The dairy industry’s obsession with young genetics got shattered by an “over-the-hill” 8-year-old Canadian cow whose son became Holstein royalty.

The barn was quiet that day in 1950, save for the soft shuffling of calves in their pens. Ed McLean called his seventeen-year-old son over to the side of the calf pen in their Barrie, Ontario barn, his weathered hands resting on the wooden rail. “There they are, son, pick one of ’em,” he said simply, gesturing toward the young heifers before them.

Just out of high school and standing at the threshold of his future, Don McLean studied the calves carefully. Something about one particular heifer caught his eye—perhaps it was her bearing or the name that would be registered on her papers. He chose Cranford Sovereign Marjorie, a decision that would ripple through generations and eventually reshape the global dairy industry in ways neither father nor son could have imagined.

“He always called her ‘Marge,'” the records note, and Don was particularly drawn to the “Sovereign” in her name, having heard the legendary stories of Montvic Rag Apple Sovereign that every dairy enthusiast knew by heart. This simple gift from father to son—intended to give the young man “a leg up in life”—would ultimately establish what pedigree expert Douglas Blair would later describe as “the best proof in the world today” and “a royal family whose ultimate expression was Picston Shottle.”

The Empire That Started It All

To understand the magnitude of what began in that Ontario barn, we must first travel back to the Great Depression and the remarkable empire of Howard Crane. Born in 1895 in Tillsonburg, Ontario, Crane was the kind of entrepreneur who thrived when others struggled. By the 1930s, he had become “the most prominent and prosperous citizen” of Boston and Waterford, Ontario, building an agricultural empire that defied the economic devastation surrounding him.

Picture the morning symphony of Crane’s operation: the rhythmic pulse of milking machines drawing milk into 80-gallon cans, the satisfied lowing of 140 Holstein cows producing “over 23 cans of milk daily,” and the rumble of seven trucks carrying genetic gold to American farms. His success was built on an almost superhuman work ethic and business acumen. He acquired farms at the astonishing rate of one every two years over a decade, eventually owning a dozen properties. Four were dedicated to dairying, while another housed a flock of Shropshire sheep.

But Crane’s genius for cattle trading truly set him apart. “Howard Crane made his fortune by buying and selling dairy cows,” the records state. “All through the 1930s, he shipped 25 head each week to the U.S. alone”. Cows typically remained in his possession for only a day or two—a high-volume, lightning-fast operation that moved cattle through his farms like a river of genetic potential.

The Auction That Changed Everything

In early 1941, Crane made a pivotal business decision. He wanted to purchase the Duncombe Coal and Feed Mill at Waterford and establish a transportation business. To focus on these new ventures, he decided to sell everything—all his farms, cattle, and equipment- in what would become one of Holstein’s most significant genetic dispersal events.

The auction, held on March 26-28, 1941, was advertised as “The largest sale of cattle and farm machinery ever held in Western Ontario.” What followed was nothing short of a “commercial extravaganza” that drew over 2,000 people from Ontario, Quebec, and New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

The scene was almost carnival-like. Four auctioneers worked in relay, bleachers were erected around the auction ring, and the crowd was so vast that emergency orders for additional lunch supplies had to be dispatched. The air buzzed with excitement as prices soared—a grain separator brought over $1,000, a combine sold for over $600, and the top cow fetched $175.

Among the sea of buyers that day was Edgerton “Ed” McLean, an Elmvale farmer who made what seemed like a routine purchase: a three-year-old Holstein heifer named Cranford Elaine Burke. It was a transaction that would unknowingly lay the foundation for a genetic revolution decades in the making.

The Royal Family Begins

Two years later, Cranford Elaine Burke, now settled in McLean’s herd, gave birth to a heifer calf. Lacking his farm prefix, Ed McLean borrowed Crane’s renowned “Cranford” designation and registered the calf as Cranford Sovereign Marjorie. This was the heifer he would later offer to his teenage son as a gift that would change both their lives.

Don McLean treasured that gift. After helping on the home farm for four years, he eventually established his own operation—Condon Farm, combining his name with that of his wife, Connie. There, he began the patient, methodical work of building a dynasty around Marjorie and her descendants.

