2015 Historical Master Breeder Award Orbec Sherry

2015 Historical Master Breeder Award
Orbec Sherry
When the Master Breeder
Awards were established in
2010, there was speculation
on how far back in the
Brown Swiss history would
a Historical honoree come?
What would a breeder have
to have done to receive
votes when few voting
would have actually known
him?
Our 2015 honoree beat the
odds. Perhaps 10-15 people
at this year’s convention
would personally have
Orbec Sherry
known him. But the cows
he bred? Few in the room would not recognize their
names. And that is the true testament to a Master
Breeder.
Orbec Sherry was born on September 26, 1896 in a log
cabin on his parent’s farm 3 miles southwest of Viro-
At the recent National Annual Meeting Roger Neitzel, gave the presentation honoring Orbec Sherry. In attendance to receive the award
were Orbec’s daughter and grandson. Left to right: Roger Neitzel,
Historical Society; Paul Eggen, Orbec Sherry’s grandson; Mary
Eggen, Orbec Sherry’s daughter; Russ Giesy, Historical Society.
married, Orbec and Hilda purchased the farm from his
parents who moved to Viroqua. Orbec and Hilda had
two children, Orbec, Jr. born in 1923 and Mary born in
1926.
The dairy herd was of mixed breeds, but Orbec voiced
the desire to some day own a good registered herd.
R.A. Powers the Viroqua ag teacher, became a good
friend and mentor to Orbec. The two visited the Lucas
Brown Swiss herd north of Coon Valley. Orbec was impressed with the breed and decided that is what he
wanted to own. Mr. Powers, along with a neighboring
Guernsey breeder, “advised” him to “grow into” the
registered cattle business rather than “to go” into it
head over heels.
Following their advice, Brown Swiss purchases began
with a few grades in 1923. His first two regIstered purchased animals were a cow, Cyrene L .12308 (born
10/2/20), and a heifer, Inez C.N. 16955 (born 2/8/24),
Orbec Sherry and his family in 1903 in front of their log cabin.
qua, Wisconsin. His father had immigrated from Norway and built the cabin in the late 1880’s. His mother’s
parents were also Norwegian immigrants. Orbec was
one of 11 children. He attended school when not
needed on the farm, completing 8th grade. Orbec continued to farm with his parents until he left to serve in
the army from 1917-1918 during World War I.
Returning to the family farm, Orbec married Hilda
Loverud in 1922. (Her maternal grandparents were also
immigrants from Norway as was her father.) After they
Butternut Jane
the aged cow Farmers Class.
Orbec’s first Bulletin cover girl was Inez C.N. In 1931
she finished a record of 18,362.7 pounds milk and 799
pounds fat in 365 days, making her a breed champion.
Holding Inez in the picture was Orbec’s daughter,
Mary, 5 years old at the time. Neither Orbec nor anyone else could have envisioned what Butternut Jane
would come to mean to the Brown Swiss breed. On
February 16, 1928 Butternut Jane dropped a heifer calf
sired by Janet’s Boy of Elmhurst that was “nothing special”. Orbec said she looked more like an Airedale. The
calf? Jane of Vernon.
Once the hired man came in and reported that young
Jane had been seriously cut on a wire and remarked
that he was glad it wasn’t one of the good heifers that
was injured. She developed a sort of timid nature and
stayed around the barn rather than out with the cows.
Orbec babied her a bit and gave her the orchards to
roam as she liked. Her favorite pastime soon became
Inez C.N. pictured on the August 1931 Bulletin cover after becoming the breed champion. Holding Inez was Orbec’s five year old
daughter, Mary. Note: Mary was in attendance at the 2015 National Convention to accept her father’s award. It was a double
celebration as June 26 was also Mary’s 89th birthday.
from A. Lilly of La Crescent, Minnesota, a well-respected
Swiss breeder for over 35 years. Also that fall he purchased Butternut Jane 12364 (6/4/19) from Fred Reuter
of Lone Rock, Wisconsin. Purchased to serve as a herd
sire was Janet’s Boy of Elmhurst 9695 (born 10/14/21)
from Andrew Martin, West Salem, Wisconsin.
Mr. Powers entered the picture again convincing Orbec
that he should put some of his cows on R.O.P. official
test. For R.O.P. testing a farmer could select which cows
to put on test. The state would send a tester to the farm
and he would stay on the farm for 4 straight milkings
at a time.
In 1928 Cyrene L. 12308 made a world’s record of
15,457.9 pounds milk and 701.46 pounds fat a record
i n
Jane of Vernon as a 3 year old.
Jane of Vernon as a 4 year old.
