From not having white pants to an unrivaled 16 Grand Champions, Bert Stewart’s story is dairy’s ultimate tale of grit and greatness.
You know how the best stories usually start with someone making a call they probably shouldn’t?
Picture this: It’s 1960, and Bert Stewart just convinced Angelo Agro to drop $4,500 on a nine-week-old calf at the Sheffield Dispersal. Now, $4,500 doesn’t sound like much until you realize most families were buying entire houses for less back then. His mother called that very night, her voice tight with worry: “Bert, please be careful when you’re spending other people’s money.”
The thing is, Bert wasn’t gambling. He was investing in what would become Sheffield Climax Pansy—the only cow in dairy history to produce daughters that went Grand and Reserve Grand Champion at the Royal Winter Fair in the same year. It was the kind of prescient call that would define a career spanning seven decades and cement Stewart’s reputation as the man with perhaps the greatest eye for cattle the dairy industry has ever seen.
When Stewart passed away on February 12, 2018, at age 86, he left behind a record that’ll probably never be touched: 16 Grand Champions led at the Royal Winter Fair. But numbers only tell part of Bert’s story.
When Disaster Breeds Resilience
The Stewart farm north of Bolton, Ontario, was your typical mixed operation in the 1930s. Percheron horses thundering across the fields, their hooves drumming against packed earth. Ayrshire cattle dotting the pastures, their red and white coats bright against the green Ontario landscape. Eight kids who all learned that success wasn’t just about profits—it was about how you treated your animals.
Then Brucellosis hit like a freight train.
Back in the mid-1930s, when Bert was just a little guy, the disease swept through their herd like wildfire. Everything had to go. Can you imagine? One day you’re a dairy family, the next morning you’re watching the truck doors slam shut on everything you’ve built. The smell of disinfectant hanging heavy in the empty barn… the silence where lowing cattle should be.
The Stewarts didn’t quit. They rebuilt with purebred Ayrshires, even though, as Bert would later say with that trademark honesty, “there wasn’t much market for them.”
That disaster taught young Bert something that would serve him his entire career: you study what works, you adapt, and you never stop learning. His family called him “a consummate student” even as a kid. While other teenagers were goofing off, Bert was watching, listening, and figuring out why some showmen succeeded and others didn’t.
The White Pants Moment
At 15, Bert was hired to work for an Ayrshire breeder for just one month before the Canadian National Exhibition. He spent his days clipping cattle, the steady buzz of the hand-turned clippers filling the barn—his brother cranking the handle while Bert guided the blades through coarse hair. Getting six head ready for the show. Standard summer job, right?
The night before the show, he asks the obvious question: “Who’s going to show these tomorrow?”
“You are.”
Picture this: a 15-year-old kid who doesn’t even own white showing clothes, suddenly facing off against the biggest names in Ayrshire breeding with an imported bull from Scotland. The barn is buzzing with pre-show energy, that mix of anticipation and nervous sweat you can taste in the air. His parents had to make an emergency run to bring him proper show attire.
The whole time, his hands are shaking with nerves, the lead rope slick with perspiration.
That bull went Junior Champion. Then Grand Champion.
“It was the beginning of a great long career in the show ring,” Stewart would later reflect. What made it special wasn’t just winning—it was how he handled the pressure. That calm demeanor everyone talks about? It wasn’t natural. “I’m not sure it came naturally,” he admitted years later. “The more you go into those big classes and shows, the more you become more relaxed.”
The Education of a Master
What separated Bert from other talented kids was his systematic approach to learning. While others might’ve been content with natural ability, Bert studied the masters like he was cramming for finals.
He worked summers at Romandale Farms with Dave Houck, hand-milking Mahoney Babe Lochinvar three times a day to 120 pounds—that’s serious production even by today’s standards. Picture those pre-dawn milkings, steam rising from warm milk hitting cold pail, the rhythm of it all. (Read more: THE ROMANDALE REVOLUTION: How a Uranium Billionaire & Cow Sense Conquered the Holstein World)
Breaking five mature daughters of Lonelm Texal Highcroft to lead. A very tough assignment! “An experience that will never be forgotten,” he said. These weren’t your average show cows—they were genetics that would reshape the breed.
