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At a young age, Duane Conant of Conant Acres, Inc., Canton, Maine, developed a great love for registered Holstein cattle and a belief that these animals could be marketed for profit. It was this desire that led Conant to be one of the first dairy producers to participate in the global embryo market in the early 1980s.
Duane Conant
“Duane had a major role in developing the embryo export market in its infancy stage,” explains David Rama of the Cattle Exchange. “It all came about for three reasons. First, Conant Acres had a great herd for years. Second, Duane Conant was happy and eager to build a contact and develop a bridge, and third, the Conants have always treated every visitor with first class.”
For these and many other accomplishments, National Dairy Shrine honors Duane W. Conant of Conant Acres, Canton, Maine, as the 2009 Distinguished Dairy Cattle Breeder. Conant is the 37th award winner to receive the dairy industry’s highest honor bestowed to a dairy cattle breeder. The formal presentation will take place October 1 during the National Dairy Shrine awards banquet at World Dairy Expo.
Conant has a long history with dairy cattle. After graduating from high school in 1960, Conant married his high school sweetheart, Betty, and worked on his oldest brother’s registered Holstein farm until 1970 when a barn fire forced his brother to sell his cows.
At that point, Conant returned to his home farm and developed Conant Acres, Inc., a family-owned-and-operated dairy farm in Canton, Maine. Today, Conant Acres consists of Conant, his wife, Betty, and their daughter and son-in-law, Debbie and Steve Keene. Currently, Conant Acres milks 75 registered Holstein cows in a tie stall barn.
With 52 cows classified Excellent and 45 Very Good, Conant Acres has an overall BAA of 112.5 percent, ranking near the top in the country for herds of their size. Since 1988, Conant Acres has bred or developed 42 animals that classified VG 89 in their first lactation. “Duane has consistently had one of the best “barn of cows” you will see anywhere in the country,” says Tim Abbott, general manager of St. Jacobs ABC. “Year after year and generation after generation, the herd has had great type and fantastic udders.”
One of the cornerstone cows in the Conant Acres herd was Swampy Hollow Elevation Sweet. Sweet and her daughters produced a large number of the embryos that Conant Acres marketed worldwide. In fact, one of Sweet’s daughters, Conant-Acres-JY Sweetness-ET, is considered by some to be the cow with the most influence on European genetics as a result of the hundreds of embryos exported over the years.
Today, Conant Acres continues to have an extensive embryo transfer program. Elite cows are flushed to fill A.I. and embryo transfer contracts. The farm also flushes its top cows based on conformation, pedigree, and production to add more offspring to the herd. The extra animals gained from these flushes allow Conant Acres to market a large number of live animals each year.
Part of Conant Acres’ continued success is the influence that their breeding has had on the world of A.I. “The bull that is synonymous with Conant-Acres is Conant-Acres-JY Broker-ET,” Abbott explains. “Numerous All-American and All-Canadian winners have this great bull in their pedigree.”
Along with Broker, several other bulls from Conant’s herd that have influenced dairy genetics include 528 Southland Marker-ET, a result of an embryo that Conant exported to Holland, Conant-Acres-JY MK Champ (Conan), Conant-Acres BWM Granger-ET, and Conant-Acres-JY-CW Abe-ET.
Conant Acres continually strives to breed good cows. To date, they have 35 Gold Medal Dams and 71 Dams of Merit. In addition, 181 cows have a lifetime production of over 100,000 pounds of milk, 162 cows have over 4,000 pounds of lifetime fat, and 149 cows have over 3,000 pounds of lifetime protein.
To promote their herd, one of Conant Acres’ favorite forms of advertising is farm tours. Each year, Duane and his family host hundreds of guests: international visitors, fellow breeders, and school children. One of Duane’s beliefs is that “anytime someone wants to look at your animals, you should accommodate them with your cattle looking their best.”
Richard Chichester, retired general manager of Select Sires, Inc., has been a guest at Conant Acres several times. “Conant Acres is the kind of place that readily attracts visitors. It is a neat, well-kept farm and dairy facility, with the cows clean and attractive on display in the barn,” Chichester explains. “Duane and his friendly family make any and all visitors feel very welcome and comfortable.”
A personal approach is something Conant has strived for his entire life. Each year, Conant Acres maintains a list of contacts with interest in particular cow families. Then, Conant personally contacts potential customers prior to sales and conducts a follow-up call afterwards.
“Duane is one of those rare people whom you will never forget. He is jovial, outspoken, and sometimes opinionated, but he is usually dead-on accurate and always the first one there to offer assistance to his friends and neighbors in need, and he thrives on seeing people succeed,” Rama says.
In addition to managing the farm, Conant has been very active in the dairy industry. After working as a ringman at many sales, Conant, along with two other people, developed “The Masters” sales force, managing one of the highest averaging sales in the country for four years in a row. Conant has also served on numerous committees and boards of directors, including director of the Pine Tree Holstein Association, Maine DHI president for four years, PCA Advisory board member, and Holstein Association USA Type Advisory committee member.
Overall, Conant has the rare talent of combining a great herd of cows and a strong marketing program with a hard work ethic and strong family values.
“In the 25 years I have been visiting Conant Acres, it has always been the same: excellent husbandry practices, a love of the breed, and total dedication to the entire dairy industry,” Rama states. “I guarantee anyone who visits Conant Acres will remember the herd and the people forever, and that’s the real touch of a rare master breeder.”
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