Breeder Profile: Virhada Holsteins

Number of Cows: 167 cows Registered

Acres: 310 with primary crops being corn and alfalfa

Average production: 26,200M 1000F

TMR ration: 40/60 haylage/corn silage

Housing: Freestall with flat barn milking

The Haag family of Virhada Holsteins has been busy making big plans for the future of the operation. In Mt. Horeb, Virgil, Dawn, Kody and Karsen work together to care for their herd of 167 Registered Holstein cows.

The prefix Virhada originated in the mid-1980s when Virgil and Dawn Haag were married. At that time Virgil was farming in a 50/50 arrangement with his parents. His parents’ herd carried a different prefix known as Alpine-Dot. In 1990, Virgil and Dawn moved from the home farm and went on to rent a 50-cow dairy farm. This is where Virhada Holsteins came into its own. In 1994, they had the opportunity to cash rent the home farm, purchased it in 1996 and have grown it from a 90-cow tie-stall barn to putting up a 148-cow freestall barn with a flat barn parlor in 2002. Over the years they have added bunkers, heifer housing and more land. The transition to Virhada Holsteins LLC came about five years ago, allowing for their son, Kody, and daughter, Karsen, to come into the farm. Currently, they are constructing a new AMS milking facility that will house 240 cows along with 9-month manure storage facility. The goal is to be into this new barn in the spring of 2023.

Virgil has always had a passion for Registered Holsteins. He showed them growing up and passed that passion on to his children. As Kody and Karsen grew, they were actively involved in Wisconsin Junior Holsteins, 4-H and FFA. Both receiving local, state and national recognition. Several times they were both named DJMs and received WHA scholarships. Summer was show season and they participated in numerous shows. Even today, though they have aged out of the junior competitions, Virhada cattle are shown by other junior exhibitors at county fairs, state fair as well as World Dairy Expo. They feel allowing juniors the opportunity to show their animals is an important way to promote the industry. This year one of their animals received the Red and White production award at the Wisconsin State Fair.

Karsen inherited the passion for showing and in her last year being a junior she won the National Judi Collinsworth Award. Karsen still shows today and is passing on the tradition to her son, Kayson, who is four. Some of the shows they attend include Stoughton Fair, District 6, Wisconsin Summer Championship Show, Iowa County Open Show and World Dairy Expo.

Education and off-farm employment were necessary stepping stones at Virhada. Kody and Karsen needed to get a secondary degree and work a minimum of three years off the farm before returning full-time. Kody has a degree from UW-Platteville working previously for Case IH and Landmark before coming back.

“We laugh as it was three years to the day when Kody called and said ‘you said I had to work off the farm three years so I did, now I’m coming home.,” Dawn says.

Karsen has two agricultural degrees from Southwest Technical College and worked for John Deere Financial before returning home. Dawn has always worked off the farm full-time as a Financial Officer for Compeer Financial and its predecessors. Virgil is in his second term on the Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin Board of Directors serving Dane and Jefferson counties. All of them are members of the Mt. Horeb FFA Alumni and the Mt. Horeb ELC Church. They are Dane County Dairy Superintendents assisting at the fair each year.

Karsen and Kayson with Virhada Warrior Whistful

Virhada Jacoby Rhys VG-88

Kody is involved with Upper Sugar River Watershed Association. Dawn is the treasurer for Neighbors helping Neighbors, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, which provides food, clothing and social services assistance to people in the area.

In 2019, Virgil and Dawn were inducted in the Wisconsin Master Farmers Association. They served on the executive camp committee for the association’s 2022 State Convention where they also served as convention emcees. They have met people from all walks of Wisconsin Agriculture through this organization.

The family is very active in the Dane County Holstein Association. Both Virgil and Dawn have served on the Board of Directors. Virgil has been President twice and Dawn served as Treasurer for a number of years. Karsen represented Dane County as its Holstein Queen for two years while she was in high school. Both Kody and Karsen served as herdsmen while showing at Wisconsin State Fair.

The Haags have hosted the county summer picnic and other events on the farm. They assist with the District 6 Show when Dane County hosts it. In 2017, Virgil was recognized as the Dane County Distinguished Holstein Breeder.

Promoting cows, the dairy industry and agriculture are activities they view as essential. Education of the general public to the importance of farming and how we value our resources is a business goal of the Haags.

Virhada Outside Cassie is one cow that comes to mind when thinking about influential cows for them. She was their first homebred Excellent cow and many of her offspring are in the herd today.

Virhada Atwood Rider EX-90 is another family favorite as well as Virhada Jacoby Rhys VG-88, a young cow shown this past year. Current sires making the ones they like are Showtime, Warrior, Unstopabull, Radio and Denver.

