Ferry’s Honored With Master Breeder Award
Flip and Sue Ferry of Johnstown, N.Y., have been named recipients of the Master Breeder award of the American Jersey Cattle Association (AJCA).
The Master Breeder award is bestowed annually to a living AJCA member, family, partnership, or corporation that, in the opinion of the Board of Directors, has bred outstanding animals for many years and thereby made a notable contribution to the advancement of the Jersey breed in the United States.
The Ferrys own and operate Dreamroad Jerseys, a 60-cow registered Jersey dairy, with their children, Pam, Sandy and Becky. They have created an esteemed reputation for breeding type and production cows since the mid-1980s.
Their decade-long resume is quite impressive, which includes breeding 137 Excellent cows from their small herd of just 60 head. This also includes one 96-point cow and three 95-point cows.
“Very few breeders can point to 137 Excellent cows,” commented John Ferry, D.V.M., of Milk Street Dairy, LLC. “Far fewer can point to 137 Excellent cows that are also high producers.”
Dreamroad’s breeding decisions and pedigree lines have garnered the attention of many across New York, the nation and the globe, resulting in sales to 16 domestic states and two foreign countries.
“The history of Dreamroad Jerseys has not always been a happy one, but one full of determination and strength of character,” writes Sandra Scott, Johnstown, N.Y., award nominator and president of the New York Jersey Cattle Club.
“They have persevered many hardships through much hard work while displaying first and foremost unrelentless devotion to their family,” stated Timothy Coon, of Amenia, N.Y., is a longtime friend and mentor to the Ferry family.
Flip and Sue’s life story resembles what one would consider a Jersey edition of a Hallmark movie. As a third-generation dairy farmer, Flip learned the importance of hard work, responsibility and dedication at a very early age. He grew up showing competitive Jersey cattle at his local, regional and state shows alongside his parents and five siblings. His academic career culminated with his attendance at Cornell University, where he proudly studied dairy science.
Unfortunately, at school, he sustained a serious injury in a car accident, forcing him to return to the farm to recover. While home, he met city sweetheart, Sue, who would soon become his wife. Completely unaware of the farm lifestyle, she was initially unaccustomed to the late nights, early mornings and daily chores. But she quickly became familiar to the farm.
Scott notes, “Sue started with feeding calves and slowly worked into other roles. She came to adore the farm lifestyle and quickly learned to appreciate the opportunities that the farm provided her and her family.”
From that moment on, they cultivated a meaningful life for their children, gained a reputation of perseverance and let their passion shine through every facet of their involvement in the dairy industry.
In 1981, the young couple purchased a piece of land and a herd of Jerseys to begin their own journey in Adams Center, N.Y. Unfortunately, soon after moving in, they were devastated by a house fire. But, in true Ferry fashion, the family adapted and overcame the circumstances, resulting in both Flip and Sue working as the herd managers at Dream Street, a nationally known Holstein farm in Walton, N.Y.
Flip and Sue each had their individual responsibilities, which contributed to the overall success of the dairy. Through this experience, Flip received the great honor to travel across the country and learn from some of the most respected cowmen and notable breeders of his generation, such as Barry Potter, Tim Coon, Buddy Fleming, Roland Bovee and others. As Flip and Sue reflect in their application, they treasure the times they got to talk cows and learn from these people and the friendships they created.
After their time at Dream Street, they spent the following four years working as herd managers on dairies in New York’s Hudson Valley and Finger Lake regions.
In 1987, Flip and Sue’s young children expressed interest in showing dairy cattle of their own. So, Christmas morning was a little extra special that year, as Pam, Sandy and Becky all received a Jersey calf of their own.
This instigated the purchase of another property, allowing them to house and manage a mixed herd of 25 Jersey and Holstein cows. Upon purchasing the farm, Flip made great strides in breeding decisions, which resulted in their first home-bred Excellent cow—Flip Sue Spirit Angelic. As one of the very first cows they bred, she granted the family much success in the coming years, including Grand Champion at their local show.