The thing about Bert: he didn’t just work with the cattle, he studied the people. Ed Miscampbell, the legendary fitter known for his preparation techniques—you could hear his clippers from three stalls away, that distinctive rhythm that meant perfection was happening.
Owen Richards from Alberta, who could clip a heifer so perfectly it looked like art, each stroke deliberate, creating lines that would make judges stop and stare. “Any time I asked them, they were happy to tell you,” Bert remembered.
That’s the thing about our industry—the best people share what they know. And Bert? He soaked it all up like a sponge.
His big break came in 1951 when he won the Royal Winter Fair’s youth judging contest, earning high individual honors and the F.K. Morrow Scholarship to O.A.C. at Guelph. But even as a college student, he couldn’t stay away from the cattle. He’d skip classes to help legendary breeders like J.M. Fraser, working with animals that were literally rewriting Holstein standards.
College Bonds That Built Legends
At the Ontario Agricultural College, Bert’s circle included future industry legends—including a young refugee from Czechoslovakia named Paul Ekstein (Read more: From Czechoslovakia to Quality Holsteins: Paul Ekstein’s Unbreakable Legacy).
Years later, Paul would recall those formative days with characteristic humor:
“Bert Stewart and Morley Trask were two of my classmates,” Paul remembered. “Bert and I used to go to the Royal Winter Fair to work. The night before the show, we picked up cow flops from about 400 head.”
But here’s where it gets interesting—while Paul was doing the grunt work, “Bert made a good amount of money playing cards” during the shows. Classic Bert: always finding an angle, always thinking ahead.
The real magic happened when they pooled their resources. “The first heifer I ever bought, I bought with Bert. We bought her from Gerald Livingstone—a Sunny Maple heifer by Franlo Gen Treasure Model.”
Picture this: two broke college students who couldn’t afford a truck, so committed to their shared dream that Paul “sat on the car holding the heifer with a halter while Bert drove” to deliver her to Ewald Lammerding’s farm on Airport Road.
That leap of faith paid off. A year later, their heifer was junior champion at Halton and Peel, and they sold her to someone out west—probably for enough money to make both young men feel like cattle barons.
It’s a perfect snapshot of what made Bert special: even as a student, he was building the relationships and partnerships that would define the industry for decades. That scrappy kid holding a heifer on a car hood? Paul Ekstein would go on to found Quality Holsteins and become one of Canada’s most respected breeders (Read more: Paul Ekstein – 2013 Recipient of the Prestigious McKown Master Breeder Award).
Building an Empire, One Smart Decision at a Time
After graduation, Bert’s career took what looked like a detour but turned out to be genius preparation. He started with Canada Packers, collecting unpaid bills—not a glamorous task, but it taught him the harsh realities of agricultural economics and how to work with people under pressure.
Sound familiar? Today’s producers dealing with volatile milk prices and input costs would recognize that skill set.
Then came the Holstein Journal gig. “Working for the Journal, I got to know just about everybody in the Holstein business,” he said. Think about that network—every major breeder, every important show, every significant sale. By the time he left, Bert knew the pulse of the entire industry.
Angelo and Frank Agro gave him the platform to really shine. The Italian immigrant brothers wanted to build a world-class Holstein herd and gave Bert the resources to make it happen. That $4,500 calf his mother worried about? Sheffield Climax Pansy became the foundation of a dynasty that dominated show rings for decades.
The Oak Ridges Years
When Bert left Agro Acres in 1963—and there’s a story there involving principles and pig-headed interference—he didn’t retreat. He launched his own cattle business and hooked up with Oak Ridges Farm for what became a legendary 13-year run.
This wasn’t just about winning shows, though they did plenty of that. Premier Exhibitor banners nine times. Premier Breeder awards. Five different Royal Grand Champions. What made it special was the partnership between Bert, farm manager George Darrach, and herdsman Eric Neilson.
“The best two cowmen I have ever worked with were Erik Neilson and Barry Quickfall,” Bert later said. “They are as good as it comes when working with somebody if I am out in the show ring and they are in the barn getting them ready.”
And then there was Sonwill Reflection Bee.
She wasn’t the best Holstein Bert ever led, but she was his favorite. “She was the closest thing to a human,” he said. “I could throw the lead strap over her neck, and she’d follow me through the crowd and go to the ring at the Royal Winter Fair.”
