Dick modestly says: “You don’t get very far in this world unless you have good people around you” and we are privileged he chose our kind to be around him.  He has spent his entire civilian life in Wyoming County, Pennsylvania, having grown up on JenClif Farms where his father was the herdsman.

In 1961, he wasn’t yet in high school when, due to illness, the herd was dispersed, but he had his interest piqued enough by Registered Holsteins that he continued to work on area dairy farms. He was a member of the FFA and graduated from Tunkhannock High School in 1965.

We know him as a quiet and deep thinker, but surprisingly, he was actually voted the MOST TALKATIVE of his class!

He started working for NEPA (Northeastern Pennsylvania Breeders Association) but the Army took him to Germany from 1966-68.

After his military service, he returned to the area to work in AI for the newly merged NEBA (Northeastern Breeders Association) and then, as an employee distributor for Carnation Breeding Service. Within a year, Carnation had a merger and eliminated his and his manager’s positions. His manager was industry veteran, Paul Dann.

Dick was bound and determined he was going to sell semen, so he contacted Tri-State in Wisconsin and All-West Breeders in Washington State and became an independent distributor for them. 

In 1971 he founded Taurus Service, Inc, which would become the oldest independently owned AI company in North America.  His mantra was:

 “Tell it like it is,” “Do business by the Golden Rule,”  “Provide the dairymen of the world with Profitable Genetics.”  

Dick convinced Paul Dann in 1973 and Herb Steele in 1978 to join him. Over the next few years, they were able to add the distributorship for Canada’s Browndale Specialty Sires and all the major Canadian studs as well. It became clear to him that the only way to ensure their own destiny in the semen business was to have their own sire lineup.

Years later this was proven when the Semex Alliance was formed to become the exclusive distributor for the major Canadian studs, but he continued the distribution relationship with Browndale and their affiliated companies for all the years ahead. 

According to the National Association of Animal Breeders (NAAB), Taurus Service, Inc. was assigned Stud Code 76 in March of 1974.  There were approximately 700 Holstein bulls and 98 colored breeds assigned codes from 1974 until 2015.  The first were: 

• 76H001 Lake-Louise Gay Centurion (GP-82), born in 1971
• 76H002 Perkiomen Taurus (VG-87), born in 1970
• 76H003 Loving-Meadows Centurion Tait (GP-83), born in 1972

Over the years, the company taught hundreds of dairymen how to inseminate their own cows.  In 1982 they were able to build a new complete state-of-the-art facility for housing the bulls and collecting, processing and storing the semen on-site. 

It was the bull Wileeda Citation R (VG-88), bred by Willard Pengelly in N.Y. and farmer-proven in western Pennsylvania, that “put them on the map.”

“Wileeda,” as he was called, was the No. 1 type bull in America for longer than any other bull in the history of the Holstein breed.  He paid for the new facilities and he bought Dick his first Lincoln automobile. Dick had memorized Wileeda’s registration number and used it as the pass code to open the door to the Lincoln. In contrast to today’s bulls, Wileeda was the son of Citation R, born 15 years earlier and an EX cow that was almost 11 years old when he was born.

The new facility was UK-compliant and allowed Taurus to be the first U.S. stud to expand their market into the United Kingdom as well as Italy, Germany, The Netherlands, Switzerland and France. Eventually, Taurus was distributing U.S. genetics to 38 countries with sister companies in the U.K. and Kazakhstan.

In the early days of genomics, Taurus was counted as one of the top seven studs in North America. Dick included genomics in his sire lineup, but maintained that it had to come with cow philosophy intact, thus coming from only true-breeding cow families.  Early on, Taurus wound up having the No. 1 genomic bull in the U.S., Wabash-Way Explode. 

Over the years, Dick served the dairy industry at large. He was a Board member of the National Association of Animal Breeders (2003-2009), where he was the longest serving member of the Dairy Sire Evaluation Committee, from 1987-2014. He was an executive board member for the Council of Dairy Cattle Breeding, a board member for the Cooperative Dairy DNA Repositories, and he served on various Holstein USA genetic advancement committees. He supported and sponsored many dairy shows, meetings and events throughout Pennsylvania and nearby states.

In 2014 Dick sold his business to ST Genetics and in 2015 he retired from active AI. Keep in mind, in addition to management, he had maintained his own sales route this whole time, interacting with breeders every day for approximately 50 years. He attributed much of the success of Taurus Service, Inc. to the breeders of the bulls he represented, many of whom were Pennsylvania Holstein members. 

Today he leases the facilities to ST and he remains active in the Registered Holstein business and has been integral in the Holstein Market Place Sires Program at Holstein USA because he believes:

“The best bulls come from the breeder, not the paper, not the genetic evaluation, but the real down-to-earth, grassroots Registered Holstein breeder who tells it like it is and is honest with himself.” 

Dick has always told the dairyman to do his own thinking, own matings, breed cows his own way. There is not only one way to do things.  He believes “U.S. Registered Holsteins became the breeder’s choice around the world because of independent thinkers.”

Aside from 50+ years in the AI business, Dick loves to hunt deer, make hay with his big green tractors, clear hunting trails on his farm and collect antique cars. He has actively participated in the local American Legion, Community Center of Mehoopany and the Wyoming County Fair.  He volunteers his cars for parades and is especially proud of his 1940’s fire truck.

The story of his life is not complete without saying he owns cattle with Ridgedale Farms in Sharon Springs, N.Y. where he visits frequently and never misses a classification.  Over the years, four generations of the Conard Family have considered him a mentor and confidant. In fact, Cyrus Conard tells a story of the time he got in trouble in high school. The school took it too far and hired a lawyer.  His parents didn’t hire a lawyer back, they sent him to Dick.  His punishment was to clip bulls – including Absolute and Explode. But Cyrus, as a 16-year-old showoff, affirmed that Dick didn’t treat him like a kid. He treated him like a peer. That’s just who he is, Cyrus adds. He handles every situation with wisdom, patience and great leadership.  He is a great farmer and a great man.

Some of Dick’s previous accolades include: 

• The 2016 Distinguished Leadership Award presented by Holstein Association USA,
• The 2004 Pennsylvania Governors Agriculture Export Award
• The 2014 Mid-Atlantic Master Farmer Award
• The 2015 Ayrshire Industry Service Award
• The Friend of New York Holstein Award, presented to him in 2015.

Dick has two children: Ginny and John; three grandchildren: Paige, Cheyanne and Colton; two great-grandchildren- Maya and Myles. He married Sharon in 1997 and enjoys an extended family with her.

On behalf of the Pennsylvania Holstein Association, it is my privilege to bestow the honor of 2026 Distinguished Supporter Award to Richard “Dick” Witter.