Christine Sheesley Rozler of Potsdam, N.Y., owner and operator at Cowbell Acres, shared her perspective on the breeding objectives of Dreamroad in her letter of support, “Flip and Sue made many breeding decisions early on based on the semen they could afford, but they were quite picky. Flip wasn’t about to use the ‘trendy’ show bulls. He wanted boatloads of milk out of his cows, high components, beautiful udders and good feet and legs.”
This would only be the beginning of a very successful career breeding, showing and marketing Jersey cattle for the Ferry family.
In 1991, Windvale Legend Diedra and Don-Icia Foundation Sport, two four-year-old cows were exhibited in Louisville, Ky., which was the family’s first time showing at the All American Jersey Show. Both were competitive on the green shavings, most notably ‘Diedra’ claiming the production award in junior and open shows and “Sport” placing third in the junior show.
Another All American success for the family was Cowbell Royal Cassidy. The family purchased her in 1993 from Christine Sheesley Rozler as a heifer calf and Becky showed her to a fourth place finish in the All American Junior Jersey Show that year.
Christine commented on the achievements of ‘Cassidy’ in her letter stating, “Cassidy’ became a Dreamroad foundation cow, with 14 of her 15 daughters going on to score Excellent-90% or above.”
Not only did “Cassidy” produce high type animals, but also animals who were reputable in their production. Most notably, her daughter—Dreamroad Berretta Carol—appraised Excellent-91% and produced a Hall of Fame record. At 7-3, ‘Carol’ completed a record of 24,190 lbs. milk, 1,158 lbs. fat and 867 lbs. protein, with a cheese yield of 2,998 lbs.
Alta Mae Core of Keightley-Core Jersey Farm, Salvisa, KY., recognizes the hard work and dedication required to produce high-quality cows that exceed in both type and production.
Core testifies to the magnitude of the Dreamroad cows as she reflects upon Dreamroad TBone Clumsy—a daughter of “Carol”—now owned by the Keightley & Core Jersey family.
“Cows like this one do not happen by chance—it takes many generations of exceptional breeding to accomplish this,” said Core in a letter of support. “Clumsy” is appraised at Excellent-96%, which is particularly special for the Ferry family, considering she is the only cow with the Dreamroad prefix with such prestigious score.
Flip’s lifelong motto for Dreamroad was to breed high-production cows who could also be successful in the show ring. This goal is greatly admired among his peers.
“The Ferry family has always had a great group of production cows who could show,” commented Moira Tierney Poitras, Brimfield, Mass., in a letter of support. “Although “Flip and Sue started from very meager beginnings, they have taken a start from nothing and turned it into something very special.”
In their small, but mighty herd of 60 Jerseys, Dreamroad’s breeding objectives have proven to be incredibly successful, especially noting that over half of their producing herd is appraised Excellent-90% or higher. Of the 31 Jerseys that are categorized as such, there are a handful that standout due to their exceptional production records, show ring appeal and impressive appraisal scores.
Dreamroad Region Cheese and Dreamroad Frontrunner Keep At It are both appraised Excellent-94% and have produced many daughters who have followed in their footsteps of success. Both cows have records in excess of 19,000 lbs. milk and more than 1,000 lbs. fat.
Dreamroad Sultan That Thing is no exception to Flip’s motto of breeding high production cows who are also victorious in the show ring. “That Thing” is one of three cows Flip and Sue have bred that is appraised Excellent-95%.
“How would we define a Master Breeder?” asks John Ferry in his support of the couple. “Perhaps someone that achieves extraordinary results using ordinary inputs. Or another quality of a Master Breeder might be the love of cattle that translates to another generation.
“Flip and Sue have already won the most cherished award a lover of cattle breeding can hope for, which is to see their daughters carry on the herd.
It is only fitting to recognize them with this lifetime of achievement.”
