Joe King

Joe King, a purebred Holstein dairyman, Clever, MO, has been selected to receive the Association of Missouri Dairy Organizations Distinguished Breeder Award. This award, offered for the first time in 1978, is designed to give recognition to Missouri dairy cattle breeders who excel in producing and developing outstanding herds.

The King farms herd, Clever, MO, is a splendid example of starting from scratch and building a high producing herd of animals, with good conformation, by sound breeding and management practices. Joe King was born in 1922. He grew up on an Ozark farm where he began milking cows at the age of six years. The first animal he owned was a Jersey heifer given to him by his grandmother. This heifer helped pay his way through high school. Joe graduated from Clever High School in 1941. He attended S.W. Mo. State University one year, earning all of his expense by working in a grocery store. At the end of the year he left college and started farming with his father. To boost the family income he bought a milk-hauling route. In 1948 he got married. He and his wife, Clejo, lived on an uncle’s farm, milking 20 Jerseys and Joe continued hauling milk.

In 1949, Joe and Clejo decided they would like to go into the dairy business on their own. A 100 acre farm, on which they now live, was purchased for $10,000 – all borrowed.

The herd is founded.

The Kings started out milking 28 cows, four were grade Holsteins – the rest Jerseys. The herd was on DHI test and Joe studied the records carefully. He decided to start a registered Holstein herd. He began buying the best registered heifers he could find-out of good cow families and by bulls that were siring good production and type. He says “I didn’t try to buy bargains but heifers that had good backing from a pedigree standpoint.” The mature heifers were bred to the best A.I. bulls available. About 20 years ago the first heifer with the King Farm “Joki” was registered.

The goal of the Kings, from the beginning, is to breed a herd of their own that will milk and officially classify for type above breed average. The herd grew in size and more land was purchased. The family grew also with three children born – two sons, Mike and Pat, and a daughter, Pam – all to play a part in the herd and farm operations. The King farms now consist of 726 acres of land with the necessary equipment and buildings to accommodate the herd. Income is chiefly from the sale of milk and breeding stock.

The present herd, with all but 20 head carrying the “Joki” prefix, numbers about 200 head – all registered Holsteins. There are 104 cows in milk with heifers and bulls accounting for the remainder.

Herd Accomplishments.

The herd has been on DHI test for 28 years. With the breeding program and the management practices followed, the production per cow has steadily increased. The average production for the past five years – 1973 to 1977 – inclusive is:

Eight home bred cows have produced over 20,000 pounds of milk in a single lactation with several ranging from 23,000 to 25,000 pounds. Two have produced over 1,000 pounds of butterfat in one lactation.

Several outstanding cow families have been developed. Mated to high plus predicted difference bulls their progeny have gone into other herds and to A.I. organizations. Two bulls, Joki R Maple Admiral and Joki R. Maple Jonah sold to A.I. organizations, have daughter averages of 18,186 M, 3.62% and +1061 PDM; 16,798M, 3.56% and +513 PDM respectfully. Among the females sold at leading sales for good prices are Joki Fury Soverign (Excellent) that made over 29,000 pounds milk and 1,000 pounds of fat for a New York buyer. Joki Ivanhoe J. Carena, sold to a Kansas breeder, produced over 29,000 pounds milk as a 4-year-old.

The herd has been officially classified on the Holstein-Friesian Association program the past 11 years. The 1977 classification resulted in 103 head having breed association class average of 103.1. Twelve “Excellents” have been bred by King farms.

The herd has been represented at leading shows in the Midwest and has 10 premier breeder and three premier exhibitor awards to its credit. There are 29 all Missouri and four reserve all Missouri awards with many first place district show awards.

In 1961 Mr. King was awarded the Efficient Production Award for Missouri DHI tested herds. He received the Kansas City Chamber of Commerce and the University of Missouri’s Balanced Farming awards in 1960. The herd qualified for the H.F.A.A. progressive breeder award in 1977.

Most of the feed for the herd is hay, silage and pasture produced on the 675 acres devoted to crops.

A Family Operation

King Farms is strictly a family operation. In addition to Joe, his wife, Clejo, does most of the record work; the oldest son, Mike and his, wife; the second son Pat and his sister Pam make up the crew.

Joe is not only a good dairyman, he is prominent in community affairs. He is active in the Clever Methodist Church; has served as president of the Lions Club; president of the Christian County Farm Bureau; member of the school board; and for many years an active Dairy 4-H Club leader.

Joe says “With the help of my two sons, my wife and daughter, and daughter-in-law, and grandchildren, King Farms has become all I could hope for – and its all paid for, thanks to the dairy herd!”