MARION, Mich. — To breed the best herd he can while teaching his children the value of quality cattle, sums up the breeding philosophy of the 2012 Wayne Webster Memorial Outstanding Young Breeder Award winner, Mark Bontekoe of Touchdown Dairy in Marion.

The award recognizes a Michigan Registered Holstein breeder between the ages of 21-40 who has successfully managed a dairy herd and exemplified the attributes of an accomplished Holstein breeder. Bontekoe was honored at this year’s Michigan Holstein Assoc. (MHA) Annual Meeting in February.

“It is great to be recognized for the hard work we have done and the progress we have made at Touchdown Dairy,” he said.

Bontekoe grew up on a farm and went off to college to study agriculture science at Michigan State University and business at Ferris State University. In 2001, he decided to combine the areas of his education and come up with his own career.

Bontekoe started his own dairy farm from the ground up, designing his barns and feed and manure storage. When asked about the name, Touchdown Dairy, he said he played football while at Ferris State. He explained, “When we started the farm, I was told to choose something unique to me, as a prefix. It just so happened that ‘Touchdown’ was available as a prefix! Therefore, we have Touchdown Dairy.”

Although Touchdown began with grade cattle, Bontekoe began to purchase registered cattle and since then, has been flushing specific cows to build up the registered herd and to market bulls. He is milking 150 cows with a breeding program focused on putting bulls into artificial insemination.

To date, Bontekoe has six bulls in the bull studs with numerous contracts still to fill. One of his goals is to “breed the number one TPI bull that is industry-changing, such as Shottle or Goldwyn.”

For flushing the top cows, Touchdown is using SuperSire, Lithium and sexed Atwood. For the rest of the herd, current bulls used are Touchdown Freddie Franchise, Touchdown Freddie Freak, Shamrock, Robust and Patrone. Tycoon is the choice to use on the red cows.

Another goal Bontekoe has his eye on is to have the first 40,000-pound herd average in the state of Michigan – and he has the genetics to make it happen, with several cows that have produced more than 100,000 pounds of milk in their lifetime and three Gold Medal Dams of Merit: End Road Shottle Birdie, Hidden View Morty Pamela and Ortho Apple Marshall Zyne.

Pamela was the first Michigan Milk and Protein Senior three-year-old. Bontekoe also won the Northstar Progressive Dairy Producer and has had several young, high-genomic animals.

With his farm nestled in an active MHA district, he enjoys serving on the District VII Holstein board and has been the sale chair for its annual sale. He also serves on the Osceola County Soil and Conservation District board and has been president of the Osceola County Farm Bureau.

With three boys – Owen 10, Brant, 8 and Damion, 4 – and a love for athletics, coaching Pop Warner football and Little League baseball is a natural fit for this collegiate athlete. He is also a county 4-H leader.

Bontekoe is married to Katrina, who has an off-farm job but helps on the farm where she is needed. Touchdown Dairy has a rolling herd average of 26,000 and a BAA of 104.5.