Orbec and Jane ready to enter the show ring.
Jane of Vernon at 11 years of age.
that of chasing the dog
whenever he became
bold enough to enter
her domain.
By the time Jane was
about to drop her first
calf she was, however,
beginning to attract
considerable attention.
A well known Swiss
breeder wanted to buy
this cow and offered
Orbec a good price.
However, he felt that if
he was going into the
registered cattle busiOrbec Sherry in the early 1930’s. ness, he had better not
When this picture ran in the Bul- be selling until he had
letin the caption read, “This is the replaced some of the
man who bred Jane of Vernon, less valuable grade cows
milked her during her recent test. he had.
Orbec Sherry of Viroqua, Wiscon- The interest got Orbec
sin.
in the “showing” mind.
He took Jane of Vernon to the Wisconsin State Fair
where she won the two year old class. The next stop
on Jane’s show journey was the 1930 Dairy Cattle Congress in Waterloo, Iowa where she won the 2 year old
class again.
In 1931 she returned to Waterloo to win the class as a
3 year old.
At the 1932 Cattle Congress Show she won her first
Grand Championship and became Orbec’s
second Bulletin cover girl in October 1932.
As a 4 year old Jane was put on official test. Proving she
was not only a show cow, she made a record of 23,569
pounds milk and 1076 pounds fat (wth the final test
done at the 1933 Dairy Cattle Congress) making her
the new World Record Cow. She appeared on the November 1933 cover when this was announced.
Orbec and Jane of Vernon were never defeated in class
at a show. For 7 years she won her class at the state
fair. As a 3 year old she won grand champion there for
the first time.
She was Grand Champion at Waterloo in 1932, 33, 34,
35 and 36. While they were not designated as the National Show in 32, 33 and 34, because of the Depression a National Show was not held. And so the “powers
that be” declared Jane as the National Show Grand
Champion those 3 years. In 1935 she was named the
Supreme Champion over all breeds at Waterloo.
As she was amassing her consecutive wins, Jane’s
udder became the talk of the dairy world of all breeds.
They studied the square teat placement, fore and rear
udder attachment, levelness of the floor and the veination.
In 1936 Orbec and Jane traveled to her first official National Dairy Show held that year at the Texas Centennial World Fair in Dallas, Texas. Jane was named Grand
Champion and daughter Jane of Vernon the 2nd won
the 3 year old class. Jane of Vernon 3rd was 2nd 2 year
old. Following the show, Orbec, ever the showman,
milked Jane in the lobby of a prestigious hotel in downtown Dallas.
In the fall of 1936 Orbec sold Jane of Vernon to Judd’s
Bridge Farm in New Milford, Connecticut. The farm was
owned by Mr. and Mrs. Rowe Metcalf and Norman E.
Magnussen (a previous Historical Master Breeder) was
the herdsman. Mr. Magnussen came to the farm to buy
Jane along with a few of her granddaughters. He had
to promise that Jane would never be milked by machine, only by hand. They fixed up a boxcar with hay,
bedding and a tank of water. It took Mr. Magnussen
and the cows four days and nights to make the bitter
cold November trip to Connecticut. At Judd’s Bridge,
Jane made one more 1000 pound record and when the
classification program was initiated in 1943, Jane at 15
years of age was scored “Excellent”. Jane died on May
11, 1945 and was buried under an apple tree at Judd’s
Bridge.
Jane of Vernon was a show winner, a world production
winner and proved to be a great reproducer. While
owned by Orbec, she had a son and four daughters.
(Her first calf died.) The son, Jane’s Royal of Vernon,
was sold to Lee’s Hill, Morristown, New Jersey where
he sired 14 females, 10 of them making over 1000
pounds of fat. Highest of these was Royal’s Rapture of
Lee’s Hill who had 34,669 pounds of milk and 1465
pounds fat in 365 days. The records were made under
Undefeated Produce - 1937 Waterloo and National Dairy Show
Jane of Vernon 2nd and Jane of Vernon 3rd.
The 4 Janes - Get of Vernon’s Lucky Strike at the 1938 National
Dairy Show. Left to right Jane 2nd, Jane 3rd, Jane 4th, Jane 5th.
The Livestock Special stopped at Missoula, Montana.
(On the way to Treasure Island in 1939.)
Jane of Vernon 2nd
Jane of Vernon 3rd
Orbec with the Four Janes unloaded from the train at Treasure Island.
the management of Vernon C. Hull (our first Historical Master Breeder in 2010.)
The four daughters were Jane of Vernon 2nd, Jane of Vernon
3rd, Jane of Vernon 4th and Jane of Vernon 5th. All were
sired by Vernon’s Lucky Strike, also bred by Orbec.
