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2017 is our 50th year in the Purebred Charolais business.  It all started in the late 1950’s when I was reading The Farmer magazine and saw an article on this new breed that had come into the U.S.  I was impressed with what I saw.  Then in 1960, my father purchased three ¾ and 7/8 Charolais cows.  I saw how fast their calves grew compared to the Angus cows he had and I thought to myself, “This is the breed of the future.”  A couple years later he purchased a purebred Charolais bull named Flores.  Flores went back to the original imported Mexican bulls such as El Jefe, Titano and Wee 58. 

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Sue and I were married in August, 1967 and were living in an apartment in Evansville, MN where I was a vocational agriculture instructor and she was working as an extension home economist for Douglas County in Alexandria.  One day I saw an ad in the newspaper for a Charolais dispersal sale.  We bought what we thought was the best cow there.  She was DE Lora, a great looking 7/8 cow with a 15/16 bull calf who had scours and looked like he could die.  He recovered and turned out to be an excellent bull who we sold at the Minnesota State Charolais Sale for $600.  (A decent price in those days). Her first calf born at Double-H Charolais was Double-H Laura, the first AICA Sterling Dam of Distinction in the United States.  Double-H Laura's head now hangs in the AICA office in Kansas City beside Miss Linn, who was the first cow ever registered.  Later we bought a purebred cow, a 15/16 cow and a purebred heifer.  We showed the heifer at the Minnesota State Fair that year.  She later died so I say we lost one quarter of the herd.  We have shown Charolais at the Minnesota State Fair every year since and 2017 will be our 50th consecutive year.    

In 1969, I took a job with Land O’ Lakes which continued for 39 years.  We moved to Atwater, MN where we lived for over a year.  Late in 1970, we purchased our current farm from William and Julia Zimmerman, who were some of the original Charolais breeders in Minnesota.  In fact, the Minnesota Charolais Association was organized in our kitchen.  This purchase allowed us to gradually increase the size of our herd. 

The first few years in Charolais were a struggle financially, but we persevered and started showing our cattle around the nation.  We had many good days and quite a few bad days in the show ring but always enjoyed the Charolais people.  In 1979, a bull named Double-H Polled Showman was born.  He was an exceptional animal which was proven when he won Reserve Calf Champion at the National Charolais Show in San Antonio.  He later won many Grand Championships across the U.S. and Canada.  We sold 8 syndicated interests in the bull, and after he got older, we sold him to American Breeders Service (ABS). 

Our 3 sons, Howard, Mark and Dale were very involved in Charolais.  We were very proud of the fact the Howard and Mark were AIJCA Presidents and Dale was on the AIJCA board and won Outstanding Junior Member and also AIJCA Herdsman of the year.  Today, Dale and his family (Jill and daughters Dallee, Georgia, and Josie) have their own Charolais herd (2H Cattle Company), Howard and his family (Laura and sons Chris and Matt and daughter Alyssa) who live in Massachusetts own cattle at Double-H, and Mark along with his family (Becky and daughters Taylor and Payton and son Riley) are managing partners.  This allows Sue and I to travel to many Charolais events.  (Four of the grand kids are currently showing Charolais cattle and that number will probably grow as Georgia and Josie get older. 

Our herd today is heavily involved in producing quality embryos for use in our own herd as well as in cooperator herds and for sale to other Charolais breeders.  We are proud to say that buyers of our embryos are a who’s who of Charolais breeders, who stretch from coast-to-coast across the U.S., and from the Canadian border to the Gulf Coast.

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- Written by Harlin Hecht, January 2017

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Double-H Charolais Fast Facts:

• Founded February 6, 1968

• Many times shown Grand Champion Bull or Female at Minnesota State Fair

• Won Premier Breeder and Exhibitor at Minnesota State Fair more times than any other breeder over past 50 years

• Dale was AIJCA Junior Herdsman of the Year

• Several Junior National Class Winners

• Junior National Bred and Owned Champion

• First "national-level" win:  National Reserve Calf Champion Bull (1980)

• Several AICA National Show class winners and Division/Reserve winners

• Many ROE Class A Charolais Show Grand and Reserve Champions

• Seven Sterling Dams of Distinction

• Several sires and dams achieved AICA Annual Top 2% of Breed EPDs

• Mark and Dale were Directors of Minnesota/Wisconsin Charolais Ass'n

• Harlin and Howard are past Presidents/Directors of MN/WN Charolais Ass'n

• Harlin is past President of AICA (and held several other offices)

• Sue is past President of Charolais-Dees

• Howard and Mark are past Presidents of AIJCA

• Dale was long-time Director/Board Member of AIJCA

• Harlin and Sue named Junior National Conference Honorees in 1990

• Harlin named 2006 AICA Herdsman of the Year

• Dale named AIJCA Herdsman of the Year

• Harlin, Sue, and Dale have all been (and still are) AICA Committee members (Rules & Ethics, Junior Council, Breed Improvement, etc.)

• Harlin inducted into Minnesota Livestock Hall of Fame in 1996 (first Charolais breeder; only 100+ inductees)

• Harlin and Sue honored as 40th National Charolais Show Dedicatees (2009 - Fort Worth Stock Show)