Nick Kress and Amanda Knoener of Kress-Hill Dairy in Newton were named the 2022 Distinguished Young Holstein Breeder. The farm began in 2010 when they purchased 150 grade cows from neighbouring farms. Over the next few years, they purchased Registered Holsteins from various sales and began the process of transitioning their herd to registered cows.
Nick Kress and Amanda Knoener of Kress-Hill Dairy were recently recognised and presented the 2022 Distinguished Young Breeder award at the Wisconsin Holstein Convention.
They bought Siemers Destry Sunny-Red-ET from the Siemers Showcase Sale at the Great Northern Sales Arena in 2012. This bred heifer would forever alter Kress-Hill Dairy. Sunny served as the cornerstone of their red and white breeding programme. She quickly produced many local, state, and national level winners over the years, as well as the #1 Red & White PTAT cow, Ms Kress-Hill Saphire-Red-ET.
Saphire was named Junior Champion of the open and junior Red & White shows at World Dairy Expo in 2019. She went on to become the Junior Show’s Supreme Junior Champion. Kress-Hill has been able to market their animals at numerous sales and sell countless embryos due to their showring success.
The Kress-Hill prefix has won numerous junior champions, group classes, and class winners in recent years. They were also named Premier Exhibitor and Breeder at the 2022 International Red & White Show after receiving numerous All-American and Junior All-American nominations.
They have made changes to the dairy since 2010 in order to improve the overall herd. They bought the facilities and 200 acres of land in 2013. They immediately began to make changes, such as using sand bedding in the freestalls for cow comfort and updating parlour technology to have individual cow reports.
Nick and Amanda have two children, Owen and Kendyll, who work on the farm alongside them. They also have a few hired employees who assist at both the shows and on the farm. Their herd is now approximately 75% registered, and they strive to continue improving their herd.
