Logo Maryland Brown Swiss Cattle Association
Home Page
Activities
Membership
Officers
Pictures
Royalty
Scholarships
Contact Us In Memory Maryland State Show Invitational Entry Form

Welcome to the
Maryland Brown Swiss Cattle Association
Superior Genetics Available Worldwide

Calf Sale Catalog - see 2012 News below

**Click Here** to Visit Our Facebook Page


Worlddairyexpo

The Maryland Brown Swiss and Brown Swiss Junior Associations are sponsors of the 2012 World Dairy Expo and assist in bringing together the industry for the premier trade show and dairy cattle shows including The International Brown Swiss Show.  The Maryland Brown Swiss Association is also proud of our members, many of whom exhibit their quality animals to high honors at WDE.

WDE is recognized as the largest dairy-focused event in the world. Dairy producers from across the globe are invited to attend the event that includes eight dairy cattle shows, Expo Seminars, Virtual Farm Tours, youth competition and over 800 exhibiting trade show companies featuring innovative products and services. The 2012 World Dairy Expo theme will be “Market Fresh” and the event will be held October 2-6 at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wisconsin. Visit www.worlddairyexpo.com or call 608/224-6455 for further details.


2012 News

Brown Swiss Leaders Honored, Awards Presented

Mid-Atlantic Calf Sale Entry Information

Maryland Bell Ringers

Calf Sale Calendar Ad

Calf Sale Ad (detailed)

NEW Calf Sale Catalog


2011 News

June Spotlight on 2 MD Brown Swiss Members!

     

"Something unpredictable"

The Ohio State University Graduation was held on June 12th. The Class of 2011 consisted of 9,700 students.  One of them, from the College of Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources, graduated Summa Cum Laude and is a Frederick County native and member of the Maryland Brown Swiss Association.

Hannah Thompson, 21, of Walkersville MD joined the Brown Swiss Association when she became a 4-H member and acquired her first calf.   Hannah was not raised on a dairy farm, but Glad-Ray Farm is her second home. Sharon Lease Keilholtz and Hannah's mother were friends since childhood and attended school and 4-H together, followed by nursing school.  They met Jim during county 4-H basketball and after finishing school Sharon and Jim married and began farming with Jim's parents in Emmitsburg MD.  They later purchased the home farm as well as an adjoining one.  Sharon showed Brown Swiss in 4-H and when their daughter, Jennifer, joined 4-H she also showed Swiss. As a 4-H member and Brown Swiss Junior Jen was very successful, both in breed classes and showmanship.  Jennifer was in college when Hannah was born and became her role model.  Hannah also learned to love dairy cattle, even better than the pony her mother "thought" was going to be her 4-H project. 

When Hannah reached 4-H age she was given a March calf by her parents.  The calf was a Glad-Ray homebred, the only Swiss heifer calf born in March that year at the farm, and named Glad-Ray Hannah's Joy. The calf was taken to Walkersville for 4 months until weaned, then returned to the farm.  While in town, she became completely spoiled and actually preferred to drink chlorinated water.  When show season began Joy set the standard for Hannah.  Joy was named Junior Champion at practically every show as a March calf.  She continued her success as a yearling and won the Spring Yearling class of the 2000 All-American show.  Joy, being a Swiss, was stubborn when she wanted to be.  However, she finally decided the show ring wasn't too bad a place to be.  After countless hours of practice under Jennifer's scrutiny Joy and Hannah evolved into a winning showmanship team.  Hannah continued to exhibit Swiss during her 4-H career and later added Holsteins. She was active in the Brown Swiss Juniors and served as MD Brown Swiss Princess and Swiss Miss.

The dairy cattle 4-H project branched out into public speaking, dairy promotion and dairy judging.  Hannah won local championships at 4-H Presents and County/State Championships in FFA for extemporaneous and prepared public speaking.  Her FFA Communications Team was won the state competition using the topic of Land Use Models.  She won the Intermediate Championship in public speaking at the 2005 Holstein National Convention.  Meanwhile, from spring to fall each year dairy judging was her passion.  She spent many evenings and days at practice and enjoyed every minute.  Each year she worked harder to achieve a higher spot on the team, as well as improve her individual performance.  She made the state team that competed at Louisville in 2006, along with Hannah Smith, another MD Swiss member.  In 2007 at age 16 she was the youngest member of the state team that competed at World Dairy Expo in Madison WI.  For the first time all 4 members were from the same MD county (Frederick) and 3 of the team, Hannah, Curtis Rhoderick and Jarrett Remsberg owned and exhibited Brown Swiss.  The coach, Dr. Lee Majeski was also a MD Swiss member. The team placed first, becoming the National 4-H Dairy Judging Champions and were invited to Europe.  They also spent extra time in Switzerland, visiting farms and cattle in the Alpine meadows--the highlight of the trip according to Hannah.

