JEROMESVILLE, Ohio — Ashland County has cows and those cows produce a lot of milk, according to Kevin Spreng, a member of the Ashland County Dairy Service Unit board. The herds in the county have an average of 27,173 pounds of milk.
The board highlighted the accomplishments of the county’s dairy producers during their final banquet, as the dairy service unit members will be merging with the Wayne County Dairy Service Unit later this year.
Paul Keener was recognized as the top 3X herd in Ashland County for milk, fat and protein with 33,109 pounds of milk, 1180 pounds of fat and 1029 pounds of protein. Keener also had the county’s lowest somatic cell count for 3X herds with 211,000.
Rounding out the top 3X herds for milk fat and protein were Ayers Farm with 28, 681 pounds of milk and 1002 pounds of fat, and 830 pounds of protein. The top Holstein cows for milk, fat and protein were owned by Paul Keener.
Top cow
The top cow for milk was #578 with 43,759 pounds of milk, the top cow for fat was Cow #4066 with 1,658 pounds of fat and the top cow for protein was Cow # 3729, who produced 1,386 pounds of protein.
Harpster Farm had the top 2X herd in Ashland County for milk, fat and protein with 24,364 pounds of milk, 1,056 pounds of fat and 784 pounds of protein.
Rounding out the top 2x herds were Clair Oberholtzer, with 22,857 pounds of milk, 894 pounds of fat and 711 pounds of protein, U-Dean Farms with 20,617 pounds of milk, 798 pounds of fat and 627 pounds of protein, and Terry Timmons with 19,703 pounds of milk, 783 pounds of fat and 634 pounds of protein.
Clair Oberholtzer had the county’s lowest somatic cell count for 2x herds with 115,000. The top Holstein cows for milk, fat and protein on 2X were owned by Harpster Farms with 32,740 pounds of milk for Cow #179, 1,830 pounds of fat for Cow # 500, and 1008 pounds of protein for Cow #470.
Other breeds
Paul Keener had the top Brown Swiss cow for milk, fat and protein with 28,198 pounds of milk 868 pounds of fat and 676 pounds of protein. The top Jersey in the county was owned by Cletus Garver and produced 19,007 pounds of milk, 947 pounds of fat and 751 pounds of protein.
Garver also had the county’s top Jersey herd with 16,976 pounds of milk, 808 pounds of fat and 622 pounds of protein. Ashland County has 25 cows with lifetime production over 200,000 and one cow with over 300,000 pounds of milk.
During the banquet junior exhibitors from the Ashland County Junior Fair dairy show were recognized for their participation in the show. There were 34 exhibitors in the dairy show and each received a portion of the $18,000 raised during the dairy products auction.