They haven’t been marketing animals often, rather working to improve the total herd genetics and growing for the expansion. The breeding philosophy is for cows that look good, milk and have good feet and legs. Longevity is a trait they strive for as keeping cows in the herd is profitable. Top cows are flushed and in IVF and beef is used on cows with lesser genetic traits. Over the years, Red and White Registered Holsteins became more and more prevalent in the herd.

The current biggest farm goal is to get the new barn and milking system up and going as quick as possible. By having this facility, cow comfort should improve greatly, they hope. The Haag family took a couple of years to consider what would be best for the family and herd moving forward. The current freestall will be converted into prefresh, dry cow and bred heifer housing. Other goals in the next couple of years include adding more bunkers, expanding the calf nursery and acquiring more crop ground.

Herd health, constant genetic improvement and longevity are top goals for the Haag family, too. They want to manage their cows not people, be profitable and be good stewards of our resources.

“Being good stewards encompasses many things, including a work life balance for each member and making environmentally sound decisions,” Dawn says.

“We joke that we raised our children on the farm so they would grow up and leave the farm for other careers, so having them come home we didn’t do our job very well! The reality is we are very proud they wanted to return to the family farm,” she adds. “Farming as a family has it challenges yet we wouldn’t have it any other way. Having our children value the things that we love is the ultimate accomplishment as a parent.”

Submitted by the Haag family; edited for consistency and clarity.

In addition to print advertising, we offer digital services at an affordable price.

Our online promotional package includes a banner ad on the WHA homepage with a link to your website and a boosted or sponsored Facebook post for $100.

We have approximately 2000 users on average month to month on the WHA website.

Contact Mara with questions or if you’d like to try our digital promotions, 800-223-4269 ext. 2 or marab@wisholsteins.com.

WDE photos © Dusty Boots Photography

Congratulations Maddy on a great year as the Wisconsin Holstein Princess! We have enjoyed watching you grow and succeed in this role by doing what you love - sharing your enthusiasm for dairy. We are so proud of you and can’t wait to see what the future holds for you.

Hannah, Maddy and Grace Hensel Pittsville, WI 715-896-5124 | hhensel96@gmail.com

• The Dairy Learning Center - a state-of-the-art teaching laboratory and dairy operation just three miles from campus. • A focus on teaching, with faculty specializing in dairy genetics, health, nutrition, production and welfare, plus small class sizes. • An on-campus dairy processing plant. • Numerous internship opportunities and strong industry connections. • The nation’s largest active Dairy club, plus award winning Dairy Judging, Dairy Challenge and Dairy

Products Evaluation Teams • An ideal location - a small town setting with convenient access to Minneapolis-St. Paul. • The Dairy Innovation Hub - a financial investment by the State of Wisconsin in education and research initiatives in the UW-System in support of the

Wisconsin dairy industry. Multiple opportunities for undergraduate research on Hub projects. Learn more about Dairy Science and all that the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences offers.

Ragnar King Doc Ex-91 92-MS 6th GENERATION EXCELLENT S: Woodcrest King Doc D: Jimmys-EG Jacoby Audrey EX-91 2D: Hez Hestry Audra-ET EX-90 3D: Kingsmill Ashlyns Audrey-ET EX-94 4D: Tri-Day Ashlyn-ET EX-96 2E GMD DOM 5D: Bendy-Brook Odyssey Favorite EX-92 2E DOM

Angel

HM Grand Champion and Champion Bred & Owned Holstein, Wisconsin State Fair Junior Show 2022 Supreme Champion and Best Bred & Owned, Manitowoc County Fair Junior Show 4th and 1st Junior, Manitowoc County Culver’s Futurity 2022 Angel has a 3/21 Delta Lambda, 6/22 Reeve-Red and is due 6/23 to AOT Honour-ET +4.12T

Letty is #18 on the 8/22 Holstein USA PTAT list and has the 5th hightest GTPI among the Top 20 Type animals! She is due 6/23 to Kings-Ransom Dropbox and will be IVF’d soon. Inquiries are welcome.

Golden-Oaks Doc -ET Letty +4.32 T +2639 GTPI 8/22 Born: 9/3/21 S: Woodcrest King Doc D: Lizettes Avalanche Londa-ET EX-91 EX-MS 2D: Lottos Atwood Lizette-ET EX-94 3D: Winterbay Goldwyn Lotto EX-95 Clarissa and Garrett Ulness | Valders, WI 920-901-6555 | ragnar@tds.net | @RagnarHolsteins December 2022 – Wisconsin Holstein News – 11110.2 BAA | 27 Year PBR Herd | 2 Year PGA Herd