THE HISTORY OF OUR FARM AND HERD
The
Lamport family farm is located five miles west and a mile and a half north
of Balzac, Alberta (north of Calgary). The farm was purchased by Dave and
Anna Girletz in the early 1930’s. Dave and Anna had five children, Harold,
Wilf, Laurence, Viola and Dorothy. Harold now raises roughstock and runs a
rodeo ranch with his eldest son Allan. Their ranch is half a mile north of
the original Girletz place. Wilf went on to do great things in rodeo and
held titles in the sport. Viola married Stan Jones and continues to run “S.
Jones and Sons Horned Herefords” east of Balzac. Dorothy married Bill
Lamport and continues to reside where she grew up.
The Hereford herd was started in 1942 by Dave and Anna with the purchase of a few Horned Hereford heifers. In 1950 Dave purchased his first Polled Hereford bull from Ed Hehr of Dewinton, Alberta. This bull previously won the title of Champion at the Calgary Bull Sale. Dave’s enthusiasm towards Polled Herefords continued to grow and he became the first president of the “Alberta Polled Hereford Club”. He later purchased females from the Taylor’s “Circle T Ranch” at Broadview Sask. Dave bought a bull named ‘Pat Gold Sire 230P’ in Colorado that with Dave's breeding program became one of the most influential bulls among the Polled Hereford breed. 35% of the bulls listed in the current Bulls of the Breed semen catalogue can be traced back to Dave's program. (Some of these bulls include Remitall Boomer 46B, Remitall Embracer 8E, TA-BAR WLB Formula 035J, JSF 23 Nibbs 60G and Gold-N 210R Raider Edge ET 24E) Soon to follow Loomoor Woodrow Mischief 21N, from the Gideon’s of Bentley Alberta, became the main herd sire and helped establish great success for Dave.
Dave and Anna had a very successful life in the Polled Hereford Business. One of their great accomplishments came in 1957 when they received Reserve National Champion Bull in Calgary, AB. They will long be remembered for their outstanding success raising Arabian horses as well as the Herefords.
Bill and Dorothy Lamport were married in 1973.
Bill entered the farm with a small herd of Polled Herefords of his own that
were soon combined with the herd Dave and Anna Girletz founded. The farm
name then changed from “Girletz Polled Hereford’s” into ‘Girletz and Lamport
Polled Herefords”. Bill went on to purchase a bull named ‘Tee Two Kodavic
4F’. Tee Two Kodavic 4F was a great asset to the improvement of the herd for
5 and a half full breeding seasons, after which he was sold for an excellent
premium. His daughters also went on to create a huge impact in improving the
herd. 4F also sired many champions and high sellers in the late 70’s. As of
late we have noticed cows with his genetics pass on high marbling scores to
their offspring. Our next herdsire was Prince Banner Lad 10N. His mother was
a direct daughter of Tee Two Kodavic 4F. 10N was champion Hereford bull at
Roundup ’83. His daughter also became a very big part of our program. We are
still using 10N in our program through AI. His picture remains our stamp of
quality on our business cards, gate signs and letterheads.
We now view AI as a beneficial alternative to purchasing bulls.
BT Prophet 117P was one the first bulls to be used in our AI program. We
raised a son off of him that we named Victor 117P
Lad 22U. 22U was out of a
daughter of Tee Two Kodavic 4F. We used 22U as a yearling and then sold him
at the 1988 Calgary Bull Sale where he was the
high seller for the polled Herefords. 22U's offspring is still prominent
throughout our herd. In 1988 we were received the ‘Alberta
Polled Hereford Breeder of the Year’ award. In December of
1991 Dave and Anna were inducted into the
Alberta Hereford Hall of Fame. Dave had already passed on and Anna passed
away 4 months after receiving the award. They now remain in our hearts and
their memory in the success of our herd.
In 1995 we received Grand Champion
Hereford Bull at the Calgary Stampede with 48A Admiral Lad 66C. His genetics
remain in a large portion of our cow herd. In 1997
we began using the Lamport name as a prefix in the name of our animals. Then in September 2002 Brad Lamport
married
Christine Hadley beginning the third generation to work with the Herefords
on the family farm.
Throughout the years our main goal has remained the same, to raise bulls out of our own program that work for our herd and that have potential to better the whole industry. In the future we plan to continue the family tradition of trying to better the polled Hereford breed. Watch for our display at the Calgary Stampede, Farmfair International, Alberta Polled Power Sale and the Lacombe Bull Sale.