1973: Charlie refuses to sell Faith. 2025: Her genetics add $1,500/cow. Between those years? A breeding revolution nobody saw coming.

I’ll never forget when I first heard this story—about a decision that seemed impossible at the time, yet somehow created $1,500 worth of hope for every cow in your barn today.

The moment that changed everything came on an ordinary morning in 1973. I can still picture it, the way it’s been told to me by those who remember—Charlie Plushanski standing in his Kutztown, Pennsylvania barn, watching the morning light catch the dust motes as his five-year-old Holstein, Faith, shifted her weight in the stall.

What happened next still gives me chills…

Charlie Backus had driven up from Maryland that morning with an offer that would’ve saved most farmers from their worst fears. We’re talking about enough money to buy a decent farm in Berks County—the kind of offer that makes your hands shake when you hear it. And Charlie Plushanski? He’d survived World War II as a Marine, built his farm from nothing with his boxing earnings, and knew what it meant to struggle. Family stories say he’d even sparred with champions during the war, though like many stories from that generation, the details have softened with time.

Standing there in that barn doorway, Backus was pressing hard. “Charlie, you need to let her go,” he said, watching Plushanski Chief Faith—that remarkable cow who seemed to know her own worth.

Earlier that same day—and this is what moves me most about this story—Pete Heffering had made the same journey from Ontario, trying to buy this same cow for his Hanover Hill program. Two of the biggest names in Holstein breeding, both turned away by a farmer who saw something nobody else could see.

The Pedigree That Changed Everything

For those who love breeding history, let me paint the complete picture of what made Faith so special:

Plushanski Chief Faith EX-94 4E GMD (EX-MS 96)

• Born: November 1968
• Sire: Pawnee Farm Arlinda Chief
• Dam: Ady Whirlhill Frona VG-86 (Whirlhill Kingpin daughter)
• Lifetime Production: 242,863 lbs milk, 11,353 lbs fat

What set Faith apart wasn’t just her individual achievement—it was how she transmitted. In an era before genomics, before EPDs, before any of the tools we rely on today, Faith proved that some cows simply have “it”—that indefinable ability to pass on greatness generation after generation.

The Courage It Took to Say No

What moved me most was understanding what Charlie was really facing that day. This wasn’t just about money. This was about believing in something when everyone thought you were crazy.

The breeding community of the early 1970s was divided. You were either breeding for Chief’s incredible production or Elevation’s balanced type and longevity. But here was Charlie, who had already taken the risk of combining Chief with Kingpin genetics—a corrective mating that most breeders wouldn’t have attempted.

Charlie looked at Faith and somehow knew—in that deep, gut-level way that real farmers understand—that she carried something special in her genetics. Something that couldn’t be bought or sold. Something that would outlive them all.

“It’s not about the money,” Charlie said, according to the stories that have been passed down through breeding records and family memories. And against all odds, he was right.

That Gold Medal Dam designation Faith would earn? In the 1970s, before genomics and computers, a GMD represented the pinnacle of breeding achievement—a cow whose offspring consistently exceeded expectations across multiple herds and breeding programs. It meant you had a cow that was one in ten thousand.

The Winter That Nearly Broke Everything

Here’s where the story gets even more remarkable for those who understand breeding history. In the fall of 1965, in one of those Pennsylvania winters when everything seemed impossible, Charlie’s brother Henry called about some yearling heifers down in Perry County. A dozen Whirlhill Kingpin daughters that most breeders wouldn’t touch because of their udder problems.

Charlie bought them all. Including one special heifer—Ady Whirlhill Frona.

Nobody could have prepared him for what came next. When it came time to breed Frona, Charlie made a choice that seemed almost reckless. He bred her to Pawnee Farm Arlinda Chief—a bull whose genetics would eventually influence almost 14% of all Holstein DNA today, according to UC Davis research. But Chief came with risks. His genetics carried a lethal mutation that would cause heartbreak across the industry—over half a million lost calves worldwide. (Read more: The $4,300 Gamble That Reshaped Global Dairy Industry: The Pawnee Farm Arlinda Chief Story and Bell’s Paradox: The Worst Best Bull in Holstein History)

Charlie didn’t know about the mutation then. He just knew that sometimes, to create something extraordinary, you have to risk everything.

