Den-K Holsteins

   In California where commercial dairies are the majority, Dennis Areias of Den-K Holsteins in Los Banos has created a unique way of life for himself and his family. Dennis, a third generation dairyman, knew early in life that he wanted to own a dairy. As a young boy Dennis worked on the family dairy feeding before and after school and relief milking on the weekends. He says “it was like getting up and putting your shoes on, that was just how you started your day.”
   While his father milked grade cows, he purchased Dennis’s first registered calf from “Great Uncle Rollo Spina” as a 4-H project to show at the local fair. By the end of high school Dennis had 25 registered cows and 40 heifers and his dream was to own his own farm where he could raise a family. After taking a few classes at a local junior college and working at home, Dennis married his high school sweetheart, Kirsten, and they set out to achieve their dream.
   When Dennis was 24, his dad retired and sold him 119 grade cows to go with his 60 registered cows. In a large herd state he knew that he “needed to get as much for his milk as possible” so after he bought quota from his father he continued to buy quota every chance he had. It took him just shy of two years to achieve his goal of milking 200 cows and marketing his purebreds.
   He likes to credit his early purebred success to Den-K Petes Pride, a Straight-Pine Elevation Pete daughter, which was a State and National Milk and Fat leader and Den-K Kirk Boy at Carnation / Landmark Genetics who rose to #15 on the Top 100 List. With this he states, “I was off and running!”

Family First
   Family is very important to Dennis and Kirsten and everyone plays their part in Den-K’s success. They have four children who have all been active on the dairy growing up while showing in 4-H and FFA at the state and national level. Being long-time members of the California Holstein Association, the Areias family all play integral roles in CHA. Dennis is currently Vice-President and Kirsten is the CHA Junior Association Advisor and their son, Will, is the Junior Association Vice-President. Not only are Dennis and Kirsten involved with CHA and it’s juniors, but they are active in their local community as well. Dennis has been a member of the local school board for five years and Kirsten is involved in Ag Boosters and is the Co-Community Leader for the Los Banos Community 4-H. They often provide project calves to 4-H and FFA students.
   Daughter Sarah is now married to Captain Mike van Loben Sels of the C.D.F Fire Station in Coursegold, CA while working towards her Liberal Studies major at CSU, Stanislaus in Turlock. Brannon is a senior at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, CA majoring in Dairy Science and Ag Business. Sam is a freshman at the University of Texas, Austin majoring in Communications and is a member of the Longhorn Football team. Will is a senior at Los Banos High School and like Brannon, is involved in all dairy aspects and has plans to attend Modesto Junior College as a Dairy Science major and trying out for the dairy judging team.

THE AREIAS FAMILY
Pictured in a family photo at the wedding of daughter Sarah, the family members are, from left, sons Sam and Brannon, Dennis, daughter Sarah and her new husband Captain Mike van Loben Sels,
Kirsten and Will.

Key Families at Den-K
   Today Den-K Holsteins averages 230 milking cows with approximately 45 dry cows and 250 heifers. “Basically everything we have now is due to the purebreds,” said Dennis, adding, “Selling purebred offspring and bulls to studs has built our dairy and bought our farm land.” His current herd average is 27,700 lbs. of milk and 981 lbs. of fat in which 95% of the herd is registered.
   Dennis is a firm believer that more is not always better because he believes you do not need to increase cow numbers to be successful. He says, “If you love what you’re doing, you’ll look forward to the start of every day. Stick with a game plan and success will come your way.”
   Dennis’s game plan most notably includes the development and merchandising of his Kitty family. The Kitty family was founded by Den-K Wagner Willow (VG-86), daughter of Wagner-Crest Ivanhoe Astronaut with 5-6 2x 365d 31,467 3.9% 1239 3.2% 1009. Next came her Cal-Clark Board Chairman daughter, Den-K Chairman Willow (VG-88, EX-MS) with a top record of 4-08 2x 365d 31,904 4.2% 1330 3.5% 1128 follow by Den-K Blue Mellow (VG-85) sired by Arlinda Mellow with 7-03 2x 285d 26,354 4.1% 1084 3.5% 915 and a lifetime over 200,000 4.3% and 3.6%. The next cow in line is an Osdel-Endeavor Bova Cubby daughter, Den-K Cubby Deer (EX-90, DOM) with 3-04 2x 365d 31,639 4.0% 1276 3.5% 1118 and a lifetime over 148,000, 4.0% and 3.5%.
   The cow that started to bring this family to light is Den-K Cub Kiddy-ET (EX-90, GMD,DOM) by Ked Juror-ET with a 4-02 365d 37,300 3.4% 1279 2.9% 1089 with a lifetime milk of 150,685 lbs. Her first five fresh daughters include an EX-91 Rudolph, a VG-89 Lantz, a VG-86 Storm and two VG-MS BW Marshalls scored VG-85 and GP-83.
   Cub Kiddy is followed by her daughter, already a find brood cow, Den-K Rudolph Kub Kiddy (EX-91, EX-92 MS, GMD, DOM) with a top record to date of 3-04 3x 365d 47,448 2.6% 1231 3.0% 1411. Rudolph Kub Kiddy’s outstanding offspring include a 2-year-old Den-K Rudolph Bond Kitty-ET (VG-88) with a 3x 365d 36,667 3.5% 1269 3.1% 1141. Bond Kitty according to Dennis “will write her own story with several bulls already sold and has daughters by Manat, Dutch Boy, Halo, Emory, Brass. We will be breeding her back to have her second calf.”
   Other offspring from Cub Kiddy include Den-K RCK 4Bidden Lace-ET by Sandy Valley Forbidden-ET born in November 2002, the only Forbidden heifer to date and Kiddy’s natural heifer calf, Den-K CK Derry-Ann by Regancrest Emory Derry-ET born in March 2003. Her son was the unanimous 2002 All-American Bull Calf, Den-K Marshall CK Perry, who is being jointly sampled as a Super Sampler at Select Sires and Glaz-Way Enterprises. Perry’s only full sister, Den-K Marshall Aileen-ET, by BW Marshall, is fresh one month and according to Dennis, “…could be the best 2-year-old ever on the farm.” She has pregnancies by Stouder Morty and will be flushed starting this month.
   Other cow families of importance at Den-K are the Bea family and the Flora family. They are known for their high production and great type traits, which they consistently transmit to their offspring generation after generation. Both of these cow families are an important part of the marketing at Den-K putting many sons into A.I. with females from these families in high demand. (See sidebar)
   Let’s not forget Treger Pic EX-92 with a 7-10 3x 365d 35,020 3.7% 1,281 3.5% 1,243. She may be the strongest type transmitting brood cow ever at Den-K. One of her most outstanding daughters is Den-K Treg Durham Time (VG-87) by Durham with a record of 2-03 2x 313d 26,037 3.6% 937 3.3% 856. She has show winnings in 2003 of 3rd senior 2-year-old at the California State Black &White Show, 2nd senior 2-year-old at the Western Spring National, Richmond, UT, 1st senior 2-year-old at the California State Fair with Best Udder and 9th at World Dairy Expo, Madison, WI. She is due at the end of December to Stormatic.
   A sister to Durham Time, Den-K Marco Thoria-ET VG-87 (VG-88 MS) has 2-01 2x 298d 26,373 3.4% 909 3.1% 807 was 1st junior 2-year-old and Best Udder at the 2003 California State Black and White Show.