Cranford Sovereign Marjorie proved to be an extraordinary foundational cow. She produced four Very Good daughters, each establishing distinct family lines that Don would develop over decades. Her daughter Sovereign Stella Eglantiers became the matriarch of the Princess family, while Condon Texal Cora founded the Molly family, and Condon Citation Elsie established the Sally family.

But the most remarkable genetic story would unfold through the Sally family—specifically through Condon Citation Elsie. Seven generations later, this lineage would produce a heifer named Condon Aero Sharon, whose impact on global Holstein genetics would prove unprecedented.

The Gamble That Defied Convention

In 1991, Don McLean made the difficult decision to disperse his Condon herd. Among the animals offered was a nine-month-old heifer representing seven generations of careful breeding since his father’s gift. This was Condon Aero Sharon, carrying within her genetic code the accumulated wisdom of decades of selection.

J.E. Hale of England recognized something special in this young heifer and paid £4,400 to bring her across the Atlantic. Upon her arrival in England, Hale promptly offered her at auction, where she caught the attention of John and James Pickford of Picston Farm in Staffordshire, along with Anthony Brough of Tallent Farm in Cumbria. Together, they paid £10,000 for what they saw as an investment in “a genetic legacy that stretched back to Howard Crane’s Depression-era empire.”

Sharon would prove to be “arguably the most powerful brood cow in United Kingdom history,” accumulating an impressive 60 brood cow points based on 37 daughters averaging 87 points and seven sons with a median score of 91 points. Her own production was equally impressive: 36,230 pounds of milk at 4.3% fat and 3.3% protein in a single 305-day lactation.

But Sharon’s age would become both a challenge and, ultimately, a triumph. When the Pickfords decided to breed her to Carol Prelude Mtoto, she was already over eight years old—an age considered “ancient by artificial insemination standards” and “too old for the marketing of AI sires.” Conventional wisdom suggests that “genetic progress moved too quickly to waste time on older dams.”

However, the Pickfords and the visionary St. Jacob’s Judges Choice program at ABS made a calculated wager. They chose to “give excellence a chance, even from an eight-year-old Canadian cow whose best years were supposedly behind her.” This decision would later be hailed as providing “an unrivalled service to global Holstein breeding.”

The Birth of a Legend

On July 23, 1999, amidst the tranquil Staffordshire countryside at Picston Farm, Condon Aero Sharon gave birth to a speckled bull calf. The Pickfords named him Picston Shottle, following their system of giving all of Sharon’s offspring names beginning with “S” and “H”—”My husband believed there was only one Sharon and she would remain unique,” Helen Pickford would later explain.

Nothing about this birth seemed extraordinary to outside observers. Yet this calf carried “an extraordinary genetic convergence destined to reach barns across six continents and redefine the very essence of a superior dairy cow.”

The mating that produced Shottle was itself a masterpiece of genetic planning. His sire, Carol Prelude Mtoto, was a highly influential bull known for transmitting “strong, functional type combined with low somatic cell counts.” In 2004, Mtoto was the number one sire of sons in the U.S., with 96 sons averaging impressive genetic merit. His pedigree traced back through legendary names: Prelude-Blackstar-Chief Mark-Bell-Elevation-Bootmaker, connecting him to the foundational genetics of the modern Holstein breed.

Crucially, both parents carried strong connections to Hanoverhill Starbuck, whose influence would permeate 83% of sequenced North American Holsteins by the 21st century. Sharon’s sire, Madawaska Aerostar, was a prominent Starbuck son, while Mtoto carried the Starbuck influence through his paternal line. The union was deliberately designed to create what breeders called a “Starbuck ambassador”—a bull carrying this legendary sire’s influence through both sides of his pedigree.

Breaking All the Rules

Shottle’s entry into artificial insemination might never have happened under conventional breeding programs. His advanced-age dam and unconventional pedigree would typically have eliminated him from consideration. However, The Judges Choice program specifically sought bulls with “alternative pedigrees” saw potential where others saw liability.

