Lester Schafer and a Century of Measured Herefords at Buffalo Lake

Who Is Lester Schafer of Buffalo Lake, Minnesota?

Lester Schafer is a Minnesota Hereford breeder whose records did as much for his herd as the cattle themselves. Based at Buffalo Lake, he began collecting calf weaning weights in 1960, signed up early for the American Hereford Association's Whole Herd Total Performance Records program, and served 25 years as secretary of the Minnesota Hereford Association. The American Hereford Association's 2017 Hall of Fame profile lists him among that year's inductees, honored October 27 in Kansas City, Missouri.

The association's Century Breeder profile gives his birth year as 1926. He was drafted in 1945 and served in Germany, then earned an animal husbandry degree from the University of Minnesota in 1951. The profile says he was raised on the farm where he still lived at the time.

A Hereford Herd That Began in 1917

The family moved to Buffalo Lake from Blue Earth, Minnesota, in 1900. In 1917 John Klucas bought four registered Hereford heifers in Garner, Iowa, and those animals started the herd that Lester later managed. The farm reached century farm status in 2000, and at the 2017 Hereford honoree reception in Kansas City the family was recognized with the Century Breeder award for 100 years in the Hereford business.

The documents show a program run on numbers, with later decades adding new kinds of measurement to the same line of cattle.

Weaning Weights, Whole Herd TPR and Measuring Cattle

Lester began collecting weaning weights in 1960 and was one of the first breeders to enroll in the association's Whole Herd TPR program, which, as its name indicates, records performance across the whole herd. Yearling weights followed, then birth weights in 1979, ultrasound carcass data in 2000, and more recently DNA testing.

The profile describes the breeding approach in plain terms. The family uses performance data to guide selection, applies linebreeding and inbreeding carefully on top individuals, and adds outside sires to broaden the genetic base. Schermerhorn and Oxley genetics have been part of the program since 1958, and his brother Robert became manager of Schermerhorn Farms in 1956.

Serving the Minnesota Hereford Association

Lester served 25 years as secretary of the Minnesota Hereford Association, a long run of service to the state's breeders. State recognition followed. He was inducted into the Minnesota Livestock Hall of Fame in 1996 and the Minnesota Hereford Breeders Hall of Fame in 2000.

The Century Breeder profile also notes that many family members hold animal science and agricultural degrees and that seven have worked for the Cooperative Extension Service, a pattern of teaching and public service alongside the herd.

Honors and Where to Learn More

The American Hereford Association inducted Lester Schafer into its Hall of Fame in 2017, in the same class as Montana's Byron Bayers, per the 2017 inductee booklet. The Century Breeder award marks the herd's 100 years in the registered Hereford business. The sources read record no setbacks or controversies. For more on Hereford and Midwest cattle history, farm.FM has ranching stories and a story about Hereford cattle.