Holsteins take over corporate world - Editorial Notebook

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While the Herefords, Simmentals and Charolais quietly chewed their collective cuds, Holsteins took over the corporate and commercial world.

Everywhere that “cow” is symbolized, Holsteins are the breed of choice.

When Helen Hunt escaped collision with a flying cow in the movie Twister, it was a Holstein. Cartoons feature Holsteins on the rare occasions when cows are called for.

Try as you might to find red white-faced stuffed animals or cute kitchen themes showing playful Limousins or cartoonish Anguses, there are none to be had.

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Holsteins are everywhere.

Just how did these butterfat bovines catch and hold the concept of all that is “cow” in popular culture?

Maybe we can blame it on the urbanites. When they venture out of the cities, their first sighting of a cow is likely to be at a dairy, and dairies typically favour Holsteins for their well-documented milk production capabilities. Ergo, city folk relate to cows as black and white.

Those in cattle country know differently. Out on the range, the cattle are likely to be various shades of brown or black, with bits of white mixed in.

A Holstein cow in a beef herd sticks out like a sore thumb – and so do her hipbones. Coloring and size make Holsteins easy to sort from beef animals. That’s handy, because there’s usually one or two of them around the ranch, purchased for milking or to nurse an orphaned calf.

Holsteins in a beef herd tend to be creative thinkers. They zig when the others zag. They go wading in the dugout when the others are grazing. They plod placidly ahead while their counterparts are running amok.

With no intention to cast aspersions on this most noble dairy breed, I have heard anecdotal evidence that suggests the size of the udder is inversely proportional to the speed of the thought processes.

Has this slow, stolid demeanor and dogged docility allowed Holsteins to dominate the world moo market?

Or is it simply the fact that black and white are always available in an artistic repertoire?

There’s no denying the beauty of stark black markings against the white background of a Holstein viewed broadside.

It’s said you can sometimes find a map of the world or a caricature of Elvis on the hides of some of these dairy beasties.

But that might depend upon what weeds you’ve been growing out behind the barn.

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