At Judd’s Bridge, Jane had a son, Colonel Harry of J.B., who
sold in their dispersal sale and two daughters, Jane of Judd’s
Bridge and Jane’s Chloe of J.B.
After Jane of Vernon was sold, the four Janes made up the
core of Orbec’s show herd. In 1938 Jane of Vernon 2nd was
Grand Champion at Waterloo. In 1939 he took them to the
Ohio State Fair and to Dairy Cattle Congress at Waterloo.
Following the show, news clippings reported “this is the first
time in the history of dairy shows that four sisters have won
in all of these three groups.”
From Waterloo several carloads of show cattle left for
Billings, Montana, including Orbec and the 4 Janes. They
showed there one day and the following day left for Portland, Oregon for the Pacific International. After 11 days in
Portland, they journeyed on to Oakland, California. The cattle cars were then put on barges to Treasure Island, the site
of the World’s Fair and the national dairy show. The group
spent 16 days on Treasure Island before returning home. It
was a successful trip for Orbec. Jane of Vernon 5th won the
3 year old class; Jane of Vernon 4th was 4th 4 year old; and
Jane of Vernon 4th
Jane of Vernon 5th
Jane of Vernon was Grand one time at a designated
National Dairy Show (1936) (3 times declared Grand
when no actual national show, 1932, 33, 34), Jane of
Vernon 5th was Grand in 1940, 41, 42 and her daughter, Marinda Jane of Lee’s Hill (bred by Orbec) was also
grand at a national show in 1947, 51 and 52. This is the
only 3 generations to ever accomplish this feat.
The influence of Jane of Vernon through her 2 sons and
6 daughters, especially through Colonel Harry, was
phenomenal. There are very few pedigrees that in some
way do not trace back to her. Many show and production winners came from Jane of Vernon’s daughters,
granddaughters, etc. The moniker put on her years ago
Jane’s Royal of Vernon
is more than deserved “Queen Mother of the Brown
Swiss Breed.”
Orbec’s cows were fed mostly home grown feeds. All
of the cows were treated like one of the herd including
those on R.O.P. test, milked in a stanchion and then
turned out to pasture with the rest of the herd. Hilda
helped milk and did almost all of it when Orbec was
traveling. To quote Hilda, “I did the milking and the
hired men did the heavier work.” Through the years
the herd size topped out at around 25 head. The milk
went to the local Viroqua Co-op Creamery with Hilda
hauling the milk to the dairy most days and Orbec taking it with the team of horses during the winter
months. In his autobiography Orbec noted that they
received 60 cents/cwt in 1927.
Colonel Harry of J.B.
On April 1, 1945 Orbec and Hilda rented the farm to
in the Aged Cow class, Jane of Vernon 2nd was 3rd and
his cousin’s son and wife, Arnie and Mabel Sherry. The
Jane of Vernon 3rd was 5th. Since they were all full sisfirst year all cows were still milked by hand and the
ters they could fit in all 6 group classes and won them
next year Arnie brought in a De Laval milking machine.
all; Dairy Herd, Get of Sire, Produce of Dam, Production
Orbec always farmed with horses, which Arnie did the
Get of Sire, 3 Best Udders and 3 Females.
first year and then the next he bought a tractor.
The following year Orbec took the 4 Janes to the New
In the spring of 1948 the Sherrys sold the home farm
York World’s Fair. Following that show, Lee’s Hill Farm
and moved to the north side of Viroqua where Orbec
purchased the four full sisters.
had purchased the Colonel Butt farm. He and Hilda
lived in the big house and Arnie
and Mabel in the tenant house.
(While today the farm buildings
are all gone and taken over by
houses, the main house is still there
and now open to the public as the
Sherry-Butt museum).
With Arnie and Mabel there, Orbec
could be away from home more
easily and started his second career.
After selling Jane of Vernon, Orbec
began buying Swiss in the midwest
to go to buyers in New England
and New York. In 1945 and 1946,
UNRA (United Nations Rehabilitation Act) decided to buy Swiss cattle for Greece, Czechoslovakia and
Yugoslavia. They sent out contracts
1945 Jane of Vernon Sale - Laird of Lee’s Hill.
which Orbec bid on. He sent sev(Orbec Sherry at far left. At the halter, Norman E. Magnussen.)
eral thousand head of Swiss heifers
and bulls to be shipped to those countries. In the many
years after his export business expanded. He shipped
38 loads of cattle from the upper midwest to Greece.
