Throughout her youth, Melissa Haag, DVM, was active in 4-H and was on a career path to study equine genetics. However, after meeting her now husband, Josh, in college at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, she found more of an interest in the dairy industry and now farms with his father and mother, John and Julie.
"I realized I kind of did have this love for dairy cows," Haag says, after her relationship with Josh grew more serious. "It was my desire to learn more about dairy cattle genetics and talking to local 4-H family and friends that pushed me into the realm of dairy shows and genetics."
While Haag's upbringing didn't place her directly on a farm, both her parents were raised on one. Although her exposure to dairy shows was limited during her youth, her passion for dairy genetics was ignited during her client visits as a veterinarian.
Anticipating the growth of their family, Haag and her husband envisioned expanding their herd beyond Holsteins to create opportunities for their future kids to be in the show ring one day. Haag's grandpa's knowledge and previous experience with Guernseys led them to consider investing in the breed. After graduating from veterinary school, Haag was gifted a Guernsey heifer as a "Congratulations, you made it through veterinary school. Let's start our Guernsey herd!" from her husband. From there, their journey unfolded.
"Guernsey breeders are extremely family-oriented and very friendly to newcomers in their breed. We were welcomed with open arms when we showed up at shows with our little string of Guernseys, and nobody knew who we were," Haag says. "We got into Guernseys and ended up getting lucky with a couple of special genetic lines, and I've had a lot of fun introducing the kids to the show world through the Guernsey Association."
Driven by a desire to further their Guernsey endeavor after college, Haag eagerly explored opportunities to add another to the herd. When she was walking through the facility where the Guernsey sale was being held at World Dairy Expo (WDE), she knew she couldn't pass up the opportunity.
"I watched a few of them go through the ring, and this yearling heifer came in and wasn't getting a lot of attention," Haag says. After seeing the heifer had a nice foundational pedigree, she knew she had to have her. "I went ahead and put in a couple bids and bought her."
What Haag purchased was Nona, the grand dam of Nutter Butter, a standout heifer and now cow. The dam of the now-4-year-old Nutter Butter was Nutella, who was an embryo-transfer winter calf and brought attention at local shows and was Haag's first heifer exhibited at WDE.
"The Sivesind family was super kind [tying Nutella with them at WDE] and we had a good time with Nutella, so we thought we'd continue showing and working with her," Haag says.
However, what happened next was unexpected. Nutella, while at breeding age and in heat, encountered an unfortunate accident in the pasture and sustained an injury inflicted by herdmates. At the time, Melissa was working as a local veterinarian and made the call to see what was possible to keep the initial line purchased from WDE alive.
"That particular day of the industry, the local veterinarian clinic was running an aspiration day for Trans Ova Genetics, and there happened to be another producer with Guernseys," Haag says, noting the oocytes needed to be paired with semen. So, on Nutella, they performed a transvaginal aspiration of oocytes for in vitro fertilization.
"Afterward, we made the difficult decision to go ahead and euthanize Nutella since her injury was severe enough we weren't going to be able to bring her back from it," Haag says.
Eight oocytes to four embryos to three live calves born on the farm later – one of which was Nutter Butter – the genetic line has continued. What was an emotional time for Haag, who remembers coming into the veterinary clinic with uncertainty, was reassured by her colleagues that it could work out.
"I was a wreck because we had just euthanized my favorite Guernsey, Nutella, and we were trying to get started in the breed. I finally had one good enough to show at WDE and now we had this sudden accident," Haag says. "It's just crazy to think about. I tell people all the time this weird bizarre lingo of teamwork and things just happening to fall into place at the right time. Had it not been for the other Guernsey farm, Blue Dreams Guernseys, to be running their donor to match up semen," it would not have been possible.
Nutter Butter's ascent in the show world has been nothing short of extraordinary. A remarkable journey commenced during her first year as a summer yearling, which led her to sweep class wins and receive junior champion titles. The standout moment in her career was in 2020 when Nutter Butter took home the Junior Champion of the Open Show title at the North American International Livestock Exposition (NAILE) in Louisville, Kentucky, Haag says.
"By this time a lot of Guernsey breeders – like I've said before, they're friendly and welcoming to begin with – [were] glad to see such a nice Guernsey making her way through the show ring," Haag says. "Never could I have dreamed the type of heifer Nutter Butter has turned into and everything she's since done for us as well."
Nutter Butter caught the eye of Jesse and Kami Dorn during her heifer show season. The young Dorn family matched interests with the Haags, and the two families formed a partnership to transition Nutter Butter into a show cow.
Missing her junior 2-year-old season, but still scoring 89 points, while being housed and developed at Gold Rush Guernseys in New Glarus, Wisconsin – Nutter Butter came back once again undefeated in her classes at shows across the Midwest. In 2022, she was named class winner of the junior 3-year-olds at WDE.
Nutter Butter will not make an appearance at WDE this year due to calving in later.
"This year you'll probably see us focusing on her daughters rather than herself," Haag says. With Nutter Butter on an intensive IVF program and being housed at the Dorns' farm, they will still have a presence at this year's WDE. "Between the two families, we will for sure be exhibiting lots of Guernseys at WDE."
While Haag has been an exhibitor in the past, you may find her more in the behind-the-scenes efforts helping her three kids show. On the Haags' farm, you will also see a few employees, who are 4-H members, working and exhibiting the Guernseys at shows as well.
"I like to get things ready. I like to help prep the animals behind the scenes and then get the kids in the ring," Haag says. "I think it's fun to have the kids on the halters taking pride for all the hard work they've done with their animals."
While the daily operations of Haag Dairy are primarily overseen by Josh and John, Haag helps once her day job as a veterinarian for Trans Ova Genetics concludes. She is proud of their progress and success with their genetics while continuing the IVF technology efforts.
"I'm most proud of the family focus and how I can combine my career and hobby passion while instilling that hardworking dairy lifestyle in my kids. I try to show them you can work super hard to make connections and end up having really good success through that hard work," Haag says."The dairy industry is a great place to raise a family. It's a great place to have friends all surrounding the love of the cow."
