Randy Kortus Honored by World Dairy Expo

World Dairy Expo has named Randy Kortus, Lynden, Wash., as the 2023 Dairy Producer of the Year. He was formally recognized at the World Dairy Expo Recognition Awards Banquet in Madison, Wis., on October 4, 2023.

Kortus operated Mainstream Holsteins, Jerseys and Ayrshires with his family for nearly four decades, until 2020, when the herd was sold. Randy and his late wife, Jana, were masters of cattle breeding and meticulous herd managers, fostering each cow to maximize its genetic potential. Recognized the world over, the Mainstream prefix is synonymous with crème de la crème production, functional type, and tremendous longevity.

Randy grew up on a commercial dairy but developed an interest in registered cattle through 4-H. He met Jana at the Northwestern Washington Fair. The two earned their undergraduate degrees from Washington State University, married, and together bought the farm at the end of Main Street in Lyndon in 1981. They established the dairy herd with Holsteins. Jerseys came to the Mainstream farm in 1993 as a birthday present for their daughter, Melissa. Ayrshires first came to the farm five years later.

No matter the breed, the Kortuses made a name for themselves and developed cattle that impacted dairy cattle genetics across the globe. The feat was accomplished by paying mind to the tiniest of details. Cattle were bred for total performance, with equal balance on production and strength traits, and nurtured with a goal of healthy rumens that supported high production. The Mainstream cattle were large, strong, and aggressive. And though the Kortuses appreciated peaks, they were more concerned about consistent production and not afraid of high producers with longer days open.

The herd was intensively grazed on 30 acres from April through mid-October. Nearly all feed was purchased. Corn silage, the only homegrown element of the diet, was mixed with beet pulp for palatability. Three types of top-quality hay were fed—alfalfa, oat, and grass—along with two types of grain specially formatted for the Mainstream herd. One was fed in the parlor, the other outside.

The Jersey herd led the nation for milk production for 11 consecutive years beginning in 2005 and then ranked among the top 10 for the next three years as well. The herd lactation average for 2009 still stands as the all-time breed record for all measures of standardized production, at 32,395 lbs. milk, 1,793 lbs. fat, 1,107 lbs. protein, and 3,869 lbs. cheese yield.

Few contemporary herds rival Mainstream for developing high-producing Jerseys year in and year out, a remarkable accomplishment given its small size. Among the cows that have produced the breed’s 25 highest milk, fat, protein, and cheese yield records are 11 cows owned by the Kortuses. Over the years, the milking string at Mainstream earned more than 165 Hall of Fame awards for actual cheese yield production.

The first superstar was Mainstream Berretta Joy, Very Good-88%, who burst on the scenes in 2003 with a senior four-year-old record of 44,930 lbs. milk – a new world record for Jerseys. Four years later, her daughter, Mainstream Barkly Jubilee, Very Good-87%, broke that record with 49,250 lbs. milk and then shattered her own record in the next lactation with 55,590 lbs. milk, 2,550 lbs. fat, 1,796 lbs. protein and 6,201 lbs. cheese yield. This record still stands as the world’s best for milk, protein, and cheese yield for Jerseys.

Another matriarch who left her mark is Mainstream Jace Shelly, Excellent-91%, who topped every division of the Leading Living Lifetime Production Contest for five consecutive years beginning in 2013. She has held the title of all-time lifetime production champion since 2016 and wound up with totals of 418,590 lbs. milk, 20,846 lbs. fat, and 15,615 lbs. protein in 4,657 days. This equates to 84 lbs. of milk, 4.16 lbs. of fat, and 3.12 lbs. of protein per day.

“Joy” is a two-time winner of the President’s Trophy. “Jubilee” and “Shelly” have also won this award along with the Hilmar Cheese Yield Trophy.

Other legends in the lifetime production contest are Lagerweys Hallmark Redrose, Excellent-91%, winner of the 2012 contest, Mainstream Hallmark Serena, Excellent-90%, and Select Lily of Mainstream, Excellent-91%.

In the early years, Melissa topped the 1999 National Jersey Youth Production Contest with Lagerweys 285 Silky, Excellent-90%, the dam of “Joy.” Her brother, Michael, won the contest in 2003 with “Redrose.” He also won the 2010 Pot O’Gold Production Contest with Havs Iatola Topaz, Excellent-91%, who made three consecutive cheese yield records ranked on the current National Class Leader list or among the top 25 in breed history.

The Kortuses also sent several Jersey bulls to A.I. The most prominent was Mainstream Iatola Sparky, out of “Shelly” and sampled through Jerseyland Sires.

The Holstein herd at Mainstream has achieved equally significant laurels. Over the years, the Mainstream matriarchs earned 47 Gold Medal Dam and 23 Dam of Merit awards. The Kortuses received 30 Progressive Genetics Herd awards from the Holstein Association USA along with the Herds of Excellence award in 2016. Seventeen cows have lifetime production totals over 300,000. The Holstein leader, Mainstream Chesapeake Petal, made more than 411,000 lbs. of milk. At one point, six generations of Holsteins grazed the pastures at the farm in Lynden. A sire icon in the Holstein breed, Mainstream Manifold, has more than 73,000 daughters globally and semen sales over 1.6 million units.

Though smaller in number, the Ayrshire herd at Mainstream lived up to the legacy of its Jersey and Holstein counterparts and led the nation in production for many years. Mainstream Real Bethany, Excellent-93%, won both the Ayrshire Trophy (actual milk yield) and the Total Performance Award (energy-corrected milk) in 2015.

Randy and Jana were also early owners and members of the syndicate that developed the prize-winning Guernsey, Westlynn Tom Dee, four-time Grand Champion of the International Guernsey Show and Reserve Supreme Champion of World Dairy Expo in 1996.

Ladies from the Mainstream herd have graced the covers of the Jersey Journal three times and been featured on the cover of Holstein World as well.

Randy has been a leader in the dairy industry too, largely in genetics. For more than 28 years, he served on the boards of All West/Sires and Select Sires and was elected to serve as president of each. He also sat on boards for the National Dairy Shrine and World Wide Sires. Randy traveled to 28 countries on more than 50 different trips, representing the dairy industry on behalf of USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service and Genetic Livestock Export Inc., the Holstein Association, World Wide Sires, and Select Sires. In his international assignments, he judged all breeds of dairy cattle and was the official at eight national dairy shows.

Kortus received the Distinguished Dairy Cattle Breeder Award from the National Dairy Shrine in 2018. The National Association of Animal Breeders honored him with the Member Association Director Award in 2014 and the Washington Holstein Association presented him with the Master Breeder Award in 2017.

Because the Mainstream operation was always a family business, the cattle were sold as herd units in 2020, with Jerseys heading to Canada, Holsteins to California and Oregon, and Ayrshires to Idaho.