In 1947 animals went to Bogota, Colombia and were
followed the next 30 years plus with countless shipments to Central and South America. In 1951 yearling
bulls went to Tehran, Iran. Many of the foreign buyers
came to Viroqua and were welcomed into the Sherry
home.
Orbec purchased a small farm on the south edge of Viroqua where he kept the cattle and horses that he
bought and sold. In addition to his lifetime with dairy
cattle, horses were his hobby. He owned, bought,
trained and sold many riding horses and teams of
working horses through the years.
In 1953 Orbec judged a show in Bogota. Later that year
Orbec, 3rd from left, during the pre-convention eastern farm
tours at the 1955 Convention.
The SherryHouse on the farm purchased in 1948 and home of
Orbec utnil his death. Now the Sherry-Butt House is a museum.
he judged dairy cattle, horses and mules at the first big
show in Minogua, Nicaraugua. In August of 1953 Orbec
was the associate judge for the first All American Futurity.
In 1945 the Jane of Vernon National Sale was held. All
38 head selling carried Jane of Vernon blood. The sale
broke records and included the sale of The Laird of
Lee’s Hill who sold for $10,500 to the Eastern Stephenson County Breeding Association. Orbec and Hilda
considered this event quite an honor and it was one of
his special memories. A Jane of Vernon Anniversary Sale
was held in 1978 commemorating Jane’s 50th birthday.
It was sponsored by Tri-State Breeders and Brown Swiss
Enterprises.
In 1955 at the 75th Annual Meeting the Brown Swiss
Dedication at 1955 Jubilee Anniversary.
Left to right: George DeVoe, Orbec Sherry, Fred Idtse, Dr. Kenneth Morrow.
breeders honored Jane of Vernon and Orbec Sherry.
Breeders donated funds for a marker to be placed on
Jane’s grave at Judd’s Bridge Farm. A duplicate was
made and presented to Orbec Sherry. When the funds
came in so generously a third honor was possible. A
life size painting of Jane of Vernon was done to be
placed at the National Office. It hangs in the entry way
to this day and is definitely worth a visit to the National
Office to see.
Orbec and Hilda were very active in the Viroqua community and its activities and events. Hilda was part of
a 4 member group that did a historic play throughout
the area. She was known for her dialect readings and
was a sought after “program”. She also spent much
time working with the area youth and was chairman of
the 4-H builidng at the county fair for 38 years.
Honors presented to Orbec included Master Farmer by
the Wisconsin Agriculturist and Farmers’s Magazine in
1937. He received the FFA Master Farmer in 1937 and
1943. In 1970 he was
honored as the Tri-State
Man of the Year. Dairy
Shrine honored him
posthumously in 1989
with the Pioneer Award.
In 1986 at World Dairy
Expo, Orbec was honored for his 90th birthday with a cake during
the Brown Swiss show.
Over 5000 people stood
in the coliseum to sing
Happy Birthday, and he
Missing few Brown Swiss events, received a card signed
by 142 friends.
A strong supporter of the
Brown Swiss
breed and the
association, in
1986 Orbec
shared that he
hadn’t missed a
Swiss show at
the Wisconsin
State Fair since
1928 or a national show
since 1926 and
had only missed
one national
convention or
banquet since
Orbec and Hilda
1926.
As mentioned before Orbec loved his horses. He is pictured with his beloved horse Silver bringing newborn
Jane of Vernon 5th in from the pasture. He loved trail
rides, a 30 mile trek meaning nothing and he continued with the trail riding into his 80’s. Orbec kept himself in shape in his later years doing chin ups. With a
sparkle in his eye, Orbec was known for his sense of
humor and stories. And in the midst of it all it was noth-
Orbec at the 1975 Lee’s Hill Dispersal.
Three long-time supporters of the breed at World
Dairy Expo, Orbec, Marvin Kruse and Jake Voegeli.
Orbec and his beloved Silver brought
newborn Jane of Vernon 5th in from
the pasture.
Celebrating Orbec’s 90th birthday at World
Dairy Expo in 1986.
Right side up and upside down. Orbec, his daughter, Mary, and 4 grandchildren. Orbec used these pictures in his advertisement in the 1980 Centennial Edition.
Orbec’s office, left as it was, part of the tour today at the Sherry-Butt house.
A Jane of Vernon butter package - on display at
the Sherry-Butt house.
Orbec Sherry
(continued)
ing for him to do a handstand for you at the drop of a hat or
kick and touch the ceiling. Featured in his 1980 Centennial ad
was a picture of Orbec, with his daughter, Mary, and 4 grandchildren - right side up and upside down!
Hilda Sherry passed away on October 6, 1986, age 92. Orbec
died on July 5, 1988 at the age of 91.