Two Foundation Families at Den-K

Bea Family:
Foundation Cow: Den-K Mars Marie (EX-90, GMD) by Mars Tony
4-06 2x 365d 28,433 3.3% 1093 2.9% 843
Daughter of Mars Marie: Den-K Rotate Bea-ET (EX-90,GMD) by Rotate
3-00 2x 365d 30,502 3.9% 1192 3.1% 955
Daughter of Rotate Bea: Den-K Tong Bea-TW (VG-85, GMD) by Tong
3-03 2x 365d 33,040 4.3% 1410 3.4% 1120
Daughter of Tong Bea: Den-K Startmor Good Time (VG-88) by Rudolph
4-01 2x 330d 36,042 3.6% 1308 3.0% 1093
Under contract at Select and Alta, she has a fresh BW Marshall and Stormatic calves on the ground.
Daughter of Startmor Good Time: Den-K Durham Good Time (VG-88) CVM Negative by Durham
3-00 2x 331d 33,573 3.4% 1,138 3.0% 1,007
Under contract with Select and Alta, she has Hi-Metro and Hidden View Best calves

Flora Family:
Foundation Cow: Den-K Flora Star-ET (EX-93) by Blackstar
4-02 2x 365d 33,287 2.9% 952 3.2% 1068
Nominated Junior All-American 4-Year-Old 1997
Daughter of Flora Star: Den-K Winchester Flora-ET (VG-86, 2y) by Winchester
2-01 3x 365d 37,498 3.6% 1343 3.1% 1158
Has bulls sold in A.I.
Daughter of Winchester Flora: Den-K Duration Winch-ET (VG-85, 2y) by Emerson
2-02 2x 284d 26,026m 3.3% 857f 3.1% 795p
She has daughters by Welcome Garter and Manat and is due with her second calf in January to Garter.

Keys to Success
   Advertising, merchandising and taking good care of his calves have been the biggest ingredients of the Den-K game plan. Dennis says, “We run about a three percent loss on all heifers and bulls.” He sells 100 to 110 cows and 70 to 80 bulls to other dairymen per year and in less than two years Den-K has entered 17 bulls into A.I. He states, “Think about every breeding like it might be your last. Advertise so other purebred breeders know who you are and commercial breeders can put your face with a name.” Dennis also feels that his purebreds sell well because he can show buyers the cow families, records of offspring and the breeding he has done with the top bulls in the breed.
   His main philosophy in marketing is this - “You need to be prepared to take the good with the bad because this business has lots of ups and downs, but if you love what you’re doing you will survive. Remember - a good reputation is as important as good cows when you’re merchandising anything and most importantly treat others the same way you want to be treated.”
   When asking Dennis about expansion he explains that expanding will be something that his sons can think about if they come home to the farm. He feels as long as what he’s doing works, he’s not changing. However, the most important part of the future for Dennis and Kirsten are to put their children through college and to live a good life. A family is what Den-K is first and foremost…and that is obvious the moment a visitor walks onto their farm.

Janet Pohl-De Mello of Denair, CA, is editor of The California Holstein News. She and her husband, Tony, are breeders of Chairein Holsteins.


DEN-K CUBBY DEER (EX-90, GMD- DOM) 2-04 2 365 31,639 4.0% 1276 3.5% 1118 In the heart of the Kitty family, she is the dam of Cub Kiddy.		DEN-K CUB KIDDY– ET (2E-90, GMD- DOM) 3-04 3X 365d 37,300 3.4% 1279 2.9% 1098 This Ked Juror daughter is a star in the Kitty family with five fresh daughters, including an EX-91 Rudolph		DEN-K RUDOLPH CUB KIDDY (EX-91, EX MS, GMD-DOM) 3-04 3X 365 47,448 2.6% 1231 3.0% 1411 1st in milk, 2nd protein in CA By Rudolph from Cub Kiddy, she has a promising VG-88, 2y Bond daughter.