With six generations of cattle showmen and women in their ancestry, the Goehring family of east-central Wisconsin has a long-standing reputation for marketing top-quality beef for the show ring.

“We raise show cattle,” says Wayne Goehring, the patriarch of the family. “Our niche is selling elite heifers and show steers. If we raise a bull we think will make it, we tend to lock those genetics in” to their own herd rather than marketing it. “Where the money is for us is marketing steers out of them [for the show ring].”

Wayne works with his sons Travis and Ryan, who is the herdsman. Ryan’s son Nolan, 10, is already a show ring veteran of several years. His daughter Maliyah, 6, has been showing for two years and has been very successful in showmanship contests.

Ryan operates Goehring Show Cattle while Wayne owns the three Goehring farms in northern Ozaukee and southern Sheboygan counties, including the family homestead, founded in 1845. According to Ryan, they try to split income down the middle.

The Goehring cow herd typically ranges from 50 to 60 head, with a good portion used as embryo recipients. They have Angus, Simmental, Maine-Anjou and Charolais, and are just starting to invest in high-end Hereford genetics.

Marketing cattle

The Goehring family markets around the U.S. via a website and online auctions, so their cattle end up at shows both local and national in scope. “We’ve had champions, reserve champions and breed champions all over the country,” Wayne says, including the American Royal in Kansas City.

“Another was a national champion in Louisville, and there have been champions at Wisconsin and Arkansas state fairs,” Ryan adds. Last year, Nolan, with a steer sired by a currently popular bull, won the Jackpot Show at Wautoma, was reserve champion at River Falls and earned grand champion at the Ozaukee County Fair.

“We generally will keep two or three bulls and will lease bulls that currently stand at stud for cleanup,” Wayne says. But the Goehrings mostly use AI and implant embryos. They store semen, and buy and sell embryos.

“We buy embryos online or through contacts in the show cattle business,” Wayne says.

“Just to diversify and keep improving our genetics,” Ryan adds. “We’ll seek embryos from national show champions or ones that have raised national champions for our cattle.”

He notes that he and his dad will flush four to five cows this year. That includes one 20-year-old brood cow and several in their teens. “If we flush and constantly make good cattle out of specific genetics, we just keep flushing and flushing,” Wayne says. “It can take several attempts to find the match that clicks; when we find something that works, we stick with it.”

“We had a good year last year, so we can go into flushing more cows so it can help our flushing the way we want it to,” Ryan says. “We kind of know where the markets are, so it kind of works out.”

All of their AI, embryo transfer and flushing is handled by professionals. “I want a trained embryologist,” Wayne explains. “When you’re buying embryos out of national champion cows, it doesn’t come cheap, and it takes a lot of effort and cost to create them out of even our owned cows. I’d rather have somebody come breed my cows who’s done hundreds or even thousands.”

Calves are pastured during the summer, and by fall, Ryan says, “I check what’s sellable ... what’s worth the exhibitors’ time. It’s pretty trendy, so what was popular two years ago is not popular now.” As with embryo purchases, the Goehrings watch for bull-cow combinations whose progeny has been tested in the showring.

They market across all their breeds, plus some crossbreds. Most of those are an Angus base crossed to Charolais and Maine-Anjou.

“Charolais and Simmental cross is getting to be a big thing with Angus,” Wayne notes. “Show cattle have changed a lot over the last 60 years.” He says it’s a “completely different animal” from the blocky, low-to-the-ground beef once preferred to the extremely tall and lanky animal that became popular for a time to today’s preference for the middle of the two extremes.

The Goehrings belong to most beef breed associations, and Wayne is a founder and first president of the Eastern Wisconsin Beef Producers and Promoters Association.

They also harvest maple syrup, and Ryan is building a reputation as a cattle judge. Wayne’s wife, Darlene, is a 4-H leader, the farm’s “financial adviser” and “attempts to keep us on track,” her husband says with a chuckle. Ryan’s former wife, Courtney, maintains close ties with the family. She is a semiprofessional cattle photographer who takes photos of the Goehring cattle for sales purposes and also does photo shoots at some of the top cattle operations in the state for sales catalogs and web advertising.

She also has a background in showing cattle in her youth. Besides helping with the daily cattle operations, she helps fit the cattle and attends shows. She is considered a big reason for Nolan’s and Maliyah’s successes in showmanship contests. Click through the slideshow to see photos of the kids showing.

Buchholz writes from Fond du Lac, Wis.