The award is made in memory of Arthur B. Klussendorf, considered the outstanding showman of his time and a model for all those who have followed him. Kietzman's selection was made by members of the Klussendorf Memorial Association, formed in 1937, at its annual meeting held earlier this week in Madison, Wis. He received the silver trophy designed by Tiffany Jewelers of New York City.
This year's Klussendorf winner is an outstanding cowman and great cattle fitter. As a youth, he grew up with Brown Swiss cattle on his parent's Wisconsin dairy farm. There, he bred and developed several All American Brown Swiss.
Since then, Kietzman developed an outstanding herd of Holstein cattle with a variety of partners. He developed a number of great Holstein cows into internationally recognized names. One of his first purchases was an EX-93 Holstein who was flushed to Walkway Chief Mark. The resulting daughter, Miss Mark Maui, went on to earn All American Junior 2-year-old honors. This young homebred cow eventually developed into an EX-95 2E Gold Medal Dam and Dam of Merit and was a foundation for a sale last month featuring 156 lots which averaged $3,625.
Just a few years later, another purchase led to even bigger things. After developing a deep respect for a young Conant-Acres-JY Broker daughter, this year's Klussendorf winner and his partners purchased Krull Broker Elegance and developed this fourth generation Excellent into a highly successful show cow. And that was only the beginning. Since 1996, this EX-96 point cow and her offspring have accomplished some extraordinary, and even unmatched, achievements.
They include: • 34 Excellent and 33 Very Good daughters
• 42 Excellent and 126 Very Good granddaughters
• 44 All American nominations from the family
• 5 All Americans and 11 Reserve All Americans from the family
• And perhaps most impressive is the fact that this cow was the foundation for the world's only progeny group to win the coveted Premier Breeder banner four times at World Dairy Expo.
Above all, this year's Klussendorf winner has garnered the respect and admiration from his peers. Kietzman is a past recipient of the Duncan MacKenzie and Al Hay Awards. Despite all his success, he has remained a willing helper and continues to go above and beyond to help others get their cattle out looking their best.
