14 years old. Chilcoat
came by and noticed her heifer. He
took special interest in the heifer,
going so far as to send someone over
to fit her for her class. He also taught
Reape how to get the proper fill in the
heifer. That heifer went on to take
first in her class in the junior show
and second in the open show.
“I just couldn’t believe somebody
like Bill Chilcoat would pay attention
to me and my Guernsey,” she
says. “He just sat right down and
helped me out. I knew then that
there were some really special people
in this business.”