Joe Champ, Elsberry, MO
Joe Champ has been involved in dairying since his early childhood. He is the third generation of the Champ family to operate a dairy farm. This history of Champ Goodwood Farms is replete in rich traditions and achievements.
In 1882 Joe’s grandfather C.E.M. Champ founded the Champ Spring Co., in St. Louis. A very successful enterprise it continues in its 106th year as a Champ family operation. In 1912 the senior Champ, long interested in dairying, purchased a 550 acre farm which is now part of Lambert Airport, St. Louis, Mo. Prior to 1912 the farm was an English race horse establishment known as “Goodwood” and named after a beautiful race track near London, England. Dairy cows replaced the horses but the name Goodwood was retained. In the years between 1912 and 1945 as many as 220 head of commercial dairy cows (all dairy breeds) were milked by hand in a stanchion barn. The milk was bottled on the farm and sold as Certified Milk in St. Louis. After the pasteurization ordinance went into effect in St. Louis bulk milk was sold. The change to a registered Holstein herd also began. Between the years of 1946 and 1965 the expansion of the airport and Interstate Highway 70 crowded out the farm. Joe and his brother Norman, in 1964, purchased the Elsberry Farm of 3,800 acres, moved the herd, erected buildings and established the present Champ Goodwood Farms.
Joe Champ was born in 1929 at St. Louis. He grew up heavily involved in operation of the dairy and also the Spring Company. Joe attended Western Military Academy, Alton, Illinois one year. While there he played as a lineman on the school’s only undefeated football team. He also ran the 880 and captained the track team. Joe attended Washington University, St. Louis, one year then two years at the University of Missouri where he studied agriculture and dairy science. From 1953-55 he served in the U.S. Coast Guard. In 1961 Joe and his wife “Tish” the former Mary Kerlin were married.
The accomplishments of Champ Goodwood Farms as successful dairy cattle breeders and farm operators are numerous. At present the herd of registered Holsteins numbers over 400 head with about 180 cows in milk. In 1987 the Dairy Herd Improvement (DHIR) average for all lactations was 19,264 lbs. milk, 644lbs. of butterfat. In March 1988 the herd was officially classified for type with 149 head of eligible females averaging 103.7 BAA. The cattle are exhibited at shows and winnings include the Grand Champion at the Illinois State Fair, and the Premier Breeder Award at the Missouri State Fair.
In addition to the dairy operation, 350 to 400 steers are fed. These include most of the bull calves born on the farm and about 240 head purchased as calves from neighboring dairymen. Feed is produced on 1,000 acres of fertile Mississippi bottomland and includes corn and corn silage for the herd, and soybeans and wheat as a cash crop. Champ Goodwood Farms has a most modern building set-up for the dairy operations including a double eight herringbone BouMatic Milking Parlor. About 1,000 acres of the farm, beautiful hill land, are used for pasture, woodlands, farm buildings and homes for the Champ family and employees.
Joe has a busy schedule. He follows the farm and herd operations closely spending some time checking new calves and daily milk production each day. About five days a week he drives the 45 miles each way to the Champ Spring Company in St. Louis.
He is active in the Missouri Holstein Association, a member of the Missouri Dairy Advisory Council, and the Jefferson Club, University of Missouri. In 1970, Joe succeeded his father Norman B. Champ, Sr. as a Trustee of Westminster College, Fulton, MO. Joe carries on the family tradition and at the same time strives for excellence as a breeder of outstanding Holsteins.