TRUE Fleckvieh

Jason and Katrina Julian

Featured cow –  Grass based Dairy:

Amy: 75% Fleckvieh – 25% Jersey – 9 Years old
66 lbs 4.1, 3.1 39000 SCC at 60

The Julians run a grass only dairy in Wisconsin.  They put significant focus on managing for high quality grass and keeping inputs in check.  The herd was primarily Jersey and bred to Fleckvieh for multiple generations.  The Julians do the bulk of their work on their farm with American Brabant draft horses.

Cabin Hill Dairy, Boyceville, Wisconsin – 230 Cows Milking

Mike and Lori Boesl and their children were intrigued by Fleckvieh many years’ back. A short visit at our booth by their daughter Liz – resulted in some major changes on their farm for the years’ to come. They have been to Germany to see the purebreds and made the decision to breed their entire herd to Fleckvieh. At WDE 2011, they exhibited their first crossbred cows at World Dairy Expo. ‘The breed allows us to add value to our busines enterprise’ says Mike – ‘we want to give our children a chance to be involved in the future; we have decided to add to the quality of our stock – rather than just the size of our farm’.

Riedbow Dairy, Elm Creek, Manitoba – 800 Cows Milking

As one of the first dairies in North America to use Bavarian Fleckvieh, the Riedstra family has seen the furthest development with the breed. They have used other dairy breeds in three way crosses to determine the strength of that concept relative to ‘absorption’ crossing (keep breeding Fleckvieh).