Rich Townsend is originally from Indiana, his wife, Theresa, is from Arkansas. They met at the Arkansas State Fair and have been married almost 18 years.
The couple now lives in Webster County, near Elkland, Mo., at their Hawk Pond Farm.
Rich and Theresa have Jerseys, Ayrshires, Guernseys, Holsteins and Milking Shorthorns. All their cattle are registered. The Shorthorns are not kept on their farm.
They have 75 heifers and cows, and are currently milking 36. That number will be up to 50 by fall.
In addition to raising cattle, the couple showcases their animals by competing in various local, regional and national shows.
If they could only have one breed of cattle, the Townsends agreed it would be Jerseys. But they don’t agree on which age is their favorite to show.
Rich would rather show cows, while Theresa prefers heifers.
“I just like the heifers best,” she said. “There’s a lot of work involved in cows. Heifers aren’t quite as much work.”
“I think cows are easier because they’re more mature,” Rich said. “Heifers can be so easy-going and then all of a sudden they’re goofy.”
When it comes time to step into the ring, however, there aren’t many differences.
“They’re about the same, but a cow can be cantankerous once they’re full of milk,” Theresa explained. “They get fussy because they’re uncomfortable.”
She went on to explain the added work involved in showing a cow.
“You have to bag them,” she said. “Rich is the one who bags them and he has to figure out the hours; how many hours he’s going to need in each quarter.”
Rich added, “When you go to the shows and you’re bagging, to a certain point they’re OK. But you’re trying to put 20 hours of milk in them. They’re used to being milked every 12 hours, so you have to start watching them for leaks. So there’s not a lot of sleep involved with cow showing. You want the udders full to the point that it looks good. You can do it to the point where it looks bad.”
They agree that the most difficult to show is a heifer in heat. They keep records so they will know when a heifer will be in heat.
“Show days are Thursdays and Fridays. If she’s due to be in heat on Thursday, we don’t want that,” Rich explained. “So we’ll short cycle her, so she’s off schedule.”
The Townsends show everything; cows, calves, heifers, but no bulls.
“Bulls aren’t shown in the dairy breeds, except for Shorthorns,” Theresa explained, adding that she expects all dairy bull shows to be eliminated in the future. “Dairy breeds are so much more dangerous than the beef breeds,” she said.
Rich added, “And there’s so much AI now. The reason to show bulls is to sell your bulls.”
How many animals they take to a show depends on location.
“When we go to the Ozark Empire Fair, we’ll take as many as we can because it’s close and we can make two trips,” Theresa said of the Springfield, Mo., fair. “I think we took 18 last year. But when we went to Little Rock (Ark.), because it’s so far down there, we just take one full trailer, and I think we took 10.”
They show at their county fair, the Ozark Empire Fair; Little Rock, Ark.; Madison, Wis.; and Louisville, Ky.
Only the best go to the national show. Two years ago, they had the supreme champion at the North American International Livestock Exposition in Louisville, Ky.
“It was a dream come true,” Theresa said.
Hitting the road to the shows is an expensive venture, but the competition calls to the couple.
“Milk prices are terrible and people are down, but yet here we are planning for the shows,” Rich said. “We’ve got high hopes. We’re looking at some major shows and being contenders. That’s what keeps us going.”
Theresa believes one of the biggest mistakes people make with show cattle is “getting them too fat.”
She said her husband is guilty of over conditioning, which he admitted to.
“They don’t show well if they’re too fat,” Theresa said. “If they’re fat, especially in a milk cow, it shows that she’s not milking to her capacity. She’s putting more of what she eats on her back instead of making milk.”
There is no one thing that they give extra attention to when preparing to show. Rich said, “Everything matters.”
Showing cattle is something the Townsends prepare for year-round. They know what it takes and have been successful. As for future plans, Rich smiled and said, “We’d like to breed another national champion or two.”