The gamble paid off spectacularly. Picture the scene that unfolded across the global dairy community on that January morning in 2008: geneticists in American AI studs doing double-takes at their screens, urgent phone calls buzzing between breeding cooperatives, and progressive dairy farmers in remote corners of the world immediately requesting semen from this unexpected European phenomenon. Shottle’s Total Performance Index (TPI) ranking had soared to an “unprecedented 2060,” a figure that “shattered the ceiling” and caused an immediate stir among geneticists worldwide.

A year later, his impact was further validated when his Lifetime Profit Index (LPI) in Canada reached an astonishing 3944—”a figure described as ‘never seen before'”—solidifying his position as Canada’s #1 LPI leader. These weren’t just numbers; they represented a new era of “balanced excellence” in breeding that promised to enhance dairy operation profitability for decades to come.

By December 2010, Shottle continued to dominate ABS sire summaries with impressive production figures: milk +1334, fat +63, protein +36, and an overall type rating of +2.95 across over 30,000 daughters in 7,276 herds, with semen commanding $100 per dose.

The Daughters That Transformed Daily Life

However, Shottle’s true legacy lay not in statistics but in the quiet revolution he brought to dairy farming operations worldwide. His daughters didn’t just perform well on paper—they transformed the daily experience of working with cattle in ways that made farming more profitable, sustainable, and enjoyable.

Farmers began noticing something different about their Shottle daughters in milking parlors from Wisconsin to New Zealand. These weren’t just cattle that looked good at classification day—they were cows that made every day easier. They walked into the parlor with purpose, settled into their stalls without the nervous shifting that marked high-maintenance animals, and consistently delivered the kind of trouble-free performance that allowed farmers to focus on managing their operations rather than constantly treating problems.

Managing a 500-cow Holstein herd in Wisconsin, Tom captured what these numbers meant in practical terms: “I’d been in the dairy business for thirty years, and I’d never seen anything like those first Shottle daughters. They just did everything right—milked well, bred back easily, stayed sound. It was like having employees who never called in sick”.

Farmers quickly discovered that Shottle daughters averaged 18 days longer lifespan than their contemporaries—a seemingly small difference that translated directly into reduced replacement costs and maximized return on investment. These daughters possessed superior conformation that went far beyond show ring appeal. Their excellent mammary systems significantly reduced mastitis treatments, while their sound feet and legs virtually eliminated costly lameness issues. The result was a direct reduction in veterinary expenses and easier day-to-day management.

Fertility, that critical but often elusive trait, was another Shottle daughter strength. They bred back reliably on schedule, maintaining optimal calving intervals and ensuring consistent milk flow—the lifeblood of any dairy operation.

The daughters also adapted seamlessly to varied feeding and housing conditions, proving essential for diverse global dairy operations. And farmers consistently noted their “fantastic temperament,” which transformed routine chores into more pleasant experiences.

Global Domination

Geneticists witnessed something unprecedented in research centers across 15 countries where EX classifications were awarded. Picston Shottle had achieved 9,674 EX daughters worldwide, significantly surpassing other legendary bulls like Braedale Goldwyn (8,593) and Regancrest Elton Durham (5,515).

This achievement was particularly remarkable because it represented success across diverse countries and classification systems. In Great Britain, Shottle sired 4,979 EX daughters, and in Ireland, another 638, making him “by far the sire with the most EX daughters” in those regions. But his influence extended far beyond his home territory—he ranked 11th in the USA with 1,500 EX daughters and appeared near the top of lists in Canada, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, New Zealand, and Sweden.

This achievement was even more significant because Shottle accomplished it while being “used more intensively and on the best cows worldwide than Durham or Goldwyn.” From elite herds in Holstein, USA, to progressive farms in New Zealand, the world’s most discerning breeders made the same choice—when they wanted to breed their very best cows, they reached for Shottle straws.

Shottle’s global success story established him as “the proud nr. seven on the list of most influential Holstein sires ever”—remarkably, “the only European bull in the top 20, which North American sires otherwise dominate”.

A Legacy That Endures

Even as Shottle aged and eventually passed away in March 2015, his genetic influence continued to expand through an ever-growing network of descendants. Rather than diminishing his relevance, the genomic era amplified his impact by making identifying and propagating his superior genetics easier.

