The Rural Voice, 1996-06, Page 30win their own share of awards and to
fetch high prices from around the
world. Luckyme QM Buck Bertha
was second senior heifer calf in the
Western Ontario Championship
Show in 1994 and Reserve Junior
Champion at the 1995 Western
Ontario show. Luckyme BC
Babe, Patrick's 1995 4-H calf,
was champion of the Huron
County 4-H show in 1995,
Junior Champion of the Huron
Holstein Show, second Sr.
Heifer Calf at the Western
Ontario Championship show in
Stratford and sixth in the Hayes
Classic at the Royal Winter
Fair.
The five young Hallahans'
interest in 4-H sparked the
family's move into show -
quality cattle. Jim was a leader
of the Hallrice 4-H diary club,
but his children never had
much success showing their
cattle, Pat remembers. Once he
stopped leading the club, Jim
decided to get some cattle that
would give the kids a chance to
win. Since thcn, all five
children (Laura, Shannon,
Patrick, Jamie and Ryan) have
shown at the Royal Winter
Fair. Patrick has shown at the
Royal for seven years. Despite
the large numbers in the
Holstein classes, the younger
Hallahans have finished as
high as fourth.
AII those 4-H calves
meant, Jim says, that
they often had to
haltcrbrcak five calves
at a time on the farm and
ended up with quite a number of
animals who were used to the show
ring. Addicted, might be more
correct. As the new crop of calves
was being halter -broke, the older
cows would follow right along, sure
it was a sign they were to go to
another show. They once ended up
taking an older cow, long past her
ring years, to a show because, when
she saw her stable -mate being
prepared for the show she made such
a fuss they took her along.
Patrick is the main showman for
Lazy Meadows cattle at shows. It
means up to a month a year away
from the farm. Once, for instance, he
was home for only two days in three
weeks, between shows in Louisville
and the Royal. The show season
starts for Patrick with the Ontario
Spring Show in Stratford. Next
comes the show in Maxville in
eastern Ontario. The Hallahans
always try to take a good number of
he's met on the show circuit, he has a
farm to help run/ and hasn't been
tempted. It sounds like a glamorous
life, Patrick says, but the excitement
of all the travel wears off quickly.
The Hallahans have met many new
friends on their travels along the
show circuit. They also
take some friends along
with them. There are a
number of Huron County
families that show cattle on
a regular basis, people like
Glen McNeil, Fred
Armstrong, Paul Franken
and Eldon Cook and it
means that wherever they
travel there are friendly
faces from back home there
too.
The show circuit is a
form of advertising,
Jim and Patrick say.
When you're showing
cattle, and winning your
share of prizes, you get to
be known by those looking
to buy elite cattle. By the
time Patrick stepped out of
the ring with his 4-H calf at
last year's Ontario Spring
Show, where it placed
second, someone was
waiting with an offer to
buy. The expense and
bother of showing cattle is
just starting to pay off, they
say.
Lazy Meadows cows have
been purchased by buyers
from England, Ireland,
Japan ("the best markets
for cattle") as well as the
U.S. and Canada. The
majority go to U.S. buyers putting
together show herds, often for
wealthy investors who can afford the
best. Patrick says there will be a
continued demand because
"Canadian genetics are the best in the
world."
But he laments the fact that, in a
production -oriented world, fewer and
fewer dairy farmers are worried
about conformation and longevity.
Few people know what a good cow is
any more, he says. As herds expand
to 200 or 500 head, more and more
producers are looking to get two
good lactations out of an animal and
cull her. This move to bigger herds is
a development the Hallahans, on
1 Shoji Winner On Stage
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Now that Bessie is a star on the stage, she's taken on
commercial endorsements for Lazy Meadows Farm, as in this
advertisement in the Holstein Journal. The pay isn't much but
it keeps food in the manger.
26 THE RURAL VOICE
cattle to the Huron County black and
white show each August because the
county shows are suffering a decline
in exhibitors. Then it's the provincial
championship, Ontario Dairy
discovery in September and the Tri -
county show in Walkerton. Some
years they attend the big show in
Madison, Wisconsin and the
Louisville show, and the season ends
with the Royal.
Patrick could spend even more
time away from the farm. He's
sought out as a "clipper", getting the
cows clipped to look just right for the
show. He's been offered chances to
ply his skills in England and
Australia but unlike some friends