ANTIGONISH: A local Holstein farm in Brierly Brook has recently been presented with a major award, for the second time in the family farm’s history.
Lindenright Holsteins, a family farm just outside of Antigonish that was established in 1983 and is owned by Joanne, Harry and Jason Van der Linden, was only one of two Nova Scotian farms to be bestowed with Holstein Canada’s Master Breeder Award.
The Master Breeder Award is the most prolific accolade awarded by Holstein Canada, recognizing breeders for having the best ratio for breeding cows that possess the complete package; high production and outstanding conformation, with high proficiency in reproduction, health, and longevity.
According to the Holstein Canada website, conformation is the Canadian classification system to calculate points in four scorecard sections; Mammary System, Feet and Legs, Dairy Strength and Rump, where several traits are objectively measured from defined reference points on the cow.
The announcement on this “momentous achievement” was made during the Municipality of the County of Antigonish’s regular council meeting on June 14.
“This is their second master breeder shield, their previous one was in 2007,” Warden Owen McCarron told council. “Each year since 1929, Holstein Canada has recognized breeders among their membership for their cumulative breeding efforts. This award is the pinnacle of success for any Holstein Canada member.”
Since its inception, over 1,000 master breeder shields have been awarded across the country, and this Brierly Brook farm has been awarded two of them in their 39-year existence.
According to a Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture website, Lindenright Holsteins milk 90 cows on a 200 acre farm.
“Thank you for this acknowledgement of our award, it meant a lot to us to win this award for a second time,” Joanne Van der Linden said. “The best way to describe this award is like the Stanley Cup of purebred Holstein. That’s basically what it means to people in our business to win this award.”
Van der Linden recognized agriculture plays a big part in Antigonish County, and highlighted her son Jason, was a huge contributor to the family’s second shield.
“Just continue to bear in mind how important agriculture is in this community, not just dairy, but a number of other commodities. Us as producers who live so close to an urban unit, it’s always in the back of our minds,” she said. “A lot of our good farm land in this country has been lost to urban development. Some of the best farmland in this country is now under concrete.”
If COVID-19 has taught anything, Van der Linden said, it’s to not rely on others to produce food.
“One boat stuck in the Suez Canal, or a lack of truck drivers, or a fight with China, we could be hungry,” she said. “It’s important in this community, in this province, in this country to continue to produce our own food and we as farmers, need the support of the public to do that.”
Following the meeting, the warden told reporters, the Van der Linden family as a whole have contributed to the Antigonish community for close to 40 years.
“They are very proud of what they do. I think when we heard Mrs. Van der Linden speak on the importance of farming in this community, it really shows what Antigonish County is made of,” McCarron said. “So we’re pretty pleased to present them with a little plaque in recognition of the honour. It’s pretty impressive local farmers continue to do very, very well on the national scene.”