Picture that—the controlled chaos of a major show, hundreds of people milling around, and this cow just trusting Bert completely. As Stewart famously described it, when she entered the ring, she put her head up and said, ‘I’m here to win!”
Twenty-five shows. Twenty-one victories. That’s not just good cattle—that’s understanding your animals at a level most of us never reach.
The Philosophy That Changed Everything
What made Bert different from other showmen: his philosophy about working with cattle wasn’t about domination—it was about partnership. Revolutionary thinking for the time, and honestly? Still ahead of where some people are today.
“I’ve always told 4-H kids you have to relax,” he’d say. “If you are uptight, the animal is going to know it. Don’t hold them too tight. You’ve got to let the animal be herself.”
This wasn’t some feel-good nonsense. This was practical wisdom born from decades of experience. In an era when some showmen relied on force and intimidation, Bert preached relaxation and respect. And it worked—16 Grand Champions at the Royal don’t lie.
You hear echoes of this in the low-stress handling methods that forward-thinking dairies are adopting. Temple Grandin’s work on animal behavior… the research showing how stress affects milk production and reproduction… (Read more: The World Through a Cow’s Eyes: How Temple Grandin’s Unique Vision Continues to Reshape Dairy)
Bert was living these principles decades before science caught up.
He applied the same principles as a judge. “To be a good judge, you have to do a lot of it,” he said. “You can’t just go and judge an important show, and that is the only show you do in a year.”
Some of his judging decisions became legendary. Northcroft Ella Elevation, first in the 3-year-old class at Madison in 1977—she went on to be Grand Champion at multiple major shows. Duncan Belle, Grand Champion at World Dairy Expo in 1991—she became one of the greatest brood cows in Jersey history.
These weren’t lucky guesses. This was an educated eye trained through decades of observation.
Paying It Forward
Maybe Bert’s greatest legacy wasn’t the championships or the cattle he selected. It was what he gave back to the next generation.
For 27 years, from 1990 to 2017, he brought champion 4-H teams from Ontario to World Dairy Expo. Picture those road trips—van loaded with teenagers, coolers full of sandwiches, the excitement building as they crossed the border into Wisconsin.
Over twenty trips to Madison without an accident—and trust me, anyone who’s driven a bus full of teenagers to Wisconsin knows that’s no small feat.
He helped establish what’s now the Canadian 4-H Classic, giving young people the competitive opportunities that had shaped his own career (Read more: TD Canadian 4-H Dairy Classic). The Bertram & Hazel Stewart Award encourages kids aged 12-21 to stay in 4-H when they might otherwise drift away.
“Many people gave me quite a bit of their time,” he explained. “I played a lot of softball when I was young, and my coach actually drove out to the farm and picked me up to play ball. My parents didn’t have time to take me.”
Bert never forgot the people who helped him along the way. And he spent the rest of his life ensuring that young people had the same opportunities.
The Complete Competitor
Want to know how competitive Bert was? For 20 years, he coached fast-pitch softball teams. His boys’ teams won five Ontario championships. His girls’ team won two titles in just four years.
Same principles that made him successful with cattle worked with athletes: careful preparation, attention to detail, and helping people perform their best when it mattered most.
The Bottom Line
What strikes me about Bert’s story, especially in our world where we’re all wrestling with labor shortages, trying to pass operations to the next generation, and wondering how to maintain that personal touch in an increasingly automated world…
The fundamentals haven’t changed. Good cattle are still good cattle. Relationships still matter. And there’s no substitute for taking time to really understand your animals.
Walk through any modern dairy operation—even the robot-milked ones—and you’ll find the most successful producers are still the ones who know their cows individually. They might use apps to track performance instead of pencil and paper, but they’re still watching for that subtle behavior change that signals a problem.
Most important: mentorship isn’t just nice to have—it’s essential. Every kid who went to Madison with Bert, every young person he taught to judge cattle, every 4-H member who benefited from the programs he built… that’s his real legacy.
You see it in operations across Ontario today. Third and fourth-generation farmers who trace their passion back to a 4-H leader who took time to teach them. Industry professionals who credit their careers to someone who believed in them when they were teenagers.
In an industry that’s changing faster than ever, where the average dairy producer is getting older and fewer young people are choosing agriculture, we need people who can see potential before others recognize it. We need mentors who’ll take time to share what they know.
