If one was to start a Mount Rushmore for the four livestock show species, without a doubt, the person that I would put on there to represent the goats would be Mike Kelly.  He and his family were true pioneers in this goat game.  It is hard to find a good goat that doesn’t trace back directly to the Kelly line of genetics.  He understood genetics, showing, feeding and marketing.  It wasn’t always easy to get a lot of information out of him, but if you listened and watched, you could pick up a nugget of info.  And it was always fun to watch him perk up when you asked the right question.  Once he could tell that you had done some homework, he would talk just a bit more.  

In 2006, Fred Slater and I bought a cheap buck from the Kelly family.  They had already bred a couple to him.  They had him named Harley.  He was a double-bred Out Of Bounds son.  He wasn’t much to look at, but he assured me that I needed him.  I followed his advice–“Make sure that you keep those daughters.”  He was right. I’m still seeing the benefits of those Harley daughters.  

I always liked calling him and telling him that one of their wethers had won a show, a division or placed well.  He would always talk a bit, just a bit, about the genetics behind that goat.  And he always emphasized the female behind it.  

Maybe the best thing about Mike was and is the way that the family worked together.  A true livestock legend has been lost, but I guarantee that his lessons have been learned by Kathryn and Coltin.  Prayers to the Kelly family.