Ron Mitchell wasn’t in his usual spot at this year’s Monroe County Fair dairy show. But what happened after his calf went around the ring seemed like a sign from above.
As one of 13 in the registered Holstein winter calf class, Ron-D-Ville Rebell Selah was awarded with first place honors and blue ribbon in the largest calf class of the dairy show on Friday, July 24 at the Monroe County Fair in Tomah.
After the winter calf win and cheers from the audience, a moment of silence was held for long-time dairyman Ronald “Ron” E. Mitchell, who passed away earlier this year at the age of 89.
Ron became a fixture in the county’s dairy industry after being hired by the Monroe County Co-Op Dairy Herd Improvement Association in 1958. It would be the beginning of a 58-year-long career that would send him to nearly every dairy farm in the area to test milk. He never retired, working from his hospital bed up to the day he died, making orders and delegating duties to make sure everything would be taken care of in his absence.
This year’s fair would mark the first without Ron in a long time.
“He always sat on the top bleacher during the dairy show,” said Beth Wells-Leis, a former dairy farmer who has known Ron for her entire life through his connection with her grandparents. “I don’t ever remember a year where he did not sit there. Him and Richard Brown and Brian Simonson always sat on the top.”
When Selah won the registered Holstein winter calf class, Beth said it was “super special” and it felt like a sign that he was there in spirit.
“It was very momentous for him, even though he wasn’t there,” said Beth. “I know how proud he would have been. I know he would have sat there and tapped us all on the shoulder and said ‘Just look at her. Look at how beautiful she is. Isn’t she beautiful?’...he would have been just so ecstatic and proud. I think it was his way of being there.”
Selah and showman Sophie Hyatt also earned honorable mention in the junior show.
“It was a nice nod to the heifer and a nice nod to Ron to be able to get those titles for him,” said Sarah Schmitz, who along with husband Aaron house Selah at their dairy farm in the Ontario area. “I definitely wish Ron would have been able to be here to see [Selah]. I think he would have been so, so excited to see how she’s developed and how she’s turned out.”
Despite his noticeable absence, there were reminders throughout the fair to keep his memory alive.
After his passing, Ron’s family donated $10,400 for improvements to the dairy portion of the fair and to help continue educating others about where milk comes from. Over the weekend on the north side of the upper barn, a wooden bench with Ron’s name carved into it sat next to a milking simulator, where passers-by could learn through hands-on experience exactly how milk comes out of a cow.
Ron dedicated his life to educating others or volunteering to be a part of the learning experience. He volunteered at every Monroe County Dairy Breakfast, overseeing and giving orders at the food line. In his career as a manager and dairy tester for the Monroe County DHIA, he gathered data for dairy producers to use and gain insight to teach farmers how to make their cows better.
Aaron Schmitz, who grew up seeing Ron in his parent’s barn on a monthly basis, says the work Ron did was necessary.
“He helped families see what animals were their top producer in the herd and what they could do to help to fix somatic cell counts, and what their proteins and what their butterfat counts are,” said Aaron. “He helped improve herds.”
“He gathered that data for farms to be able to make those business decisions,” said Sarah. “Because at the end of the day, dairy farming is a business and if something is not clicking the boxes you have to be able to make those informed decisions.”
Ron witnessed many of those informed decisions and changes in the industry, working with multiple generations on the same farm or watching kids grow up and start their own. Aaron grew up knowing and seeing Ron every month when he made his rounds for testing.
Despite not being a dairy farmer, Ron began developing and having favorite cows out of each herd over the years of testing and scoring dairy cattle. As small farms would go out of operation, Ron started buying and registering his favorites as a way to keep those bonds alive.
“He may have never had a working dairy farm of his own but he definitely had his connection with keeping those cows from herds he has worked with for decades,” said Aaron.
Some of those connections started before his time with the DHIA.
