Diving into Guernseys! W
hen you’re from a family that has bred Registered Holsteins since 1927, you might think one’s fate is sealed with one breed, but for Ed Crossland, dipping a toe into the water of another dairy breed led to a full deep dive! Now, Gladheart Farm, is home not only to Holsteins, but also the very highestcaliber Guernseys. A number of years ago, Ed was becoming intrigued by the fawn and white cows, and what he perceived as their valuable role in the future US dairy industry. “I was involved in the milk cooperative business for a time, and could see a trend forming towards the use of higher component milk, and also the benefits and acceptance of A2A2 milk. A friend of mine who is a dietician had sampled some A2A2 ice cream at a nutrition conference - the first ice cream she was able to tolerate and enjoy in many years - and I knew there was something to this A2A2 thing. A very high percentage of Guernseys produce A2A2 milk, so I began to look more closely at the breed,” recalls Ed. He had long admired Berneta Gable and her family’s Snider Homestead Guernsey herd in nearby Pennsylvania. About five years ago, he asked her which was the best Guernsey cow she had seen recently. She had just judged the Canadian National Show and told him about a cow at Maplehurst Farm in Ontario. With the help of Brent Clements, Ed was able to purchase Maplehurst Les 48 « COWSMOPOLITAN Fall 2021
Marzipan EX-94, the Grand Champion of the 2016 Canadian National Guernsey Show. Brent also located another cow, Golden I Sunrise Leora EX-90 from Neil Jensen in Wisconsin, and those two cows became the foundation of Ed’s entry into the Guernsey business. That business now consists of a small Guernsey herd at his farm in Midland, Maryland located in the western part of the state. The herd is primarily managed by Madison Fisher, as Ed is an elected probate judge and also serves as a mediator and arbitrator in civil cases in western Maryland. The milk from the small 10-cow herd is processed by a local cheese plant, where it is made into the farm-branded Lancashire cheese. After some aging, it has a texture similar to cheddar and grills up very nicely, so they are marketing it to restaurants as a primary ingredient in gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches. The Ten Cow Cafe is also taking shape, which will be a coffee / dairy shop and ice cream parlor in Midland that will feature Maryland-made items as well as their own processed products. After buying Leora and Marzipan and starting an extensive flush program with them, Ed was somewhat frustrated with the small number of Guernsey bulls being collected, and that one stud was phasing out
their Guernsey program altogether. Upon some deliberation, he decided to establish Masterpiece Genetics, a Guernsey sire ‘boutique’ of sorts. “After discussing this with some well regarded folks in the the breed - Berneta Gable, Brent Clements, Kevin Stoltzfus and Chris Lang - I became concerned that the breed was in trouble without a better selection of bulls. So in 2020, I decided to market semen from three bulls I bred or purchased, and Kevin Stoltzfus at Warwick Manor had a battery of several young bulls he allowed me to choose from. The name Masterpiece Genetics recognizes that breeding is as much an art as a science. Plus, my wife, PJ, is an art teacher and artist, and when she names your bulls “Leonardo” and “Michelangelo” what other name could I use,” laughs Ed. From its inception, Ed determined that the participating bulls would be selected primarily by breeder recommendation
Maplehurst Les Marzipan (EX-94) is one of the foundation cows at Gladheart.