The Four Daughters Who Carried the Dream Forward

But then something remarkable happened that even Charlie couldn’t have imagined. Faith didn’t just excel herself—she passed on her gifts through four extraordinary daughters that would reshape breeding programs worldwide:

Plushanski Valiant Fran EX-90 35* achieved something almost unheard of in the pre-embryo transfer era. The “star” designation meant her offspring significantly exceeded the breed average. Seven went on to score Excellent. Twenty-five scored Very Good. Her 365-day record of 36,920 pounds of milk proved you could have both beauty and production. Through Fran came the show line that would eventually produce Quality BC Frantisco—Grand Champion at the Royal Winter Fair in 2004 and 2005.

Quality B C Frantisco-ET EX-96-3E 18*, a daughter Plushanski Valiant Fran-ET. Frantisco’s multiple championships at the Royal Winter Fair and her recognition as International Cow of the Year highlight the continued influence of Faith’s bloodlines, even in subsequent generations.

Plushanski Job Fancy VG-88 GMD DOM became the commercial production matriarch. The DOM (Dam of Merit) designation meant she had sons entering AI service. Through her daughter, Plushanski Neil Flute VG-87, and granddaughter Plushanski Mark Fife VG-87, this branch would spread across the globe, with bulls like To-Mar D-Fortune carrying these genetics into thousands of herds.

Plushanski Dawn Fayne and Plushanski Star Faith rounded out this remarkable quartet, each contributing their own unique genetic gifts to the breed.

What pedigree enthusiasts will appreciate is that each daughter seemed to capture a different aspect of Faith’s genetic package—Fran got the show-ring presence, Fancy got the commercial reliability, Flute got the udder quality, and Fife got the longevity. It’s as if Faith parceled out her gifts, ensuring her influence would touch every aspect of Holstein breeding.

Contemporary Competition and Context

To understand the magnitude of Charlie’s decision, you need to know what else was happening in Holstein breeding in 1973. This was the era of legendary cow families like:

• The Romandale Reflection Marquis family
• The Hanoverhill lines that Pete Heffering was building
• The emerging Elevation daughters that were revolutionizing the type

Yet Faith would outlast and out-influence many of these contemporary families. While other great cows of the era produced individual champions, Faith created entire dynasties that adapted to different breeding goals worldwide.

The Global Explosion Nobody Saw Coming

What’s fascinating for breeding historians is how Faith’s genetics adapted to completely different breeding goals around the world:

The European Production Revolution

The Dutch breeders working with the Javina family (Faith’s European descendants through Job Fancy) focused intensively on commercial traits. De Biesheuvel Delta Javina and her daughters consistently top the Dutch NVI rankings. These aren’t just good cows—they’re the kind that define breeding programs for decades. When families consistently produce #1 NVI sons and daughters generation after generation, you’re witnessing genetic consistency that modern genomics still struggles to predict.

Canada’s Show Ring Dynasty

In Canada, Paul Ekstein’s work with the Frantisco line through Valiant Fran created a show dynasty. Quality BC Frantisco’s achievements—Grand Champion at the Royal Winter Fair in 2004 and 2005, five-time All-Canadian, International Cow of the Year 2005—prove that Faith genetics could compete at the highest levels decades after her death.

Australia’s Modern Application

Ray Kitchen at Carenda Holsteins demonstrates how Faith genetics remain relevant in 2025. Their Carenda Pemberton, with 606 daughters from 79 herds, shows how these genetics adapt to modern selection tools while maintaining their core strengths.

Why This Matters for Today’s Breeders

I recently talked with a producer in Wisconsin who discovered Faith genetics in his herd almost by accident while researching pedigrees. His Faith-line cows? They’re averaging 3.8 lactations compared to the industry’s 2.8. That extra lactation—worth an estimated $1,200 to $1,500 per cow in today’s market—is the difference between profitability and struggle.

With the nearly 800,000-heifer shortage CoBank reports, quality genetics have never been more valuable. When you see names like Big Gospell, Apina Fortune, or To-Mar D-Fortune in a pedigree, you’re looking at Faith’s legacy, refined through decades of selection.

