Distinguished Young Holstein Breeder

Bryan & Brittney Mauk, Mauk-E-Way Holsteins

This article has been adapted for print based off the award presentation from Chris and Courtney Booth. Bryan and Brittney Mauk’s story is a relatively new one. The farm was founded back in 1987 by Bryan’s parents, Kyle and Sarah. They started out with 13 grade Holsteins and over the years, they grew that to 40 grade cows. The story began to change when Bryan and Brittney joined in the operation in 2009. Bryan’s dad had done a great job building the herd and they went through the process of working towards registration of the herd and it is a tremendous success story because now today they have 50 registered cows. Their goal is to have the herd 100% registered in the very near future.

The herd currently is at about 25,000 pounds of milk, 1000 pounds of fat and 780 pounds of protein. Since 2009, Bryan and Brittney have been able to successfully develop their herd and are currently up to 12 Excellent, 18 Very Good and 10 Good Plus animals.

The Mauk’s have five children, Natalie, 11, Braxton, 9, Jayden, 6, and twins Rayah and Rori, 4. The couple met in 2005 when Bryan was asked by Brittney’s father to milk for them so they could attend a family wedding. Brittney asked Bryan to be her date to the wedding , they hit it off and dated for a couple years before he proposed in the summer of 2007. They got married in September 2008 and worked at a family friend’s farm in Belgium together. In June 2009, Bryan and Brittney called Kyle and Sarah and asked if they could come home to the farm.

Right from the beginning, Bryan and Brittney had a vision for their herd of cows. The grade Holsteins were good cows, but they asked “how can we grow this into something special?” They had a strong vision of buying strong pedigreed, Excellent cows and then bringing them home and doing some embryo work on them to try to multiply those genetics. They purchased several cows like that through the years and certain ones put them on the map.

One purchase is Luck-E Talent Kiki EX-93, who was a very productive flush cow for the Mauks. They had several daughters from numerous different matings and have several descendants in the herd today. Their first Junior All-American nomination came from this family, and then she was followed up with two additional ones, Mauk-E-Way Ammo Kyler and Mauk-E-Way Jordy Knox, who were Reserve Junior American Spring Yearling and Honorable Mention All-American Fall Yearling in 2020, respectively.

One of their more recent purchases was Jacobs Doorman Barbela, EX-90, who follows that pattern of seeking great genetics. Brittney is usually the one that’s on the internet looking for these animals and she found Barbela from the great Ferme Jacobs herd. They have over 10 calves on the ground from her.

The third animal that has impacted the couple was Rosedale Hopeless Romantic EX-90, a daughter out of a full sister to Rosedale Lexington EX-95. Hopeless Romantic’s daughter, Ms Mauk-E-Way Rosa, was the first national Junior Champion for Bryan and Brittney. She was Junior Champion of several shows. Her sister, Ms MaukE-Way Remi, was Reserve Intermediate Champion of the Junior Show last year at the Spring Show. Her daughter, Ms Mauk-E-Way Remington, is a really special heifer for the Mauk family and was Natalie’s project last summer. Bryan and Natalie worked so hard last year and it just showed how awesome it is when your kids put in that time and effort and they see the results. Remington was the Supreme Junior Champion at the Sheboygan County Fair, but more importantly, Natalie won Overall Supreme Champion Showman. All year long, this heifer helped create great memories that they will not forget.

Bryan and Brittney are looking at ways that they can do some advertising and tell their story when they get a chance. Their first child Natalie is all about showing and understanding all the different aspects of the farm and knowing each of the cows. But the kids are all active in aspects of the farm and Bryan and Brittney do the best they can, teaching them and being there alongside them each day. In addition, when you have five kids and they start to talk about their experiences on the farm in schools, that’s priceless. Even in small town Plymouth, there’s so many kids that are removed from the farm, so when the kids get a chance to tell that story firsthand, it’s priceless. Bryan never wants to settle for where he’s at. He’s always looking for more, so they recently put in a new TMR mixer to improve nutrition. They installed a few water beds in the stalls and they worked so well, they put more in. Shows are a family affair and the kids are learning lessons that will stay with them forever. In addition, the Sheboygan County Holstein Futurity has been blessed by their leadership as Brittney and Bryan step forward and joined the county Holstein board. Bryan was on the board as vice president for six years and then they also chaired the Holstein Futurity in the county for a number of years.

The future is bright for this young couple as their story keeps getting better.