Hannah says she can't imagine not having a career in agriculture.  She was recruited for collegiate judging teams and had a choice of colleges but Ohio State won, hands down.  She completed her undergraduate degree in 3 years, obtaining a BS in Agricultural Communications and minoring in ag economics and Spanish.  She was inducted into Alpha Zeta Partners, the agricultural honor society, and spent a term at the University of Sao Paulo in Piracicaba, Brazil.  She interned at an ag radio station, Select Sires and this summer is in Wisconsin, interning at Charleston/Orwig, an advertisement agency focusing on agricultural products.  After accepting the internship and not thinking she knew a soul there she learned that Casey Hushon, wife of Josh Hushon of Brother's Three Swiss,  works there!  While in WI Hannah is living at Crescentmead Farm, working with cattle in her time off from the agency.  This fall she returns to Columbus to work towards her master's degree after being appointed to The Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center Director's Associateship.   She says her goal is to find a position in agricultural advocacy  that pays enough to afford a show string on the side.  She was an active member of the Buckeye Dairy Club, chairing the Milking Parlor at the State Fair and serving as co-chair of the Buckeye Classic of 2011.   As vice-president of  The OSU chapter of the Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow she served as an organizer for the 2011 National ACT Professional Development Conference.

Hannah continues to experience much support from the agricultural world and is deeply appreciative.  Of course, it all began with the little Brown Swiss calf at Glad-Ray Farms.  Sharon and Jim taught her the value of hard work,  to do the job right, and to make the end result something to be proud of..  Jennifer critiqued her performance and told her what areas needed improvement.  Jen, and her husband Chris, created opportunities for Hannah to work at MD-Hillbrook  Sales, opening the door for her to meet more people in the industry.  Her 4-H and Junior Dairy Clubs, leaders and volunteers,  Farm Bureau, MD Brown Swiss, Frederick County, State & National Holstein Associations, FFA, Select Sires, National Dairy Board, and MD along with National Dairy Shrine as well as others all supported her with opportunities or scholarships.  She has firm friendships from her activities in the industry and keeps in close touch.  She recently was notified by the National Dairy Shrine that she is the recipient of 2 scholarships to be presented at World Dairy Expo this year.  Ohio State nominated her for a NDS/Student Recognition Award and she is also receiving a Kildee Graduate Scholarship, one of two in the nation.  Hannah has a quote from a song by her name on Facebook that sums up her life to date "It's something unpredictable, but in the end is right..."


Cassidy Schirmer, Age 16

    

Cassidy Schirmer lives in the town of Galena (pop. 504) in Kent County on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.  The county is just above the Bay Bridge, and lies against the Chesapeake Bay.  Kent County is rural in nature and has a rich and varied agricultural heritage. Along with oysters and crabs, grains, horticulture and chickens, dairy farming contributes to this heritage with Swiss enthusiasts being well represented. Cassidy did not have a background in dairy farming, but 6 years ago she became friends with a 4-H member  exhibiting dairy cattle, who encouraged Cassidy to show dairy animals and told her about the leasing program.   When Cassidy expressed her desire to participate in the dairy leasing program the Kent county farming community came through and presented her with a number of opportunities.  Cassidy initially leased calves from the Jones Family Farm in Massey MD and the Kenneth Miller family of Kennedyville MD.  Miller's daughter Michelle, a fellow 4-H member and close friend of Cassidy, worked with her to build up her showmanship skills.  The Miller family introduced Cassidy to Bob Payne of Pine Croft Farm in Still Pond MD where she now keeps her project animals.  "She's my vehicle to fame," Payne said. "No one ever heard of Pine Croft until she started showing cows. She has her heart set on cows."  Initially sticking with Holsteins and Ayrshires,  Cassidy became enamored with Brown Swiss after working with them at Pine Croft. She began her Swiss career with a calf --Pine-Croft Precise Eunice (aka Misty).  Misty turned out to be an excellent pick as she racked up win after win as a Sr. 2 year old in 2010.  She was the Kent County Fair 4-H Grand Champion Brown Swiss and Supreme Champion of the dairy show, Ohio Spring Show Grand Champion of the 4-H show and Intermediate Champion of the open show, at the Ohio Spring Show, Maryland State Fair 4-H Grand Champion Brown Swiss and 4-H  Supreme Champion overall cow and class winner at the All-American Dairy Show.

