ATTICA, N.Y. — Angela Fuller fell in love with Ayrshires ever since she started showing them when she was 7 years old, growing up on her parents’ Heineman Farms in Wyoming County, New York.
The third and fourth generations of the Heineman family have been breeding Ayrshires since the late 1980s, although dairying here goes back to Angela’s great-grandfather in 1942.
Angela and her husband Dave became partners with her parents Gordon and Sue in 2011, when they bought out her uncle’s share in the 335-acre dairy farm milking 65 Holsteins and Ayrshires.
Now, the fifth generation is coming on. Angela’s nieces Esther and Eva Heineman have the show ‘bug’ too.
In fact, just recently (July 26-27, 2024), Esther (below) showed her homebred Heineman Tuxedo Chaos at the National Summer Ayrshire Spectacular in Syracuse, New York. The junior three-year-old cow not only won her class in both the youth and open shows, she was intermediate and grand champion of both the youth and open shows.
After her double-grand at the Summer Spectacular, Chaos will undoubtedly walk the colored shavings in Madison this fall.
She’ll have big hooves to fill, as the highlight for the Fullers and Heinemans came last October at the 2023 World Dairy Expo.
Angela’s homebred 4-year-old Heineman Reagan Roz EX93 (below) was declared the senior and grand champion of the 2023 International Ayrshire Show in Madison with Andy Reynolds of Corfu, New York at the halter. Standing in that champion lineup as well was Angela at the halter of her homebred 3-year-old Heineman Kingsire Cold Brew EX90. She was the show’s reserve intermediate champion.
That’s a lot to take in, and the excitement at ringside was palpable, but not totally unexpected when reviewing Roz’s accomplishments: Unanimous All-American senior 2-year-old in 2021, Unanimous All-American senior 3-year-old in 2022 (the year she was intermediate and reserve grand champion at World Dairy Expo). In addition to grand champion of both the 2023 Summer Spectacular and World Dairy Expo, Roz become Unanimous All-American 4-year-old.
Angela flew back home the next day to her classroom at the rural New York school where she has taught for 25 years. To her surprise, her 4th grade classroom door was covered in photos of her and Roz and their victory in Madison.
In fact, although personal days were limited, the school principal made an exception so she could fly back to Madison for the Supreme parade of champions to watch in person as her Roz walked beneath the final spotlight.
At a fundamental level, Roz was that rare cow that came back to win her class at Madison three times, consecutively.
“I loved to bag and fill her udder,” Angela reflects. “Roz had such a beautiful udder that would go higher and higher, and she enjoyed eating. That was never a problem. She was a fun cow to get ready. She did what you asked her to do. When we asked her to eat, she ate. When we asked her to make milk, she made milk.”
Unfortunately, Roz passed away in May 2024, a tough loss for Angela, especially since she has no daughters from this cow. Roz has a son, however, and he is the first AI bull for Heineman Farms: Heineman Melios Rage is in the ST Genetics lineup.
They have daughters out of Cold Brew, and have sold some of her embryos. She will calve after Expo this year, so a return trip to Madison is not on the schedule for last year’s reserve intermediate champion.
That means… lookout for Esther and Chaos who double-bannered the Summer Spectacular, along with others from the Heineman Farms string we may expect to see.
Nearly the entire herd carries the Heineman prefix. Angela and her mom, Sue, review bull statistics together and pair this with Angela’s experience and observation in the show world.
In an interview with Cowsmopolitan last fall, Angela explained that they prefer traditional breeding methods and up until now have not done much flushing. However, she has purchased embryos and cattle from some of the most influential herds in the breed — Palmyra Farms, Old-Bankston, Sunny Acres and Kruse’s — incorporating new cow families that she admires into the breeding and show cattle program.
“I love to raise the babies and watch them develop, and see the cow families develop year after year. It’s very rewarding to improve the next generation,” she reflects in a recent interview with the Udder Comfort Profiles blog.
Angela says she has been using Udder Comfort since picking up her first sample at World Dairy Expo 15 years ago in 2009.
“I love this product for fresh cows, hard quarters, and when we show,” she confirms. “It softens and soothes any hardness and discomfort. I always visit the Udder Comfort booth each year (now in the World Dairy Expo Exhibition Hall, EH 2809, 2909). I always learn something. We learned to use the spray when they bag up to calve because we don’t have to touch the udder. I love how awesome it works without massage. For prefresh, I use Udder Comfort spray, and then I switch to Udder Comfort lotion after calving.”
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