04/14/2026
Hoodstead Farm in Middletown, MD was purchased in 1957 by Harold and Louise Hood to establish a Holstein herd of their own. Their son, Scott, always liked the Brown Swiss breed, but didn’t get too far when his father bred his Swiss 4H project to a Charolais.
Scott purchased the farm from his parents in 1979, and married Judy in 1987, the same year he purchased his foundation Brown Swiss. The herd soon expanded to a registered Holstein and Brown Swiss herd, as well as the family with the arrival of daughter, Nicole.
An offspring from Scott’s Brown Swiss purchase, “New Year”, quickly changed the dynamics of the herd when she would easily flush with 20+ #1 embryos, with the majority of them resulting in females. Many of which went on to become All-Americans.
Nicole was gifted her first Brown Swiss calf at 4 months old by Bill and Cindy Warner. Her Holstein herd ended in average cows or bull calves, but her show career and Brown Swiss herd took off when “Panda” was born.
Hoodstead Farm sold their milking herd in the fall of 2010, but they were able to keep Nicole's "P" family going with the help of Jobo Holstein Farm in Gettysburg, PA. In 2022, they sold the farm in Middletown, and have since transitioned the herd to Nicole & her husband's farm, Linden Hall Farm in Hagerstown, MD.
