The following column by Ron Hart was printed in the Chattanooga Times-Free Press today. I wanted to share the link here, but couldn't find the column on Ron Hart's website. So I emailed to ask him if the column had been published online anywhere because I thought it was so hysterical I wanted to share it on my blog.
He replied quickly, thanking me for my compliment, and gave me this link.
Thank you, Ron Hart, for allowing me to share this!
NOTE: In the interests of accuracy, let me point out that Toystory, as a Holstein bull, was almost certainly being used to increase milk production, not beef. The article could be interpreted in that way, and I wanted to add that disclaimer, lest my readers think I don't know the difference between a Holstein and a Hereford! ;)
Here's a Genex link about Toystory's record setting achievement.
Here's an article about Toystory's passing, along with a photo. Google also came up with some videos of Toystory at work, but in the interest of good taste, I won't provide a link here. You'll have to do your own search!
R.I.P., Toystory, may our Dexter bulls be as virile as you were, if not quite as prolific and a whole lot smaller. Twenty-seven hundred pounds?! I'll take a Dexter any day!
He replied quickly, thanking me for my compliment, and gave me this link.
Thank you, Ron Hart, for allowing me to share this!
NOTE: In the interests of accuracy, let me point out that Toystory, as a Holstein bull, was almost certainly being used to increase milk production, not beef. The article could be interpreted in that way, and I wanted to add that disclaimer, lest my readers think I don't know the difference between a Holstein and a Hereford! ;)
Here's a Genex link about Toystory's record setting achievement.
Here's an article about Toystory's passing, along with a photo. Google also came up with some videos of Toystory at work, but in the interest of good taste, I won't provide a link here. You'll have to do your own search!
R.I.P., Toystory, may our Dexter bulls be as virile as you were, if not quite as prolific and a whole lot smaller. Twenty-seven hundred pounds?! I'll take a Dexter any day!
Thanks for sharing this Susan, very interesting story. I didn't realize how much money you could make if you had such a good bull as Toystory.
ReplyDeleteI guess the question is, was he really that good or was he just well-marketed? All humor aside, a bull that is as "mean as a snake" had no business being spread all over the Holstein gene pool the way he was. Even if he was that good, he is now WAY over-represented in the Holstein gene pool. We have some really excellent Dexter breeders who do not even believe in collecting a bull for AI unless he has been "proven"--in the real sense, not the sense that he is capable of siring a calf. They want to see his heifers and how their udders hold up under several lactations; they want to see what his bull calves produce; and they want to see what the temperament of his calves are, as well as the birth weights, growing rates, etc. Yes, we are a miniscule breed by comparison to Holsteins, but we just cannot afford to have any particular bull over-represented in our breed because too much genetic diversity is lost that way.
DeleteI did enjoy the column and really got a laugh out of it, but it wouldn't be responsible if I failed to point out the problems with one bull having half a million offspring! So I guess you and I will have to look somewhere else for our "ship" to come in! ;)