Canadian Milking Shorthorn Society honours
Oceanbrae and Valley Crest as Master Breeder Herds!

New in 2008, the Canadian Milking Shorthorn Society established criteria to recognize Canada’s top Milking Shorthorn herds with a Master Breeder Award.  In the first year of the award, two herds accumulated the points required to attain this honour.  They are Oceanbrae Farms, owned by the Barrett family of Belmont, Prince Edward Island and Valley Crest Farms, owned by the Patterson’s of Milton, Ontario.

Oceanbrae Farms, Belmont, PEI

Milking Shorthorns arrived at Oceanbrae Farms in 1950, and have been a fixture of the herd ever since.  Keith Barrett started the Milking Shorthorn herd, situated fifteen minutes west of Summerside on the north shore of Prince Edward Island, and continued building the herd in partnership with son, Fred.  Today, Keith continues to be involved in the farm, with the main day to day operation falling to Fred and his son Matthew.

The Oceanbrae herd has been well known in the Milking Shorthorn world for many years, through both stellar results in type classification and breed-leading production figures.  In 2006, the Barrett’s had the highest composite BCA herd over all breeds in all of Atlantic Canada, with BCA figures of 279-242-270 on 31 completed records.  One of their top homebred cows, Oceanbrae Joe 34th VG-85, smashed the all time milk and protein production records for a single lactation for Canadian Milking Shorthorns, with a 305 day record of 15,815 kgs of milk at the age of 9 years and 8 months.  Six cows producing over 50,000 kgs of milk contributed a great deal of points toward their Master Breeder award, as well as many other Class Leaders and Gold Medal winning cows.

In the 12 year window used to accumulate points for the award (cows born from 1994 to 2005), the Barrett’s bred 16 Excellent cows and 18 Very Good cows between 87 and 89 points.  The Barrett’s have also bred numerous champion cows at exhibitions including the PEI Provincial Exhibition, the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto, and even the Calgary Stampede in Alberta.  Keith and Fred have always valued a balance of strong functional type with the production necessary to provide a living for two households on the farm.  In the past few years, the Oceanbrae herd has been supplying breeding stock and embryos to the many new breeders investing in the Milking Shorthorn breed in Canada, selling to breeders in all ten provinces.  There have also been embryos sales to multiple states in the USA, and the entry of a homebred bull to the new young sire program at Semex Alliance.

Valley Crest Farms, Milton, ON

Previously named a Master Breeder in the Holstein breed, the Valley Crest herd developed by Harold and Scott Patterson has now been named a Master Breeder herd in the Milking Shorthorn breed as well.  Despite have a numerically smaller number of Milking Shorthorns in the herd, the Patterson’s were well known in purebred dairy circles for the excellence of their breeding program.  Valley Crest cattle were particular well known for their successes at the Royal Winter Fair.  From 1983 to 2000, the Patterson’s were named Premier Exhibitor and Premier Breeder at the Royal nine times, as well as three Royal Grand Champions in the 1990’s and an Intermediate Championship at the World Dairy Expo in 1998.  Valley Crest had 8 home bred Excellent cows born in the 12 year window for this award, including two cows classified Excellent for the first time in 2007.  Harold is also a past recipient of the prestigious Curtis Clark Award.

Valley Crest cows have also made their mark for production as well, with numerous Class Leaders and Gold Medal winners.  Some cows contributing substantial points to their Master Breeder award include Valley Crest Gloria Ann 21 EX-90-2E, with over 57,000 kgs of milk in 7 lactations; Valley Crest Monica 39 EX-91 with almost 40,000 kgs of milk in 4 lactations; and Valley Crest Monica 38 EX-94, Intermediate Champion at the World Dairy Expo in 1998.

In the summer of 2007, the Valley Crest herd sold to Ivan and Diane Naylor of Kleefeld, Manitoba.  Diane is the current President of the CMSS, and the Naylor’s have made a substantial investment in the breed by purchasing this Master Breeder herd.