SELECTIONS - Fall 2006
The Kay Family
Continues to Thrive at Art-Acres
Art-Acres Farm, Hagerstown, Md., has put itself on the map because of its outstanding ability to produce hard-working daughters and an exceptional number of sons worthy of active A.I. service.
The farm, once owned and operated by Arthur Rhoderick and now handed down to his sons Paul and Dale, is home to 250 registered Holsteins. The genetic gold mine of the Art-Acres cow family can be traced back to the impressive foundation cow, Art-Acres Elevation Kay (EX-91).
Kay was originally a 4-H project in the Rhoderick family, but as Arthur said, "One day I went out to the mailbox and got this letter saying that Kay was the top index cow in the state of Maryland. We had to give my son another cow, he was just a young boy." Instead of heading to the show ring, Kay was flushed and soon there were more than 30 of her daughters; two of which became new 4-H projects and went on to be named honorable mention All-American.
Kay produced hard-working daughters and 20 outstanding sons that entered active A.I. service in the United States and Holland. "With the high index of Kay, we bred her to the high-index bulls at the time," Rhoderick said. The popular 7HO1557 Art-Acres Bell PONTIAC-ET*CV was a 7HO543 Carlin-M Ivanhoe BELL*CV, BL son out of Kay. Other noteworthy sires from the family include 7HO6834 Art-Acres Mtoto DALE 448-ET, a health trait and calving ease specialist on Select’s active lineup and TPI all-star 7HO7367 Art-Acres Mar MARS 656-ET. 9HO2448 Art-Acres Patron SPOCK-ET, a bull high in components with international customer satisfaction and solid type, was from the Tex family in the same herd.
Kay made 34,000 pounds of milk in the early 1980’s. "Today that’s not saying as much, but that meant a lot more then," Rhoderick said. Kay’s daughter, Kay O, made over 290,000 pounds of milk lifetime and was the dam of 9HO1289 Art-Acres Ned Boy OSCAR-ET. “OSCAR himself was just like Kay,” Rhoderick said. "He was real deep and wide in the front end, not real tall, but showing a lot of width and depth."
Most members of the family sold exceptionally well, including a full-sister to OSCAR that topped a sale for $40,000. "We didn’t breed as much for type as we did for production,” Rhoderick said. “But most of the Kay family had good type."
The Legacy Lives On in MARS and Kay 721
Kay’s legacy continues with two extraordinary animals from her family that impact the breed today, MARS and his full-sister, Art-Acres Mar Kay 721-ET. MARS is the son of 7HO5375 Mara-Thon BW MARSHALL-ET out of Art-Acres Kay Patron-ET.
Art-Acres Kay Patron-ET (VG-87)
Ron Long, former vice president, dairy sire procurement for Select Sires, was responsible for contracting the mating and bringing MARS to active A.I. at Select Sires. "I used BW MARSHALL because I felt with the strength of that cow family all the way back for several generations, he would be a nice complementary mating from a type standpoint," Long said.
Sire Analyst Rick VerBeek agrees that while using BW MARSHALL on a PATRON dam was a popular mating at the time, the result of MARS really is a unique and different bull. "If BW MARSHALL had a weakness it was that his daughters could be low on components and lacked some width and strength in the front end. MARS excels in these areas. He is one of the very few BW MARSHALL sons that is plus for percent fat and protein and also adds some width and strength to his daughters," VerBeek said.
MARS is an extremely well-balanced sire, combining milk and components (+1,246 Milk +42 Protein +51 Fat 88% Rel.) with overall type and udders (+2.14 Type +1.22 Udder Composite 85% Rel.). He also ranks among Select’s Top-20 for TPI at +1683 and carries the Herdlife Builder™ designation. "MARS daughters are tall, long and deep bodied cows with extra width throughout. He does a nice job improving rear udders and udder support," VerBeek said.
Art-Acres Mar Kay 721-ET (VG-88)
While VerBeek is excited about MARS and what he offers, he is equally thrilled with his full-sister, Kay 721, and her future impact on the Select Sires program. “She’s one of those cows that jumps out at you when you walk through the herd,” VerBeek said. The success of the brother-sister combination is one of the reasons that Select Sires is scheduled to sample four sons from Kay 721. A 7HO6417 O-Bee MANfred Justice-ET son, 7HO8612 Art-Acres Just BOB 988-ET, has already been sampled through the Super Sampler™ program and two Shottle sons are currently in isolation and scheduled for sampling in early 2007, one of which will be available as a Super Sampler. A fourth calf will be a son of the Mtoto son, Mascol.
Success Comes from the Will to Work
Rhoderick attributes much of his success to avoiding preferential treatment in his herd. "They never have gotten special attention," Rhoderick said. "What they make is what they make."
For a sire analyst, this is a key factor in selecting high-quality genetics. "You love buying bulls from herds like Art-Acres because of the natural competition and environment the cows live in every day," VerBeek said. "The one thing you can count on when looking at cows at Art-Acres is that you will always find them in their working clothes. There are no box stalls or special pens."
The cows have to prove themselves and the Kay family simply rises to the top generation after generation. This means, according to Verbeek, "When these bulls get out into the real world, they truly have the genetic ability to make the good ones."
™Herdlife Builder and Super Sampler are trademarks of Select Sires Inc.
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