A compelling example is the Larcrest Cosmopolitan family. Larcrest Cosmopolitan, a direct daughter of Shottle, achieved the coveted #1 GTPI position among US Holstein cows in the genomic era, launching an entire dynasty of influential AI sires, including Calibrate, Camelot, Chavez, Conquest, Casual, and Cyclone through her daughter Larcrest Crimson (Global Cow of the Year 2016).

Genus ABS continues to actively market semen from his grand sons and great-grandsons, ensuring his genetic blueprint remains active globally. His name frequently appears several generations back in modern genetic evaluations, underscoring his sustained contribution to breed improvement across decades.

Conservative estimates project that his 100,000 daughters will produce over £5 billion worth of milk over their lifetimes—enough revenue to fund thousands of farm expansions, pay for countless college educations for farmers’ children, and secure retirement plans for families who bet their futures on Holstein genetics.

The Shottle Standard: Practical Lessons for Today’s Breeders

For modern dairy farmers seeking to capture the economic advantages that made Shottle’s daughters legendary, his genetic contribution offers a proven template for sustainable breeding decisions. Understanding these principles can guide contemporary farmers toward more profitable, efficient operations:

Prioritize Longevity Over Peak Production: Shottle’s daughters consistently demonstrated that cows lasting an average of 18 days longer than contemporaries create significantly more value through reduced replacement costs and maximized return on investment. Modern breeders should select bulls with Shottle in their maternal lines when seeking to extend productive herd life.

Focus on Functional Conformation: The excellent mammary systems and sound feet and legs that characterized Shottle daughters translate directly to reduced veterinary expenses. Selecting for these traits minimizes common health issues like mastitis and lameness, creating healthier herds that require less intervention.

Select for Consistent Fertility: Shottle daughters’ ability to breed back reliably on schedule maintains optimal calving intervals and overall herd productivity. This trait becomes essential for maintaining consistent milk flow in an era where reproductive efficiency directly impacts profitability.

Choose Adaptable Genetics: Shottle’s daughters performed well across varied feeding and housing conditions, proving essential for diverse global dairy operations. This adaptability becomes increasingly valuable as farms face labor shortages and need cattle that thrive under different management systems.

Embrace Efficiency Over Extremes: The environmental responsibility demonstrated by Shottle daughters—producing more milk per unit of feed while reducing methane emissions and water usage—provides both economic and regulatory advantages. As environmental regulations tighten, these efficient genetics offer biological solutions for sustainable dairying.

Value Temperament: In today’s world where skilled dairy workers are scarce, Shottle daughters offer something invaluable—cattle that make inexperienced hands confident and veteran workers more efficient. Their “fantastic temperament” isn’t just nice—it’s essential for modern operations.

The Human Thread

Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of Shottle’s story is how it demonstrates the profound impact of human vision and courage in genetic improvement. At every critical juncture—Ed McLean’s gift to his son, Don McLean’s patient development of the Condon herd, the Pickfords’ investment in an aging Canadian cow, and ABS’s willingness to try an unconventional mating—individuals made decisions that defied conventional wisdom.

Douglas Blair, the respected pedigree expert who recognized Shottle’s exceptional breeding, captured this perfectly: “Picston Shottle has the best proof in the world today. I have never seen a modern pedigree with so many respected Canadian bulls and prefixes. The bulls: Prelude, Aerostar, Inspiration, Commissioner, Ormsby, Thornlea, and Citation R. The prefixes: Madawaska, Hanover Hill, Browndale, Spring Farm, Thornlea, and Rosafe, all in a row. And Springbank further back”.

This wasn’t an accident. It was the culmination of decades of patient selection, careful mating decisions, and the courage to recognize genetic potential wherever it appeared—even in a heifer offered to a teenager as “a leg up in life.”

The Crane Legacy Lives On

The story of Picston Shottle also represents the end of one era and the beginning of another. The Crane family, whose Depression-era dispersal started this genetic journey, gradually moved away from the cattle business over subsequent generations. Howard’s son Cecil became a prominent cattle dealer but faced legal challenges in the 1940s. Cecil’s son John continued as a cattle agent through the 1960s and ’70s but eventually transitioned to antiques and pony rides after the suicide of a major client.

