Ginger Rogers poured her Oscar money into 32 Golden Guernseys on a thousand acres of Oregon riverfront — then lost them all to a world war. In 1941, while still the highest-paid actress in Hollywood, Rogers and her mother Lela bought a ranch on the Rogue River, built a Jamesway milking parlor from scratch, joined the American Guernsey Cattle Club, and began shipping 150 gallons of rich golden milk a day to soldiers at nearby Camp White. The wartime labor crisis killed the dairy within two years — but the breed she chose, and the bet she placed on premium components and A2 genetics, turned out to be eight decades ahead of its time.

Key Moments:

• How a tap-dancing Academy Award winner ended up with electric milkers and a 12-cow Guernsey parlor in southern Oregon
• The skeptic who joked her livestock would "pro ...