Ron Entlicher

Ron Entlicher still lives on the land that five generations of his family has farmed near Bolivar Missouri. His grandmother farmed 80 acres; Entlicher now owns 500. The acreage encompasses two farms where he currently runs approximately 126 head of Registered Angus and Registered Simmental.

As a boy, he bought his first registered calf from the Staiger Farms at Billings, after seeing them win a Grand Championship at the Ozark Empire Fair. The family picked up the good sized, three month old Holstein calf in their 1957 Chevrolet, taking out the back seat for young Entlicher and the calf to ride home. That calf did not turn out very well so Entlicher raised a grade heifer and showed her at Morrisville School Fair in the fall. Sue Entlicher said, “As the saying goes, he was “bitten”. All he could think about was breeding, raising and showing cattle.”

Entlicher put every dime and all of his time into working with Holsteins. He developed an interest in the Holstein breed because of their milk production, strength, size and disposition. His first Registered Holstein calf was shown at the Ozark Empire Fair. The heifer came from the Paul Silken farm and again, the family car was used to haul the calf home.

Entlicher credits his father with teaching him a great deal about raising cattle, partially by letting him make his own decisions. At only sixteen years of age, he was picking the dairy heifers for their farm.  His skills became evident early on as he was named the 1964 Distinguished Junior Breeder of the Missouri Holstein Association. He loved showing Holstein cattle. In the 1960s, he showed many All-Missouri winners and took the Missouri State Herd to Tulsa, Oklahoma City, and Dallas on the Southern Show Circuit.

Entlicher milked until 1988. He also worked with the National Holstein Association as a classifier during that time. He and his wife Sue, a Missouri House Representative, 2010-2016, did not hire much outside help at Fairview Crest Farm, preferring to do it themselves. Sue Entlicher milked alone three weeks a month while her husband was on the road. As their three daughters grew up and became involved with athletics, Entlicher decided that raising registered beef cattle would allow him more time with his family. He didn’t want to miss any of his daughters’ games.

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Ron Entlicher used his keen eye for dairy cattle to purchase cattle from out of state and bring them to Missouri. A year or two later, he would sell the cattle for much more than he paid for them. He bred, owned, or had a hand in many Grand Champions at the Ozark Empire Fair and the Missouri State Fair.

On several of his scouting trips, Entlicher traveled with Lonnie Weatherly to Ohio and Kentucky. He purchased Jaggers Fond Anissa, an EX-94 cow, and later sold her to Quietcove of Ohio, where she had an impressive life. Because Entlicher, like Weatherly, was not afraid to sell a good cow, he had a hand in many elite Holsteins coming to Missouri and going on to bigger and better things.

Entlicher bred some fine animals. He used Romandale Reflection Marquis to good advantage, helping make Marquis a household name.  Other animals that did well were Fairview-Crest Astro Missy who became the granddam of Joki Valiant Lolani, a cow that sold to Texas and for a time, was one of the highest CTPI cows in the nation. Entlicher also bred Fairview-Crest Astro-Star, a 3E-91 cow owned by Billy Underwood of Dunnegan, Missouri.

Astro-Star produced over 225,000 lbs. of milk lifetime, and may have been the highest lifetime Astronaut daughter in Missouri. He bred many other fine animals that impacted the breeding program of other breeders. He held two successful herd dispersals.

His eye for cattle did not stop at buying and selling. In the late 1970s, he was selected to be a Holstein classifier, an honor extended to only a select few over the decades. He also judged several state fairs. Entlicher was an officer of the southwest Missouri Holstein District.

In an article published in 2015 in Ozarks Farm & Neighbor, Entlicher offered advice to the younger generation coming into agriculture. “You’ve got to have a passion for whatever part of farming you get into,” he said. “This isn’t a come-and-go industry. You’ve got to be in for the long run. If you are just looking to get rich, you are in the wrong business…if you have that passion for it, you’ll never really work a day in your life.”

John Underwood, in his nomination of Entlicher for the Missouri Dairy Hall of Honors Foundation Dairy Cattle Breeder award, stated, “Ron commanded great respect in Missouri, as his skills in evaluating cattle rank right up there with the Boyd Brothers, Lonnie Weatherly, and Ronald Shaver. Such is the greatness of our great Holstein breeders and leaders. Ronald certainly kept that tradition going strong.”

Noel Boyd spent about 25 years with Ron Entlicher, showing cattle at State Fairs in Kansas, Texas and Arkansas. “Ronald is very knowledgeable of the Holstein breed,” he wrote in support. “He would know very quickly if he was interested in a cow and could make a quick decision; he was usually correct. Ron bought several cows that got more valuable with time and won many championships.”

Another supporter was Ronald A. Shaver of Shaverside Farms in Norwood, Missouri. “The Entlicher dairy herd demonstrated excellent genetics,” said Shaver. “Ronald had a good type herd and excellent milk production. He strived to improve quality and build a good foundation of milking cows. Ron and his family have accomplished outstanding success in the show ring as well as setting high standards for future generations.”