“The Cranes were a very well-known and prosperous family and were basically quite honest. Good people. Too bad there aren’t any of them left,” the records lament. Yet, in a very real sense, the Crane legacy lives on in every Shottle daughter milking in barns around the world.

The Enduring Lesson

As the dairy industry continues to evolve with genomic selection, robotic milking, and precision agriculture, Shottle’s story offers timeless lessons about the fundamentals of genetic improvement. His success wasn’t built on following trends or chasing extreme production figures but on the patient accumulation of functional traits that make cows more profitable and sustainable over their entire lifetimes.

Modern breeders would do well to remember that efficiency and longevity are not merely abstract genetic ideals but “indispensable economic necessities for the viability and sustainability of modern dairy farming.” The seemingly small improvements Shottle’s daughters brought—milking a little better, lasting a little longer, requiring a little less intervention—when “multiplied across millions of animals, represent billions of dollars in enhanced productivity and sustainability.”

Today, when a dairy farmer in Wisconsin watches a Shottle granddaughter calmly enter the milking parlor or when a producer in New Zealand notices the exceptional feet and legs on his Shottle-influenced herd, they’re witnessing the culmination of a story that began with a seventeen-year-old’s choice in a Canadian barn more than seven decades ago.

The bull who should never have been born—the son of an eight-year-old cow deemed too old for modern breeding—became the seventh most influential Holstein sire in history. His story serves as a powerful reminder that “the most profound changes come not from following the crowd but from having the courage to recognize greatness in unexpected packages.”

In an industry built on the daily miracle of turning grass into milk, Picston Shottle’s legacy reminds us that the greatest genetic treasures often come not from following trends but from recognizing proven excellence wherever it appears. His influence continues through genomic evaluations that identify and amplify his superior genetics, ensuring that the vision of a teenager choosing a heifer in 1950 will shape dairy farming for generations to come.

The magic of genetic improvement lies not just in science and statistics but in the human stories of patient vision and unwavering belief that once recognized and nurtured, excellence can change the world—one daughter, one generation, one farm at a time.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Longevity Trumps Youth: Shottle’s daughters from an 8-year-old dam averaged 18 days longer productive life, directly reducing replacement costs by $300-500 per cow while maximizing return on genetic investment in today’s $2,000+ heifer market.
• Efficiency Equals Profitability: His daughters’ superior feed conversion ratios and milk-per-unit-feed efficiency addressed 2025’s dual challenges of environmental regulations and feed cost management, delivering both regulatory compliance and improved profit margins.
• Health Traits Reduce Hidden Costs: Excellent mammary systems and sound feet/legs in Shottle daughters significantly reduced mastitis treatments and lameness issues, cutting veterinary expenses and labor intensity when skilled workers are increasingly scarce.
• Global Genetic Democratization: As the only European bull in the top 20 most influential sires, Shottle proved that genetic excellence transcends geographical boundaries, offering progressive farmers alternatives to North American genetic monopolies.
• Sustainable Production Model: With conservative estimates of £5 billion in milk value from his daughters, Shottle demonstrated that balanced genetics focusing on durability and efficiency create generational wealth while meeting 2025’s consumer demands for sustainable dairy practices.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The dairy industry’s obsession with young genetics just got shattered by an “over-the-hill” 8-year-old Canadian cow whose son became Holstein royalty. Picston Shottle—born from a dam considered “ancient by AI standards”—defied every breeding convention to become the #7 most influential Holstein sire globally and the only European bull in the top 20. His 100,000 daughters generated over £5 billion in milk value while averaging 18 days longer productive life than contemporaries, delivering measurable ROI through reduced replacement costs and veterinary expenses. With 9,674 Excellent daughters worldwide (surpassing legends like Goldwyn and Durham), Shottle’s genetics proved that efficiency and longevity create more value than extreme production alone—producing more milk per unit of feed while reducing methane emissions and management intensity. In 2025’s challenging economic climate where sustainability regulations tighten and labor shortages persist, this story demands every progressive dairy farmer reevaluate their genetic selection priorities.

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