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DAIRY ST R
October 15, 2022
“All dairy, all the time”™
Volume 24, No. 16
Footloose takes center stage Holstein is named World Dairy Expo Supreme Champion By Danielle Nauman danielle.n@dairystar.com
MADISON, Wis. – For the past 52 years, only one cow is etched in the annals of dairy cattle history as the reigning World Dairy Expo Supreme Champion. The cow to accomplish the feat at the 2022 WDE was Oakeld Solom Footloose-ET EX-94. Footloose captivated the audience at the International Holstein Show Oct. 7 in Madison. She won the 5-year-old cow class on her way to being named senior and grand champion of the show before being named Expo’s supreme champion. “What a tremendous 5-year-old class,” said judge Pierre Boulet. “If you don’t know what a dairy cow is, you check this cow ... lots of dairy-
PHOTO COURTESY OF KYLE SCHAFER FROM DAIRY AGENDA TODAY
David Dyment escorts Oakeld Solom Footloose-ET under the spotlights during the World Dairy Expo Supreme Champion ceremony Oct. 7 in Madison, Wisconsin. ness, bone quality, a great texture in the udder. The rst one is for me an easy winner today with so much balance and so
much length and width in the body.” Boulet, of Montmagny, Quebec, Canada, was the of-
cial judge of the International Holstein Show. Footloose is owned by the partnership of Mike and Julie
Duckett of Rudolph, Vierra Dairy of Hilmar, California, and Tim and Sharyn Abbott, of Enosburg, Vermont. Footloose is housed at Duckett Holsteins. Footloose was bred by Jonathan and Alicia Lamb of Oakeld Corners Dairy in Oakeld, New York. Footloose rst caught the attention of the Ducketts as a 2-year-old in 2019, when she placed fourth in her class at WDE and garnered an All-American nomination. A granddaughter of the Ducketts’ beloved Harvue Roy Frosty EX97-3E-GMD, who herself was a two-time WDE Supreme Champion, the Ducketts had an interest in the young cow. “I remember seeing Footloose as a 2-year-old,” Mike Duckett said. “I’d like to say I could see what she would become. I liked her, but I wasn’t 100% certain she would ever get to the next level.” Turn to FOOTLOOSE | Page 6
Staying true to their vision
Kohlweys add maternity, pregnant heifer barns By Stacey Smart
stacey.s@dairystar.com
ADELL, Wis. – The Kohlweys are careful planners who never build on a whim. With an eye on the future, their choices are deliberate and made in a way that will lead the family successfully into the next phase of their operation. “Every time we build, we try to think and plan for the future,” Doug Kohlwey said. “We want everything to be simple, practical, user friendly and efcient. We have moved a lot of ground in the past 13 years to get us where we are today.” Doug and Betty Kohlwey farm with their son, Jesse, and their daughter, Jolene, milking 510 cows and running 1,400 acres near Adell. The rolling herd average for their all-reg-
istered herd is 31,703 pounds of milk. In 2016, the four family members formed Kohlwey Farms LLC. This year, the Kohlweys built two barns simultaneously – a maternity barn and a barn for pregnant heifers and far-off dry cows. The buildings work in harmony, with close-up animals relocating to the maternity barn one month before calving. More than 230 calves have been born since the rst animals moved into the maternity barn during the rst week of May. “I am not an impulse buyer,” Jesse said. “I analyze every possible scenario I can think of before building. Over the years, we have accumulated numerous drawings for buildings.” STACEY SMART/DAIRY STAR
Turn to KOHLWEYS | Page 7
Jolene LeClair, holding Bryson, Doug and Jesse Kohlwey stand in the new maternity barn at their farm near Adell, Wisconsin. The Kohlweys milk 510 cows and farm 1,400 acres.