Ontario Suffolk Sire  Reference Association
	Membership Biographies

Bill Duffield

The original flock was established by owners Bill & Lynne Duffield in 1966. Through the years ewes were purchased from such flocks as MSU and Culham. In 1991 the flock was closed to purchasing ewes from outside the farm. Rams to service this flock were purchased from test station sales in Canada and the USA such as Ontario, Alberta, Iowa, Illinois. One of our studs was a son of Country Music, the third certified meat sire in USA. The year we used frozen semen from the First and Second Ontario Reference Rams along with a couple of our own ram lambs. This year we used frozen semen from the First Ontario Reference Sire ram and a top ram from the Canadian Sheep Genetic Evaluation Report along with one of our own ram lambs.

Dennis Wilson

Dennis has lived in KOSC. County since his youth.  He has been active in the Army Reserve.  Dennis attended Purdue University as a student in Veterinary Medicine and has also taught school for the Army Command and General College for five years.  He retired from the Military in 1994 as a Lieutenant Colonel.
His interest in sheep began as a 4-H project in 1958, when he bought ten ewes.  He states he has a lovely wife who is very supportive and has become involved in all phases of Suffolk activity, from lambing to showing in the show ring.  At the present time they are maintaining 130 brood ewes.  Dennis is a progressive breeder, and has used NSIP Data to improve his flock and was instructed in the procedure of Trans Cervical Artificial Insemination at the Pipestone Veterinary Clinic.  Dennis is also a founding member of the Ontario Suffolk Sire Reference Association for which he also serves as a Director representing OSSRA's US membership.
He has shown sheep all the way from County to National Competitions.  In the recent past he has participated in two State Fairs in Indiana, and in Michigan.  He feels all breeders should work together to improve the industry and promote the Suffolk Breed.

Peter Kudelka

There is nothing bland about hoof trimming or life when it comes in the shape of long-time chiseller Peter Kudelka. Call Peter Kudelka when he is not at home and you get an inkling of the kind of person he is.  Instead of the usual "You have reached the home of........" Kudelka's voice booms forth in a pleasing bass urging one to leave a message.
      Beyond revealing that he's not home, the message suggests that a) he is definitely a character and b) he shouldn't quit his day job.
     That day job is hoof trimming.  While he is only a good singer, he is a great hoof trimmer.   He's in demand across the province and has enough work to make it a full time occupation to support his wife and two children.
       Kudelka has been at it some 20 years plus and has plans to do it for another 20 even though by then, he will be well past retirement age.
       For his part, Kudelka says he likes to talk about anything will stretch his mind.  "I am much more intelligent than people give me credit for," he says without a trace of embarrassment.  He says people have a tendency to see him as a drudge' because of his occupation.  "Boy oh boy, can I wake them up that there is more to me than that."
       Being able to contribute in thought and deed is important to him.  Deed wise, he is confident in his abilities and their value to the dairy industry.  Yet the aspects of his nature that are more cognitive than functional rankle his mood.  For instance, he wonders if in all his thought processes, has there been an original thought?  He also yearns to express himself in a pure art form such as through instrument or voice.
      But practicality always takes over.  He is able to harness his thought-energy and apply it to such things as church,  community involvement through the local Optimist club and the Stratford & District Agricultural Society.
       Kudelka is also a sheep shearer and actively involved in a provincial sheep shearing association.
      But don't expect Kudelka to retire soon.   First off, he still has two children in school, a 21-year-old son (who wouldn't be a hoof trimmer in his worst nightmare, reveals an accepting Kudelka) and a 17-year-old daughter.
      If anyone throws a kink in his plans it might be his wife who may soon become an ordained minister.   Even still, hoof trimming is a mobile occupation.
      "I never thought I'd last ten years!" says Kudelka.  "But now I see myself doing it for another 20 years as long as I stay healthy."
         No doubt, he'll continue conversing as well.
      As for farmers who need an expert to trim their cattle and don't mind a little parley, what more could they ask for.