MADISON, Wis. — It was a dream week at the World Dairy Expo for brothers Joe and Matt Engel of Luck-E Holsteins, Hampshire, Illinois. They earned their first Premier Breeder title in the International Red & White Show and stood with their first-place Best Three Females, including the intermediate champion they bred. In the Holstein ring, another Luck-E-bred cow claimed grand champion and went on to be supreme champion in youth competition.

“We were really excited, thankful and blessed,” said Joe Engel in a Farmshine interview after the show. “Breeding those cows is the first step — an important one — but it’s just the first step. Those cows got really great homes.”

A brief scoring glitch delayed the announcement. “We weren’t announced at first — there was a computer error,” Joe recalled. “My phone started blowing up from around the world. It was corrected, and when we were able to announce it, the international response was huge.”

Luck-E’s reach continues to widen. They’ve exported to more than 20 countries on the maternal side, and their bulls extend that influence even farther.

 The program traces to 1968, when Dennis and Beth Engel chose their first Registered Holstein as a wedding gift. From that foundation, the herd today is 120 milking cows in a freestall environment, where a remarkable share achieve high scores.

Luck-E has bred roughly 800 EX cows, more than 60 at 94 points or higher. In the last 25 years, one in every three animals carrying the Luck-E prefix has scored EX, a number that matches what buyers and judges see: depth of quality and functional strength.

 Earlier this year, Holstein Association USA honored Luck-E with the Elite Breeder Award for exceptional production and components, tremendous udders, and cows that thrive in any environment.

At the heart of the herd is the “A family,” often interwoven with the “K family.” Both trace back to the brothers’ early 4-H cows, Ashley and Klassy.

“We’re just building off that foundation,” Joe affirmed. “In the Red show, every cow we bred came from the A family, and some of them on both sides of the pedigree. We’ve just kept breeding from those families, trying to make the next cow better while staying true to our breeding goals.”

That consistency shows in cows like Luck-E Awesome Adventure (EX-94 96-MS), Illinois Cow of the Year in 2024 with a 5-10y record of 44,039M 2626F 1198P, and in sons and grandsons of Luck-E Advent Asia (EX-94 2E), whose influence ran deep through both Red & White and Holstein rings at Expo.

Their Premier Breeder points were anchored by Luck-E Altitude Attie-Red-ET, first senior 3-year-old and intermediate champion, owned by Rick and Tom Simon and ALH Genetics USA Inc., Farley, Iowa. The Engels sold her as a fresh 2-year-old in their Best of Luck-E 2024.

“Attie was third in her class last year,” Joe said. “We knew she was bred back and heard she looked great. When we saw her at Expo, we knew she’d be tough to beat.”

She traces to McGucci Afro and Advent Asia. “We have around 30 sisters to Attie here,” Joe noted. “Her daughters are already on the ground, and her sisters will headline our 2027 sale, followed by a partner sale in Scotland.”

Luck-E typically sells animals in milking form. “Our April sales feature cows four weeks fresh so buyers know exactly what they’re getting,” Joe explained.

Asked why they sell from the top, he doesn’t hesitate: “Our favorite thing is breeding that next cow better than the last one. Our second favorite thing is selling good cows and seeing them go on to do good for other people.”

Their 2023 and 2024 sales each offered about 180 head, and eight cows from those sales placed in the top six of their respective Expo classes this year.

 Asia’s legacy

The International Red & White Junior Show grand champion, Bert-Mar Alt Adlee-Red-ET, is a daughter of Asia but did not contribute to Luck-E’s breeder points. Asia has been owned for a decade by the Lundberg family of Bert-Mar Farms, Osseo, Wisconsin, where she anchors their breeding program.

Adlee, owned and exhibited by Allison, Lane, and Callum Francis of Greenville, Ohio, was sold through the Best of Luck-E sale via IVF agreement. Asia’s legacy remains prolific; she was once named Holstein International Red Impact Cow of the Year and has been readers’ favorite multiple times.

A sentimental supreme

Another emotional moment came in the Holstein Junior Show when Luck-E Merjack Asalia (EX-96), sold as a fresh cow milking 155 lbs/day in Best of Luck-E 2023, rose to lifetime production class winner, senior and grand champion, and ultimately supreme champion of the youth competition for sisters Stella and Tessa Schmocker of Whitewater, Wisconsin.

“Asalia was a cow we loved,” Joe shared. “She was the favorite of our close friend Leanne Hedges. Seeing Asalia go supreme meant a lot because it was during last year’s show we learned of Leanne’s passing. Everyone who’s ever led Asalia has had their work cut out for them because she’s strong-willed and powerful. Knowing Leanne’s situation, her one request was to lead Asalia in that 2023 sale, and that cow just floated.”

Beyond sentiment, Joe said, “As a lifetime production cow, she had arguably the best feet and legs in the show.”

Expanding breeds

The Red banner wasn’t the only first for Luck-E. During the Covid pandemic, Joe bought an Ayrshire embryo lot from the famed Banner family. “I ended up with three pregnancies — at the time I didn’t realize how big that pedigree was,” he says.

The first to calve, Glamourview Bootilicious-ET, won the junior-3-year old class this year for the Engels and partners Kurt and Michelle Wolf, with her full sister placing fifth and a third sister freshening just before the show. Counting follow-on purchases, the Engels now manage a small but elite Ayrshire group.

“Every one of them is out of cows that have been in the champion drive at Madison,” Joe noted. Their Expo string also included four Brown Swiss, led by the winning summer junior-2-year old and several others in the top 10.

“The kids are like me. They like the good ones,” he grinned. “Breed doesn’t matter as much as the cow.”

Joe and Margaret’s eight children are increasingly involved. “They do a lot of the milking. They’re naturals,” Joe saids. “Hope and Blake were with me most of the week, late nights in the barn and first thing in the morning. Even the younger ones beg to help milk at home.”

This year the Engels showed only one Red cow they still own, Luck-E Arc Alleluia-Red-ET, a milking yearling that placed eighth. This left Joe and Matt free to watch the rest of the Red show — a rare chance for both brothers to be on the Expo grounds together.

Luck-E sires also had a strong showing. Several top-10 cows were sired by privately marketed bulls such as Apex (polled) and Azoom. The Engels are enthusiastic about their Acetylene-Reds and continue to use Architect, a bull they didn’t breed but admire for his daughters.

Looking forward, Joe is excited about a red-carrier newcomer, Paldwin: “He’s high type, good on health traits, and we have his first sons and daughters, about 30 calves born in September from our best A-family cows,” he said. “They look big, strong, and we’re anxiously awaiting genomic results.”

April 10, 2027 is circled for the next Best of Luck-E sale, followed by the partner sale in Scotland. “Until then,” said Joe, “pretty much every day except Christmas and Christmas Eve, just about everything’s for sale. People can send us a message or stop in anytime.”

 For Joe and Matt, the Premier Breeder banner represents more than a farm milestone. “It belongs not just to our family but to the community of buyers and barn crews who make these cows shine. It’s about seeing our genetics go out into the world and make their owners happy.”