Gleann Holsteins

Gleann Holsteins Thomson Family farm since 1813. Gleann Holsteins is a Master Breeder Herd. Milk 46 cows
Tiestall, cows outside from late May to late October.
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Most of herd based on the RUSS family
-refined cows that milk more than expected
-lots of VG and EX cows
-can make show cows

Feed commercial grain mix, haylage and hay
Love to show cows but don't do it much anymore due to cost. Have bred an All-Canadian but have also shown a cow that was last in her class at the Royal. Will never forget either day. Have used several red o

r red factor bulls
Bull, over the past 30 years, that has worked best: Champion. Always price every cow. Usually no preparation for the classifier except 10-12 hrs of milk. Married to Maria July 2014
Brothers: Jack-West River Holsteins
Craig-pilot Cathay Pacific
Sister: Janine Wilson-Wilsonburg Holsteins
Other farms within an 1.5 hrs drive:
Brookvilla, Trivee, Blitz, Expo, Chestico,
Cobequid, Twinroad, Lindenoord, Lindenright,
Belcher. Best eye for show cows before they are famous:
Jerome MacCarron( Celtic )

Gleann Master Piper Vg86. B: August 7,2023I think she might be the best all round 2 year old I’ve milked for any amount ...
06/07/2026

Gleann Master Piper Vg86. B: August 7,2023

I think she might be the best all round 2 year old I’ve milked for any amount of time this winter. Perhaps a year away from big show potential.

I like Master when he works like this. She didn’t get any of the down side whatsoever.
Beautiful open rib
Tremendous spring
Excellent F&L
Not overly high front ended at first calf
At 151 days projected over 13000 kg
Way above herd average
Extremely tight mammary
Just confirmed to sexed Detective.

She’s just the kind of two year old I like for the future. Really reminds me of the dam of Master Reserve at this age.

From a Vg 88-3y Chief I sold to Hodglynn as a fresh 2y old.
2nd dam by 2 yr old Unix sold fresh to a herd not classifying.
3rd Atwood Pursuit Vg88 1*
Next 6 dams all Vg or Ex and all multiple star brood cows.
4th dam is the dam of Brady Privateer

DB Blossom Ex93-2E looking great in the morning sunlight.
06/06/2026

DB Blossom Ex93-2E looking great in the morning sunlight.

Gleann Slater Quincey Ex92-3E 1*at 9 years old. Just fresh with a Dropbox heifer. She’s what we’re all about. 4.7F 3.6P ...
06/05/2026

Gleann Slater Quincey Ex92-3E 1*at 9 years old.
Just fresh with a Dropbox heifer.
She’s what we’re all about.
4.7F 3.6P lifetime.
Has daughters owned by 7 different great breeders.
Granddaughters even better.

Right on time! Caughtup x BC Rebound. I’ve heard that her sister, Reserve All-Canadian Master Reserve, is fresh again a...
06/02/2026

Right on time! Caughtup x BC Rebound.
I’ve heard that her sister, Reserve All-Canadian Master Reserve, is fresh again and looks awesome.
The grownup is a spring two year old Sidekick x Atwood Pursuit Vg88 1*; the only sister of Brady Privateer Ex96-97MS.

Born June 2nd just before I head over to Mom’s house to celebrate her 85th birthday. It’s also very close to 75 years since she moved here from Holland. Something to be proud of for sure.
Not only did she and Dad breed a great herd of cows for me to build on when I started in 1990,
I could not ask for better mentors in life.

Gleann Dempsey Breakout Ex. B: Sept 2019Due to sexed Chief. 6 generations of almost all Ex cows with stars and no ET. Ba...
05/31/2026

Gleann Dempsey Breakout Ex. B: Sept 2019

Due to sexed Chief.
6 generations of almost all Ex cows with stars and no ET. Back to maybe the best or second best show cow we’ve ever bred, Senator Heidi.
I’m not so sure 90 points is all that fair for this cow. Maybe it’s a timing thing. I’ll probably never qualify for the large herd classification thing where the classifier shows up every 2-3 months it seems. I milk 46 cows. There are 65 cows herds that do qualify however. I’m not sure how that pays for Holstein Canada. I don’t really sell cows based on classification but pedigrees are made with great scores. It bothers me that the classifier scores a hand full of qualifying herds in this province but drives right on by me. There’s a lot of gas money spent per cow. However, I digress….

Breakout has an Ex Lambda that was at JM Valley until recently and a really good 87pt Summerfest I milk everyday. Her sister has an outstanding Lambda two yr old at West River Holsteins. Another sister has an 88 pt Lambda 3yr old that in the last 15 months has been owned by 5 different breeders; Gleann, Kaymanor, Le Tarte, Clovis, and now just moved to Jacobs. Lambda Breakthrough has been around. She was sold two years in a row at the Clarkvalley spring sale.

It’s time this cow makes some embryos.
Somehow I’ve got to figure out which Lambda son is going to make the kind of cows I like.

Hopefully that’s possible. As cows can be arseholes sometimes, one of them decided to t-bone her in her stifle area last week. This little pasture in home for a while.

On deck for early June; and a few definitely not.
05/28/2026

On deck for early June; and a few definitely not.

Their first day of summer!
05/26/2026

Their first day of summer!

For a long time, the plan was to keep this one, flush this one, and continue to build on her already great pedigree.But ...
05/20/2026

For a long time, the plan was to keep this one, flush this one, and continue to build on her already great pedigree.
But sometimes timing is everything.

Gleann Direct Quote is now selling at Hodglynn on June 20th.
14 generations of Vg/Ex dams. Vg87 Tatoo dam is a sister to the dam of Lambda Qualify Vg89 the Intermediate Champion Ontario Spring Discovery 2026.
I’ll have more photos soon.

After last years views I’ll never take views of green grass for granted. 2026 greens are infinitely nicer than 2025 yell...
05/18/2026

After last years views I’ll never take views of green grass for granted. 2026 greens are infinitely nicer than 2025 yellows.

Gleann Direct Quote. B: June 3, 202414 generations Vg or ExHer dam, Quaint Tatoo Vg87-3y was purchased by Ferme Belfau i...
05/17/2026

Gleann Direct Quote. B: June 3, 2024
14 generations Vg or Ex

Her dam, Quaint Tatoo Vg87-3y was purchased by Ferme Belfau in our August sale and made very close to 13000 kg of 4.5F 3.6P milk this lactation.
Quaint is a sister to the Subban dam of Gleann Lambda Qualify Vg89, the Intermediate and reserve grand champion at the 2026 Ontario Spring Discovery.

Flushing Qualify’s dam to Has It All soon. Let’s hope it’s successful.

Address

119 Lower West River Road
Antigonish, NS
B2G0B4

Telephone

+19028703818

Website

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