2005 Master breeder

A farm which is well known throughout the Ayrshire breed with many sires in units and so many cows at the top for production is awarded the title of Master Breeder for the first time. You can find Kildare animals at the top of all the LPI lists, which is a very impressive accomplishment. Last November 12 of the 30 top LPI cows of the breed were bred by Jean-François. There are many top bulls with the Kildare prefix such as Kildare Jerry, Kildare Kellybuck, Kildare Tornade and Kildare Reebuck.

Jean-François Simard integrated into the farm in 1994. He bought it from his father, Leo, who started this farm in 1957. At the time, it was an Ayrshire farm, but mostly crossbred cows. But, Jean-Francois bought some purebreds and by breeding to the best Ayrshire bulls, his herd became purebred and continues to improve Jean-Francois says that the main cow family originated from a Bonnie Brae Heligo young sire daughter. Kildare Heligo Xante is was the start of this high class herd.

Jean-Francois has a passion for genetics and a clear vision of what he wants to achieve with his herd. He takes the time to market his genetics. He promotes the bulls who carry the Kildare prefix and sells many embryos around the world.

This is a farm that you just knew would one day receive the Master Breeder award. With the genetics that you can see growing in this herd, it was only a matter of time.

Mario Lacerte and Julie Cossette bought this farm in 1988. The herd consisted of crossbred Ayrshires. With time and some good knowledge of the breed, they bought a bunch of Ayrshires at different sales. They always looked for the best pedigrees, then bought them.

Now you can find their cows in many places, on milk production lists, and in show results for many fairs. They compete at many fairs, Trois-Rivières, St-Hyacinthe, Expo Québec, International Dairy Showcase and the Royal. One cow that they bred, Marilie BB Polkie, EX-95 is one of the most respected cows of the breed. In addition to winning championship, Polkie, also produces a lot of milk which made her a bull dam. Through the years we see more and more animals with the Marilie prefix having exceptional results for production and conformation. It is an accomplishment when you can do both.

I would also like to mention that Mario Lacerte received the Ayrshire Award of Merit in 2001. For all the hard work he continues to do for the breed, he deserves this Master Breeder award. Congratulations.

A nice little surprise for Léon Lessard. The fun part about this award is that it was requested without Mr. Lessard even knowing about it. One of two surprises tonight, Master Breeder applications submitted by people who believed that for their years of hard work, someone deserved to be recognized as a Master Breeder. This is the first of five farms that our registrar, Chad McKell, calculated the points for. Chad counted the points from the list of cows that was submitted and the Lessard herd had double the amount of points that was required to win the award.

Leon bought this farm from his parents in 1972. At the time, it was an Ayrshire / Holstein cross-bred herd. It was in 1976 that Leon decided to make this a purebred Ayrshire herd (good choice) by purchasing some animals and the use of proven and young sires, this herd became purebred.

The Lessard herd earns this award from top production animals that stay in the herd a long time and transmit their qualities to their offspring. Several cows got multiple points in all the eligible categories, true elite cows of the breed. We can mention Lessard Mozart Lie, Lessard Money Idole and Lessard Patrick Idalia. Lessard BBK Pasta, Ex-95 is one of the exceptional cows of our breed. Not only a top producer she was Grand Champion at the International Dairy Showcase and Expo Québec in 2002 and in 2004 . She was Reserve Grand Champion in Quebec.

Congratulations to Ferme Lessard and thank you to Nicole and Louis for applying for this award. It is an honor to present the Master Breeder award to you.

Out of all the farms who applied for the Master Breeder Award, Visserdale Farm probably had the smallest chance of receiving this award. When a farm milks over 100 cows and you need 75% of the total milking animals in points to receive the award, it makes it nearly impossible to find enough animals to accumulate the points needed to get the Master Breeder award. But, Visserdale was able to achieve this feat.

Visserdale Farm began in 1954. They decided to go against what they were used to in Holland, Holstein cows. But, by making the right choice and buying an Ayrshire farm, they now have the Master Breeder award. The farm presently sits as a 3-way ownership.

They use many young sires, roughly 40% in their breeding program, and for those who follow all the bulls in AI units, many of them came from the VISSERDALE herd. They have bulls in units all over North America some of the best known are Visserdale Dilligent, Visserdale Etro, Visserdale Herman and Visserdale Skychief. There are many more young Visserfale bulls to come that are sires awaiting their proofs right now. Visserdale has sold many embryos on the International market which has made them as well known around the world as they are here at home.