Continuing the legacy

Dairy cattle is in the blood for the Ruprecht family.

With parents and grandparents in the dairy business, it was an easy choice for the four children of Lyle and Sarah Ruprecht when it came time to show animals at the Knox County Fair.

Oliver, Galen, Simon and Hazel all participated in the Dairy Show and Showmanship competitions this week at the fair, taking home a solid amount of ribbons and banners. Oliver, 19, showed the Supreme Champion and Senior Holstein Champion cow, while also winning the Master Showman title. Galen, 17, was named Reserve Champion Senior Showman, and Simon, 15, showed the Overall Junior Champion and Junior Holstein Champion cow.

“The hard work pays off, that’s really the best thing you can get out it,” said Oliver, who has been showing at the fair for 11 years.

“They do other projects, but they seem to like this, too. They’ve followed in my footsteps. I guess my passion has rubbed off on them a little bit,” Lyle said.

Lyle got his passion for dairy cows from his parents, Ken and Marilyn Ruprecht. He grew up on their dairy farm in Medina County, and went off to Ohio State University, where he became a nutritionist for dairy cattle.

Ken and Marilyn moved to Knox County in 1997, and then Lyle and his wife, Sarah, moved here in 2004. Their North Liberty farm has 270 cows and 320 heifers, keeping them busy and giving their four children plenty of things to do.

“We’re always busy. If you don’t have something to do, it’s because you’re not looking hard enough,” Lyle said. “They don’t have daily chores, other than taking care of these show animals in the summer. But they’re always doing something. They do a lot on the farm, but it’s miscellaneous things. Whether it’s picking rocks out of the ground or weed eating or dehorning calves, mulching flower beds, pressure washing this piece of equipment, there’s always something to do.”

Lyle has used his knowledge gained helping other farmers to the benefit of his own cows. Besides a good, nutritional feed, there’s several other things needed to increase the milk production of the cows.

“I tell people that my clients want three things – they want as much production as they can get; they want healthy cows; and they want to be able to feed them as cheaply as possible. In my 25 years of doing that job, you start to realize it’s not just what you feed them, it’s how good of barn you have. For the cow to make the production, how comfortable they are, how many hours they lay down a day, how many minutes they eat a day, what’s the water availability, cooling in the middle of the summer. Cooling is a huge deal. These things are little furnaces. They make their own heat so keeping them cool is huge,” Lyle said. “When you see what everybody else does, you can see what works and what doesn’t. Then you can go home and say, ‘I’ve got to do this. I’ve got to do that.’ We’ve done plenty wrong over the years, but I think we do some important things right. Part of it is feeding and part of it is the hotel that the cows live in. It’s got to be right.”

On their farm, the kids spend around an hour or two a day with the cows and heifers, walking them and washing them. Keeping them clean and working the muscles helps make for a heifer that looks good in the ring.

“We feed them, wash them, just keeping them clean every day. Making sure they’re not too big and prepared,” said Simon, who is in his sixth year of showing dairy heifers.

Once they are at the fair, there’s more to preparing the animal for the show. They must continue to be fed and exercised, but there’s also ways to make them look as sharp as possible.

“We clip the whole body. For the heifers, we’ll clip the top to make them look as straight as possible. We make sure they’re nice and clean. For the cows, we’ll clip the udders, so it looks nice and tight,” said Galen, who has been showing for nine years at the fair.

The three boys have been showing their sister, Hazel, the ropes and while she’s soaking up all that information, she’s really enjoying spending time with her family.

“I like showing at fairs because it’s fun spending time with your family. We all come together and help each other out,” said Hazel, who is in her fourth year of showing. “(They’ve shown me) All the tips on how to calm your heifer down when they get rambunctious. You hold it tight and be calm and try to calm the animal down. Try to touch it and pet it, whatever it likes.”

While they’ve spent many years at the Knox County Fair, the Ruprechts were also heading to the Ohio State Fair this year for their first time showing the Holsteins.

“I think it’s great when you have cows at the county fair. You’d be amazed at how many people will stand there and watch you milk the cow. It’s great, but it’s a lot of work, too,” Lyle said. “We’re going to try the state fair this year. The heifers will stay. Two cows that Oliver is probably going to show. The Ohio State Fair is pretty tough. It’s a good Holstein show. We’ll see, you never know. In eight or 10 years of 4-H, every year we’ve gotten a little better with a higher quality of animal. I don’t think we’ll win, but I don’t think we’ll look foolish.”