MADISON, Wis. – Amassing quite a following on social media during World Dairy Expo week — with a broad swath of fans on both sides of the border — Erbacres Snapple Shakira, shown by Ferme Jacobs, Cap-Santé, Québec, was ultimately crowned supreme female of the 2021 World Dairy Expo Saturday evening, Oct. 2 in Madison, Wisconsin. Earlier in the afternoon, the aged cow was named grand champion of the International Holstein Show.
A few weeks prior to Expo, Shakira was made maximum Canadian EX-97.
Cool as a cucumber, she was unfazed as visitors gathered Saturday afternoon in the aisle while she was being readied for show. Her crew revealed what they love about her is her personality, her proudly confident stride and her willingness to go with the flow no matter how the scene around her changes.
At the start of the supreme pageant, Ysabel Jacobs of Ferme Jacobs was surprised with the 2021 A.C. Whitie Thomson Memorial Award. This award is voted on by Expo peers each year for showing the exemplary leadership and sportsmanship that Whitie Thomson was known for in the showring. Ysabel has a degree in marketing and farms 2000-acres, 1200-head dairy with her family, managing the farm’s marketing efforts, which include selling cattle and embryos around the world. Their Best of Jacobs Sale will be at the farm November 17, 2021.
The Jacobs family has been showing at World Dairy Expo for 13 years, exhibiting numerous champions, three grand champions, two reserve supreme, and with Shakira, now supreme. They have been awarded two premier exhibitor banners and nine premier breeder banners over this time at Madison.
On Oct. 2nd, however, the showring buzz about the International Holstein Show at the 54th World Dairy Expo was Shakira.
The night before, her granddaughter, a June 1 heifer calf, brought $17,000 in the World Classic sale to Kevin Jorgensen and Mystic Valley Dairy, Sauk City, Wisconsin. The heifer had the distinction of four generations — all present on the grounds for exhibition that day — including Snapple-Red 2E-96, Shakira 2E-97, and Shakira’s EX-91 Diamondback Sparkle.
Shakira is the 6-year-old Apple granddaughter bred by Erbacres Holsteins in Lanark, Illinois. She started attracting attention after her first calving in 2017 when Yan Jacobs saw her. He and his sister Ysabel and her husband Tyler Doiron and the Ferme Jacobs clan purchased Shakira as a fresh 2-year-old at that time. She went on to be first-place junior 2-year-old at the 2017 Royal.
She calved back in July 2018 and returned to Madison to be intermediate champion as a 3-year-old. By 2020, Shakira was developing an international following and was named Breeder’s Choice 5-year-old. By the summer of 2021, she was supreme champion of Le Suprême Laitier Show.
The rest of her story is still being written. Not to mention, she is a family favorite among the children, with such a calm personality. Today Shakira is owned by Ferme Jacobs, Ty-D Holsteins (Tyler Doiron who leads her), Killian Theraulaz, Ferme Antelimarck, and members of the Jacobs family.
Just fresh with her fourth calf in June 2021, Shakira was scored in September at the maximum EX-97-2E-CAN, and the Jacobs family and crew were able to make it across the border for the World Dairy Exposition, where Shakira turned heads with the right stuff to be supreme female of the big dance.
Udder Comfort is part of her preparation. “We believe in this product, and are using Udder Comfort over 10 years for our show cows and our fresh cows to bring the quality and texture to the udder,” says Ysabel. She explains that they apply Udder Comfort lotion daily at shows and to all fresh udders after each milking for three days after calving.
Shakira’s story is one that evolved in a truly international way. Her dam, Miss Apple Snapple-Red, daughter of KHW Regiment Apple-Red, was purchased at six months of age by two partners from Columbia — Francisco Rodriguez and Juan Pablo Muriel — and developed under the care of John Erbsen at Erbacres, where her embryos were exported to Central America and Germany.
In flushing Snapple-Red, one of the matings was to O’Kaliber, which produced Shakira, born as an ET calf before her own dam Snapple had even calved as a 2-year-old.
While Shakira attracted a notable following on the grounds and online this year, other fan-favored animals also excelled has been described by railbirds as a deeply competitive field of 394 Holsteins judged by Mike Berry of Powell Butte, Oregon and his associate Tom DeGroot, Rosedale, British Columbia, Canada.
Standing behind Shakira as reserve grand and reserve senior champion was Oakfield Solom Footloose-ET, bred by Jonathan and Alicia Lamb of Oakfield Corners Dairy, Oakfield, New York. Footloose is owned and exhibited by Duckett Holsteins, Vierra Dairy and Abbott of Rudolph, Wisconsin.
Duckett Holsteins took home the premier Holstein exhibitor banner, while Ferme Jacobs earned their ninth premier breeder banner in Madison.
Champion bred-and-owned of the Holstein Show was Ms Beautys Black Velvet-ET, owned by Duckett Holsteins, Vierra Dairy and Triple-T Holsteins with Jennifer Thomas of North Lewisburg, Ohio at the halter.
For intermediate champion and reserve, it was the top two senior 3-year-olds of the show. Oak-Ridge-K Gchip Turbo, shown by Ransom Rail and MilkSource Genetics of Kaukauna, Wisconsin was champion, and out of Elmvue Farm, Johnstown, New York, it was Heritagegrd Highoctane Cabaret in reserve. Elmvue also showed the fourth-place cow in the aged cow class.
Glamourview-Iager and Walton of Walkersville, Maryland brought home the banner for junior champion with their first-place fall heifer calf Ms Rebas Raven Beauty-ET. Glamourview also had the second-place spring heifer calf, first-place spring yearling, fifth-place junior 3-year-old, and in partnership with Eaton Holsteins of Marietta, New York, the third-place 5-year-old cow. Eaton Holsteins on their own had the sixth-place 4-year-old cow and third-place aged cow.
Reserve junior champion was awarded to Blondin Denver Svalantini, bred by Ferme Blondin, Quebec and owned by BJ Enright, Ferme Jacobs, and Quality Holsteins of Vaughan, Ontario, Canada.
Premier sire of the cow show was Unix and of the heifer show, Denver.
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