Craig A. Rhein, Pine Grove, Penna., will be honored with the Distinguished Service Award of the American Jersey Cattle Association on June 23, 2017 in Gettysburg, Penna.

The Distinguished Service Award is presented by the Board of Directors to as many living AJCA members and/or members’ families, who, in the opinion of the Board of Directors, have rendered outstanding and unselfish service for many years and thereby made a notable contribution to the advancement of the Jersey breed in the United States.

The presentation will be made at the Breeders’ Banquet during the AJCA-NAJ Annual Meetings which run June 21 through 24 at the Wyndham Gateway Hotel in Gettysburg.

Rhein owns and operates Meadow View Jerseys with his brother, Terry, and their mother, Dawn. The Rheins milk 126 cows and raise replacements on a farm that was initially purchased by Craig’s grandfather, Uriah, around 1915. The Rheins also farm 300 acres of owned and 400 acres of rented land, growing all the feed needs for the herd and selling excess as cash crops.

Craig has been managing and breeding cattle longer than most his age. When he was 14, he took a week off from school to attend an A.I. training program so he could assume ownership of the breeding program at Meadow View. Seven years later, when his father, Emmitt, became ill, Craig shouldered many of the herd management duties and was at the helm when he passed away three years later in 1981.

Born with Jersey blood and equipped with leadership potential, it was natural for Craig to branch out in service to the Jersey breed and dairy industry. The Jersey Journal article that introduced him as a recipient of the national Young Jersey Breeder Award in 1994 was aptly entitled, “Pennsylvania Leader Craig Rhein.”

Rhein served as director and president of the Pennsylvania Jersey Cattle Association and also as president and director of Liberty Jersey Sires Inc. He was elected to the Board of Directors of the American Jersey Cattle Association for two three-year terms beginning in 2003 and served on the AJCA Type Advisory Committee from 2009 to 2014.

Rhein’s most significant service contributions, however, are tied to the sale ring, where his passion for the Jersey cow, his work ethic, and his leadership ability have come together to advance the Jersey breed.

Rhein got his feet wet with sales in the mid-1970s as a member of the crew for the Pennsylvania State Jersey Sale. He joined the sale committee in 1978 and was then elected chair in 1981, a position he held for 10 years.

In 1985, when Pennsylvania hosted the national Jersey annual meeting in Lancaster, Craig stepped up to the plate to co-chair the National Heifer Sale with fellow Pennsylvania breeder Donald Koontz of Fredonia.

When his home state volunteered to host the annual meetings of the national Jersey organizations in 2005, Rhein again signed up to chair the National Heifer Sale. But, he had his hands full as this sale was a little different than the 47 that had preceded it. Each heifer consigned was to be an outright gift, with 10% contributed to Jersey youth funds and the balance to the AJCC Research Foundation.

Getting people to part with something and not pocket a dime was difficult enough. Getting them to do so with their very best—a requirement to raise the funds that were needed for these causes—seemed downright impossible. Craig embraced the challenge. He walked the talk with an early pledge from the top of his herd, a granddaughter of then-National Fat Champion, Golden MBSB of Twin Haven-ET. He wrote to every Jersey owner in the U.S. enrolled on AJCA programs to do the same. He called them and asked for their best to support a cause he believed in—because it was in the long-term interest of the Jersey breed and her owners.

By January 2005, a full five months from the event, nearly 40 heifers had been pledged. On June 25, 2005, history was made at the fairgrounds in Washington, Penna., when 95 lots were auctioned for a record gross of $309,900 and an average of $3,262.11. An additional $100,000 was raised in cash donations and the sale of Jersey collectibles and memorabilia, bringing the total of the day to $412,000.

Fittingly, it was the heifer consigned by Rhein, MVF Paramount Golda 1218-ET, that topped the sale, purchased as the buyer’s choice of all heifers in the barn that day by the Golden River Syndicate of Seymour, Wis., for $14,100.

This month, for the third time, Rhein is leading a National Heifer Sale, this time on June 24 in Gettysburg. “When Pennsylvania was gearing up for the 2017 meetings of the national Jersey organizations, it was no surprise that one of the first calls I received was from Craig, volunteering to chair the National Heifer Sale,” said David Norman, Liberty, Penna., who co-chairs this year’s AJCA-NAJ meetings with his wife, Aggie.

Craig also chaired the 2007 All American Jersey Sale, which stands as the high-grossing sale of the series, with a gross of $579,625 and an average of $5,317.66 on the sale of 109 lots. Two years later, he served as general chair of The All American Jersey Shows & Sales.

Rhein and his family have worked with Jersey Marketing Service (JMS) to host several Registered Jersey sales at their farm. In August 1999, the family hosted the first Summer Splash at Meadow View to capitalize on a two-month lull in Jersey auctions. Subsequent editions of the invitational sale were held at the farm over the next four years.

Then, in 2014, he collaborated with JMS to host the Mid-Atlantic Fall Classic. “Craig saw the need for a large volume sale in the northeast, contacted JMS and organized an event that has been very successful,” noted Norman. “He offers his facilities, supplies feed and does a lot of the work himself, making it a low-cost, low-commission sale for consignors.” Over the past three years, more than 830 lots of Registered Jerseys have been sold through the venue, with gross receipts over $1.3 million.

Meadow View Farm is enrolled on the AJCA REAP program and has contributed to Project Equity for more than three decades. The herd’s 2016 lactation average was 21,253 lbs. milk, 929 lbs. fat and 729 lbs. protein and it ranks among the top 25% Jersey herds in the U.S. for genetic merit. More than 40% of the milking herd is genotyped.

“Craig Rhein has accepted each and every call to serve the national Jersey organizations,” says Herby D. Lutz, former manager of Jersey Marketing Service and now Jersey sire analyst for Select Sires, Inc. “He has been a true supporter of all things Jersey, tirelessly working for the betterment of the cow and her owners.”

Adds Angie D. Coburn, vice president of DHI operations, AgSource Cooperative Services/CRI, “It is ultimately his selfless passion that leads me to endorse Craig Rhein for this award. When a person achieves success without recognition as a goal, it is fitting that we provide tribute to his accomplishments.”

The American Jersey Cattle Association, organized in 1868, compiles and maintains animal identification and performance data on Jersey cattle and provides services that support genetic improvement and greater profitability through increasing the value of and demand for Registered Jersey™ cattle and genetics, and Jersey milk and milk products. For more information on the association’s complete line of services for dairy business owners, visit USJersey.com or connect at Facebook.com/USJersey.