Ed Hart, Laredo

Ed Hart is an outstanding young dairy operator. He has been recognized not only in the United States for his high-producing profitable registered Brown Swiss herd but also internationally as well.

Ed was born at Princeton Nov. 7, 1957 and presently lives on his farm near Laredo in Grundy County. He and his wife Margie have three children-Jenny 10, John 9, and Christy 7. The Harts are graduates of Northwest Missouri State University both having received degrees in education. At Northwest Missouri Ed was a two-time National Qualifier in the NCAA Division II Decathlon event.

Ed was a teacher and coach at the South Nodaway School District in 1981 and Margie is a school teacher.

The Harts own the 160-acre dairy farm where they have bred and raised the 90 plus head of their registered herd of Brown Swiss. They selected Brown Swiss as a result of Ed working with a few head that belonged to his father. The disposition and the ease of working with the breed appealed to Ed. As he built his herd, Ed studied the breed and visited many herds in making selections for his operation.

Production was the primary thought in making selections for the milking herd-both in cows and sires. Ninety percent of the Hart herd has been bred on the farm. This high-producing herd includes 40 in the milking herd, 30 calves, 10 bulls, and 10 steers.

The Harts paid for their first farm in five years and a second one in just over three years. This didn’t just happen-it was the result of excellent management and high production. Milk, purebred stock, heifers, and embryos are the primary sources of income in the Hart operation.

Freestalls and loose housing are provided for older and larger cows. The milking facility is a double four herringbone. The cows are fed a total mixed ration using by-product feeds when appropriate.

The Hart herd has been on DHIR test for 12 years. The excellent breeding, feeding, and management practices followed accounts for averages up to 18,000 to 21,500 pounds of milk.

In June 1997 the Hart Brown Swiss herd of 41 cows had a herd average of 18,928 pounds of milk, 780 pounds of fat, and 718 pounds of protein. The type classification average of the herd has run from 85.4 to 86.7 points the past 10 years.

From 1992 through 1996, the number of bulls sampled annually for artificial insemination eligibility was 3, 5, 7, 10, and 8 respectively and the percent of the herd mated to young sires was 30, 50, 60, 80, and 80%.

The Harts use embryo transfers extensively. A minimum of 40% of the calves born are from embryo transfers. Many of the Hart herd embryos are sold to European artificial insemination operations. One young sire and a number of others from a contracted group of seven were recently accepted for ET production and for marketing in Europe.

Ed has worked to update the Identity Enrollment program through the continued use of high predicted transmitting ability-PTA-or parent average­ FA- level registered Brown Swiss bulls. Individual bulls must meet standards for type and color. This program was put in place following Board of Director approval in the early 1990s.

The Hart herd has received Genetic Honor Awards since the program’s inception. It was the third highest PTA protein herd in the United States in 1996 and was second in the country twice in the Production Type Performance Registry program and eighth another time. Ed had the Grand Champion Female at the Missouri State Fair in 1995.

Cows in the Hart herd placed No. 1 and No.2 in the Brown Swiss breed on the Cow Index list. Ed also had a second-place PTA young sire. The two cows and bull were all bred on the Hart farm.

He was also the breeder of a junior three-year-old cow with a national record for milk and protein. Ed also had the second-place senior three-year-old cow for milk and protein as well as a second-place senior three-year-old for protein. The herd also has numerous top five national records for milk, fat, and protein that are recognized annually.

In addition to his dairy operation, Ed takes time to be involved in local activities. He is director of the North Canton Missouri Brown Swiss Association; is a county fair dairy judge; conducts FFA training day judging; and has received the Tiger Award from Princeton High School. As a volunteer track coach at Princeton High School, he had two young women who placed first and second at a Missouri State Meet in 1997.

Marvin Kruse, who nominated the Hart operation, notes that few dairy operators featuring any breed reach goals as high or accomplish as much in 12 years as Ed Hart. “Ed is a most worthy candidate for the Missouri Dairy Hall of Honors Distinguished Cattle Breeder’s Award,” Marvin says.