Junior Breeder Feature: Chloe Kinnard

Farm Name: Nu-Horizons Holsteins & Jerseys, Casco Family: Jeff and Laurie Kinnard

Cows: 6 Heifers: 10 Type of housing: Hutches, group pens, box stall, tie-stall, freestall

My background in dairy started a little different from most juniors in the industry as we don’t milk cows or raise any of our own, which meant that if I wanted show-type animals, I would have to start from scratch. Since we do not have the facilities to raise many of my animals at home, my animals are boarded at Synergy Dairy, Milkinaire Dairy, Jauquet Holsteins, and a select few are raised by me in spring to late fall. These are some of the most influential mentors in my journey and have gotten me to the place I am today.

On our farm, Red Maple Farm in Casco, we house dry cows for a local farm and grow corn, soybeans, and wheat. As a little kid, I always liked going to my county fair in Kewaunee County, scoping out the calves, and visiting the cows at home whenever I could. My grandparents are the most significant contributors to my registered herd by buying me a Jersey fall calf for my birthday in 2014, and since then, my herd has kept growing from breeding or purchased animals. I’ve always been obsessed with the Jersey breed but decided to venture out into the Holsteins at the Milksource Select Sale in April 2018. A powerful and stylish springing Absolute daughter out of Budjon-Nitzy Destiny-Red caught my eye, and I knew it would be a rare opportunity to get into a family like hers. A few years later, we flushed her, which resulted in four Warrior daughters, two of which are being kept for genetics in my herd, and two have been sold. And that was the start of my Registered Holstein herd.

As I was involved in the Jersey breed for most of my years, I have just been getting into the Wisconsin Holstein activities. Through the registered industry, I have met some of my closest friends and influential people who will continue to guide me through my junior years.

During Junior Convention, my friends from Clark County convinced me to compete on their quiz bowl team. We ended up taking sixth overall, and I was proud that I could contribute to it. After that experience, I felt connected with other juniors in the Holstein breed and realized how much fun I had with them those few days. For me, the spring and summer months are always the busiest prepping for the Wisconsin Spring Show, NEW High Protein show, District 7 Show, National Holstein Convention, the Kewaunee County Fair, Wisconsin Junior State Fair, Wisconsin Summer Championship Show, and World Dairy Expo. At these shows, I spend most of my time visiting with friends in the industry and caring for my animals extensively.

A cow that has been influential in my herd and will be in the future is Budjon-Vail Drmn Annie-ET. She is a Doorman out of an EX-90 Sid, then the two-time Midwest Spring National Show Grand Champion, Milksource Goldwn Africa-ET EX-95. I bought her in 2020 at the Holiday Fashions at the Northern as a spring yearling bred to Thunderstorm to calve the upcoming June. She had been named Junior Reserve All-Wisconsin Spring Yearling that August, and I was excited about seeing her at the sale. She calved in midJune, but unfortunately, we lost the calf.

In September of 2021, she was bred to Farnear Delta-Lambda and, in June 2022, had a successful calving resulting in a gorgeous heifer calf for the 2023 show season. The calf receives an exceptional amount of care, all thanks to Synergy Dairy. Even though Annie hasn’t impacted my Holstein herd much at this point, I am very excited to have her pedigree in my herd to breed off. She is housed at Jauquet Holsteins in Luxemburg in a tie-stall barn, milking 118 pounds with a 3.6 fat and 4.1 protein. Annie is newly scored EX-90 in November. Her story is just beginning, and I am so proud to be a part of it!

My current favorite may not be a Holstein, but she is an extraordinary animal in my herd. She’s Nu-Horizons Fizz Mistletoe, a Jersey, who was my 2020 quarantine calf. Mistletoe was born in December 2019 and was also raised throughout the winter by Synergy. She had just been moved home in the spring of 2020 when our “two-week break” started. During our “break” and the summer, I developed her to the best of my abilities, even though there most likely wouldn’t be any shows that summer. To my surprise, the Wisconsin Summer Championship Show still took place, and Mistletoe was fifth in a deep, deep winter calf class. After that, I knew she was something special. Then, in 2021 at the Wisconsin Spring Show, she was tapped as Reserve Junior Champion of the Junior Show. During the summer, we continued to win showmanship contests and gather firsts, and she ended her heifer career as Junior All-Wisconsin Winter Yearling in August. She calved in March, grew into a cow, and collected some champion honors. Mistletoe made all my dreams come true when she was the Intermediate Champion of the Junior Show at the 2022 Summer Championship Show. We worked as a team these last couple of years to get to this point, and it has been a fascinating experience. Aside from winnings, her Jersey personality and sweet demeanor set her apart from the others, and I couldn’t imagine not being a part of her story.

If I had to choose, my favorite Holstein would have to be CKHorizons Diamond-Red-ET. She is the daughter of my first Red and White from the Milksource sale. Diamond stood out from the beginning as a long-legged, extremely dairy March calf and was very different from her other high-strung Warrior sisters. She was shy and always in the background but just like any red-haired animal, a pain to train. Her 2021 show season included District 7 show, where she was second Spring Calf and third at the Wisconsin Junior State Fair. Diamond has been on a break since then and was bred to sexed Thunderstruck to calve in the spring of 2023. To say I’m excited for her and her calf’s future is an understatement.