And we need that combination of deep knowledge and generous spirit that made Bert Stewart legendary.
The boy who scrambled for white pants grew up to become a man who understood that true success isn’t measured just in championships won, but in the people you help along the way. In our dairy industry today—where consolidation pressures are real and the next generation faces challenges we never imagined—that lesson matters more than ever.
That’s Bert Stewart’s real championship record—not just the 16 Grand Champions he led, but the countless lives he touched and the standard he set for how to live a life in service to something bigger than yourself. The genetics may have evolved, the technology may have advanced, but the need for that kind of leadership remains. That’s never going out of style.
Want More Bert Stewart in His Own Words?
If this glimpse into Bert Stewart’s remarkable life has left you wanting more, you’re in luck. Two exceptional books capture Bert’s story through extensive interviews and his own reflections, giving you the chance to hear directly from the man himself.
“Legends of the Cattle Breeding Business“ by Doug Blair and Ronald Eustice features an in-depth interview with Bert conducted in 2002. Over dozens of pages, Bert shares candid stories about his early days with legendary breeders like J.M. Fraser and Dave Houck, his transformative years at Agro Acres, and his partnerships with industry giants like Angelo Agro and George Darrach. You’ll hear about the $4,500 gamble on Sheffield Climax Pansy, the behind-the-scenes drama at Oak Ridges, and his adventures showing cattle from Mexico to Brazil. It’s Bert at his most authentic—honest, insightful, and never short of a good story.
“Legends of the Tanbark Trail“ by Timothy Edward Baumgartner captures Bert’s reflections on his seven-decade career from his own perspective. In this collection, Bert looks back on “an unbelievable era” with the wisdom that comes from leading 16 Grand Champions and judging cattle in 16 countries. He shares his thoughts on the greatest cattle he ever handled, from Sonwill Reflection Bee to Duncan Belle, and reflects on the industry legends who shaped his career.
Both books offer something you can’t get anywhere else: Bert Stewart’s authentic voice telling the stories that made him a legend. Whether you’re interested in the business side of cattle breeding or the personal relationships that built our industry, these books provide the kind of insider perspective that only comes from someone who lived it all.
Key Takeaways:
- From panic to poise under pressure: At just 15 years old, Bert Stewart was unexpectedly told he’d be showing cattle the next day without proper white show clothes, yet his first major win with an imported Scottish bull launched a legendary career that would see him lead an unmatched 16 Grand Champions at the Royal Winter Fair.
- Calm confidence creates champions: Stewart’s signature philosophy that “if you’re uptight, the animal will know it” became the foundation of his success—his ability to stay relaxed and let cattle “be themselves” made him the most sought-after leadsman of his era and a master teacher of showmanship.
- Lifelong learning fuels greatness: Throughout his career, Stewart studied and absorbed techniques from industry masters like Ed Miscampbell and Owen Richards, constantly evolving his skills from hand-powered clippers on the family farm to becoming a world-renowned judge in 16 countries.
- Success demands giving back: Grateful for the mentors who helped him as a youth, Stewart dedicated over 50 years to developing the next generation through 4-H leadership, creating the Canadian 4-H Classic, and personally coaching Ontario teams at World Dairy Expo for nearly three decades.
- Excellence requires versatility and integrity: Stewart’s career spanned every aspect of the dairy industry—showman, judge, farm manager, cattle buyer, and mentor—while maintaining his principles, including famously walking away from a lucrative position at Agro Acres when his authority was undermined.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Bert Stewart’s remarkable seven-decade career, highlighted by an unrivalled 16 Grand Champions at the Royal Winter Fair, demonstrates a blend of visionary cattle selection, calm mastery in the ring, and a deep commitment to youth mentorship. Rising from a resilient family farm, he transformed dairy showmanship through a philosophy of respectful, stress-free cattle handling, supported by scientific insights into animal welfare and productivity. His leadership in founding the Canadian 4-H Classic and guiding teams at the World Dairy Expo helped shape the future of the dairy industry. Beyond trophies, Bert’s approach delivers measurable economic benefits for dairies, linking animal care with profitability. As the modern dairy sector navigates sustainability and talent challenges, his enduring legacy offers invaluable guidance on blending tradition with innovation.
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