Cassidy now has her own prefix "Pampered Acres," well-chosen as it suits her love of hands-on care.  She does her own fitting and hopes to be able to fit-out animals for other people to raise money to support her herd and to finance college. In spite of her phenomenal success exhibiting Misty, her favorite memory is placing second out of 21 in the age 12-13 Showmanship class at the 2009 Ohio Spring Show.  She followed that up in 2010 as the Kent County 4-H Dairy Showmanship Grand Champion and placed 3rd Intermediate at the All-American Youth Showmanship Contest.  Other 4-H activities include serving as President of the Junior Dairy Associates, VP of Puppy Pals 4-H Club and Dairy Bowl.  She is the Secretary of the Kent County FFA.  Her dairy promotional activities include serving for 2 years as Dairy Maid and currently as the Eastern Shore Dairy Princess.  She has become active in Brown Swiss Juniors over the past year, attending the Fall and Spring Meetings, running slips at the Mid-Atlantic Calf Sale and competing in the Royalty Contest.  Cassidy's mother, Belinda, is impressed with her achievements and interest. She credits the dairy project for helping Cassidy to blossom and gain confidence.  Cassidy also  exhibits her Labrador retrievers and is active in the 4-H Dog Project as well as a Junior Handler with the American Kennel Club.

A rising junior at Kent County High School Cassidy excels in science, technology and mathematics and hopes to attend Virginia Tech to major in Dairy Science and pre-veterinary science.  She will be well prepared for her studies at Tech by her current employment.  She milks 3 days a week (more if needed) for Pine Croft along with working 2 days a week for Dr. Otero, a local vet.

And what's Misty's current status?  She's on hiatus currently after giving birth to twins April 28th, 2011.  By the summer shows she should be back in form  as a senior three and ready to take on the competition. Meanwhile the twins (of course a bull and heifer) remain at the farm with the heifer awaiting testing for freemartinism.  Cassidy has beaten the odds by her success in spite of having a non-traditional background in dairy.  Perhaps her luck will continue with Misty's heifer calf?  Of course, there's always next year!


Additional Member Spotlights are on the Membership Page (click here)


Mid Atlantic Brown Swiss Sale a Success

Mid-Atlantic Brown Swiss Calf Sale

- Access forms and catalog from Activities page

Maryland State Show Invitational

View 2010 Bell Ringer Winners

2011 Annual Meeting Report and Pictures

Production Awards

Pictures

2010

2010 Maryland State Show Invitational (click here)


Mid-Atlantic Brown Swiss Calf Sale -

Maryland Brown Swiss Association Hosts 2010 Annual Meeting

Maryland Brown Swiss Calf Sale


**if you have Brown Swiss news or photos please send to jthompson@frederickmd.com for posting on this website.

2009

Maryland Brown Swiss State Show & Field Day

Mid-Atlantic Brown Swiss Calf Sale

2009 Annual Meeting


2009 Calendar


2008

2008 Scholarship Winners

2008 Maryland State Bell Ringer Winners

2008 Fall Meeting

World Dairy Expo

All-American Dairy Show

National Brown Swiss Convention and Show

Maryland Brown Swiss Field Day

Mid-Atlantic Brown Swiss Calf Sale


2007

2007 New York National Sale Sets New Breed Record

2007 Maryland State Bell Ringer Winners

Bell Ringer Pictures

2007 Brown Swiss Field Day Information

Brown Swiss Calves Sell Well In Maryland

Maryland and the surrounding states have a large number of superior registered Brown Swiss cattle. The Maryland Brown Swiss herds rank among the highest in the United States for production. Also, many ALL-AMERICAN nominations (and winners) are from herds in our area.

Maryland is a very unique state. Many of our Brown Swiss Herds are located within a reasonable distance from several major airports: Baltimore-Washington International (Baltimore), Dulles (Northern Virginia), Ronald Reagan International (Washington, D.C.), and Philadelphia International (Philadelphia, PA).

Your stay with us will be even more enjoyable with sightseeing in Annapolis; Baltimore; Gettysburg, PA; or Washington, D.C. Be sure to allow time to thoroughly enjoy your visit with us.

Cynthia Warner
President
Maryland Brown Swiss Cattle Association
Stackyard-farming on the web