What Charlie Knew in His Heart

Standing there in my own barn sometimes, I think about Charlie Plushanski in that moment in 1973. The breeding community was watching. The pressure was immense. The money would have solved immediate problems.

Instead, he made the harder choice. The one that required patience, vision, and something more—faith in genetics that would prove their worth across decades and continents.

Charlie passed away in 1991, but his son Cary kept the dream alive at the Kutztown farm until his own passing just this September. Three generations of a family who understood that sometimes the best breeding decisions aren’t about today’s milk check or tomorrow’s bills. Sometimes they’re about creating genetic legacies that outlast us all.

The Echo That Still Saves Farms

Every time a Faith descendant helps a farm survive another year, navigate another crisis, or build another generation’s future, the echo of Charlie’s “no” from 1973 quietly puts hope back in someone’s barn.

For pedigree enthusiasts, Faith represents something profound—proof that individual breeding decisions can reshape an entire breed. For historians, she’s a reminder that the greatest genetic influences often come from unexpected places. For today’s breeders, she offers both practical genetics and philosophical guidance.

When you’re planning your breeding for next year, when you’re looking at those catalogs and wondering which direction to go, remember Charlie Plushanski. Remember that sometimes the hardest choice—the one that seems impossible at the time—is the one that creates miracles down the road.

That $1,500 per cow advantage from longevity? That’s not just a number. That’s the difference between surviving and thriving, between keeping the farm and losing it, between passing something on to the next generation and watching it slip away.

And somewhere, in barns across the world, Faith’s descendants are still quietly making that difference. Still carrying forward the gift of one farmer’s impossible choice.

It might as well be in your barn, creating your own harvest of hope.

Key Takeaways:

• The Bottom Line: Faith genetics add 1+ lactation (3.8 vs 2.8 average), worth $1,200-$1,500 per cow in today’s market
• Find Them Today: Search your pedigrees for “Javina” (commercial power), “Frantisco” (show quality), or Faith’s four daughters’ names
• Why Now: In an 800,000-heifer shortage, cows that last five lactations instead of 3 are pure profit
• The Lesson: Sometimes saying “no” to quick money creates generational wealth—Charlie proved it in 1973

Executive Summary:

 In 1973, Charlie Plushanski turned down enough money to buy a farm—refusing to sell a cow that would reshape dairy genetics forever. Plushanski Chief Faith (EX-94 4E GMD) didn’t just produce 242,863 pounds of milk; she founded dynasties through four daughters whose genetics now run through millions of cows worldwide. Today, Faith bloodlines deliver the industry’s most overlooked advantage: an extra lactation worth $1,200-$1,500 per cow, achieved through 3.8 lactations versus the 2.8 average. With an 800,000-heifer shortage threatening dairy’s future, these 50-year-old genetics offer what no genomic gamble can: proven longevity across every climate, every system, every market condition. The supreme irony? While the industry obsesses over the latest genomic rankings, Charlie’s half-century-old decision is quietly adding $1,500 to bottom lines worldwide. His refusal reminds us that true genetic wealth isn’t built in a sales ring—it’s built by saying “no” to quick money and “yes” to generational vision.

This narrative draws from breeding records, Holstein Association documentation, and the enduring impact of these genetics on farms worldwide. Some conversations and personal details have been reconstructed to honor the significance of these breeding decisions and the families who made them. The author extends deep gratitude to all who preserve these important agricultural stories.

Learn More:

• Breeding for Longevity: A Producer’s Guide to Building a Herd That Lasts – This guide provides the tactical “how-to” behind the Faith story, revealing modern methods for using indexes like Productive Life (PL) and health traits to systematically build the resilient, high-longevity herd that Charlie Plushanski achieved through intuition and masterful breeding.
• The Heifer Bubble: Navigating Record-High Replacement Costs in a Shrinking National Herd – This economic analysis dives deep into the market forces driving today’s heifer shortage. It offers crucial strategic insights on how to mitigate risk and leverage high replacement costs into a long-term competitive advantage for your operation.
• Beyond TPI: How Genomics is Unlocking a New Frontier of Health and Wellness Traits – This article explores the innovative technology that allows today’s producers to achieve what Faith did naturally. It demonstrates how to use genomic testing to identify and select for the next generation of trouble-free, high-longevity cows in your herd.

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