By Melissa Hart On the cover of the recent Michigan Dairy Cattle News is a photo of the Wolverine Purebred Livestock Sales Pavilion, a massive sales arena that sat on Grand River between Williamston and Okemos in the 1950s and 60s. This same photo was on the cover of the 1955 Holstein Michigander, the predecessor of the Michigan-Indiana Holstein News and the Michigan Dairy Cattle News. I put that photo on the cover because it harkened back to a time when the Registered Holstein business was thriving in Michigan. There were sales in every corner of the state and Michigan Holstien genetics were sought after by breeders from across the country. The Wolverine Sales Pavilion was built by Clarence B. Smith after World War II who came north from Kentucky as an auto worker. His love for cattle led him to manage Baynewood owned by E.M. Bayne at Romeo, MI. There he developed the great Royal Ormsby, the 141 st cow of the breed to produce over 1000 pounds of fat in one ye...
I'm Melissa Hart and I'm glad you're here! Follow my instagram @farmwriter