After graduating from Cashton High School in 1955, Ron’s adult career in agriculture began as hired help for James and Lois Wells. After starting at the DHIA, his connection to the Wells family continued through generations where he would eventually end up all the way to testing milk for James and Lois’s granddaughter Beth Wells-Leis.
This past Saturday, Beth wore one of Ron’s shirts and a hat while walking around the ring in the seasoned showmanship competition. Despite lengthy limbs, her son Gage also sported a classic Ron shirt during the goat show Friday afternoon.
“He was very close with the Pierce family of Tomah as well, so Scott, Lee, and I wore his hats,” said Beth. “That was our way of honoring him.”
Beth and her family was one of a couple of farms that hosted Ron’s cows. After moving from one farm to another, they stalled his cows together and put up a sign that said ‘Ron-D-Ville Holsteins’.
“He could not have been more proud, of the move in general, and the fact that his cows had this whole big lineup,” said Beth.
Eventually, despite Ron’s wish for every small farm to make it, the Wells-Leis family had to sell their cows.
“He wanted nothing more than every little small farm to stay alive,” said Beth. “That was something that was super important to him. Unfortunately it’s not very realistic.”
The Ron-D-Ville Holsteins ended up at Red Line Ridge Holsteins and Jerseys, the farm of Aaron and Sarah Schmitz, where Selah and her older sister are all that’s left of Ron’s herd. Selah hadn’t been named by the time Ron passed, so Sarah made sure the meaning would be special.
“I settled on Selah,” said Sarah. “If you look it up, it does have a meaning to pause, reflect, and to lift up. It’s a little bit biblical. I just thought that it was a nice way to commemorate Ron as we are bringing up this calf to remember him.”
In regards to how and why Selah did well in the show, Sarah said that she is “very dairy.”
“She’s very stylish. She’s a well-grown calf,” said Sarah. “I know even after she was born, she was in her calf hutch, Aaron and I looked at each other and said ‘that calf is just so long, she’s so tall. She’s so dairy.’”
Sarah said that they knew immediately that Selah was worth the effort.
“We just knew right from the get-go that if we were going to be able to push this calf and make her the best that she could be, we really thought she could do well for Ron and at the shows,” said Sarah. “She did that for him, for sure.”
During preparation time for the fair, Sarah says Selah would throw her head and not want to walk. Despite Selah’s apparent disdain for walking on a halter, Sophie Hyatt, a student from Brookwood and a second-year dairy showman, chose to take Selah on as one of her projects for the season. Once school was over in June, Sophie walked Selah two to three times a week.
“Once she gets tired, she’ll just let you do whatever,” said Sophie. “[On Friday], she just laid her head on my shoulder all day.”
After winning the winter calf class, Sophie said there was a lot of cheering from the crowd. She also said it was pretty cool to be the one to lead Selah around the ring.
“I was really excited, especially because everyone watching knew it was Ron’s calf,” said Sophie.
Sarah says Sophie kind of starting showing dairy “as a joke”. Sophie says Sarah got her into showing dairy and told her just to try it out. Sophie and her family raise beef but she says she might prefer the dairy over the steers when it comes to leading them around.
“I like dairy. They’re a lot calmer than the beef cows I have at home so I like working with them more,” said Sophie. “They’re easier to handle.”
Aaron says that all the kids that show their animals exceeded expectations, especially those who don’t have family involved in farming.
“I’m incredibly proud of them,” said Aaron. “They’re doing the washing. They’re doing the walking. They’re doing the bedding. They’re doing the feeding. All of them are doing a really great job.”
Sarah said that maybe Sophie will have a winter yearling at next year’s Monroe County Fair, referring to Selah, who will for sure be staying with the Schmitzes after confirmation from Ron’s family earlier in the week.
“[Selah] is probably one of the best animals he’s had since our involvement and probably the best they’ve done show-wise at the fair for him, so that is the most rewarding part,” said Aaron. “We’re just thankful for the family for giving us the opportunity to keep the cattle at our house and continue with Ron’s prefix and legacy.”
