Jerseys reign, many junior breed grand champions homebred, Udder Comfort continues to be the Choice of Champions!
MADISON, Wis. – It was the year for Jerseys at World Dairy Expo. Both the open and junior supreme grand champion banners went to little brown cows on Friday evening, Oct. 4 in Madison, Wisconsin.
With Nathan Thomas (left) at the halter, two-time senior and grand champion of the International Jersey show, Stoney Point Joel Bailey, owned by Vierra Dairy of Hilmar, California, claimed supreme champion overall in the open competition.
Among the youth competitors, supreme honors went to Pacific Edge VIP Tessah-ET, the intermediate and grand champion of the Junior Jersey show bred-and-owned by Brent Rocha (right) and Coltan Seals, of Tillamook, Oregon.
Standing reserve supreme of the open show was two-time senior and grand champion Red and White, Premium Apple Crisp Lilly-Red, exhibited by Butlerview Farm, Chebanse, Illinois, with Michael Deaver at the halter.
2024 was also a good year for youth exhibitors from the East. Chloe (at the halter) and Claire Lamb of Oakfield, New York earned reserve supreme honors for their homebred senior and grand champion of the International Junior Holstein Show, Oakfield Tatoo Tender-ET.
Three Pennsylvania youths vied for supreme champion with their respective breed grand champions — all three of them bred-and-owned.
Phillip McCormick (left) of Millmont showed a homebred yearling in milk that caught attention. Cherry-Lor Robin P Red was first in her class among open and youth competitors, and she was tapped intermediate and grand champion of the International Junior Red and White Show. Phillip is a Penn State-Altoona student studying animal science with interest in cattle nutrition.
Dakota Fraley (center) of Muncy showed his homebred TwinCounty Famous Diamond, earning first-place four-year-old in junior and open competition, then senior and grand champion of the International Junior Brown Swiss Show. He and his twin sister Landree are juniors at Warriors Mark High School and members of Bald Eagle 4-H. They started their TwinCounty prefix several years ago, dividing the responsibilities in raising and showing cattle in six dairy breeds.
Kolby Stoltzfus (right) of East Earl garnered senior and grand champion of the International Junior Guernsey Show with his bred-and-owned Hollow View Tank Tillie. Kolby is a Garden Spot High School graduate working fulltime as herdsman on his family’s Warwick Manor dairy farm as his father Kevin makes ice cream and bottles Golden Guernsey milk from this high component herd in the creamery at Yoder’s Country Market, New Holland. Kolby loves tracing lineages back to old cows and seeing how they have developed and how far the Guernsey breed has come over the years under their two prefixes. Hollow View goes back to Elsie Wolf’s breeding in Quarryville, Pennsylvania. Tillie’s sire Warwick Manor Latimer Tank was also bred by the Stoltzfuses.
Rounding out the parade of champions was the supercharged three-time back-to-back grand champion of the International Junior Milking Shorthorn Show, Heavenly Zora-ET, owned by Dillon Freeman (left) of Breman, Indiana. She was also reserve champion of the open show. This is the first cow to go three consecutive years as grand champion of the junior show since Maple Fudge in 2016-18.
From West Salem, Ohio, the two-time senior and grand champion of the International Junior Ayrshire Show was led by Tanner Topp (right). Toppglen Wishful Thinking-ET is bred-and-owned by Tanner and his siblings Brennan, Marissa, and Logan.
Competition was strong amid open show breed grand champions vying for supreme, including:
Kevin Doeberiener and Lindsay Bowen of West Salem, Ohio showed their senior and grand champion Holstein Jeffrey-Way Hard Rock Twigs, which they own with Pat Conroy.
Austin Knapp of Epworth, Iowa was at the halter of Ss Debs 929, owned by Landen Knapp, garnering senior and grand champion of the International Brown Swiss Show.
The senior and grand champion of the International Ayrshire Show Vieux Village Gentleman Joy hailed from Piopolis, Quebec, Canada. The homebred five-year-old and reserve champion four-year-old were exhibited by Florent Foley’s daughters Vicky and Bianca.
Topping International Guernsey competition was two-time grand champion Springhill Kojack Uno-ETV (right), owned by Melander, Robthom and Smith-Crest Holsteins of Watertown, Wisconsin.
International Milking Shorthorn grand champion honors went to Cory and Kristen Salzi of Litchfield, Minnesota for their Gin-Val Logic Lauretta-EXP (left).
Congratulations to our many customers with these champion animals and exhibitors throughout the Sept. 29 through Oct. 4 show. Many top exhibitors have expressed their appreciation for Udder Comfort as the must-have in the showbox and at home in the parlor.
For example:
— Says Nathan Thomas: “We let cows be cows. And cows love Udder Comfort. So do we. Every fresh cow gets it here, and we use it before and after showing. It’s the best product to get texture and quality back into udders.”
Nathan and Jennifer Thomas have had their own grand champions and All-Americans over the years. Their Triple-T Farm near North Lewisburg, Ohio is home to the Vierra Dairy string, including Bailey, the two-time World Dairy Expo grand champion Jersey and supreme champion overall. They pursue genetic excellence and enjoy raising their children in this life they love, breeding, milking, and caring for elite dairy cattle.
— Says Jeff Butler of Butlerview Farm, Chebanse, Illinois: “Ever since it came out, it’s the first thing we go to. We use Udder Comfort for a week after calving.” Mike Deaver, who led Apple Crisp to her second championship of the 2024 International Red and White Show and reserve supreme of the World Dairy Expo agrees: “It really does the job on udder quality and performance.”
— Says Lindsay Bowen of West Salem, Ohio, leading four-year-old International Holstein Show grand champion Twigs: “We use Udder Comfort when they calve. We use it before and after shows.” Her partner Kevin Doeberiener, agrees: “As the udder fills for show, we apply Udder Comfort every 15 minutes to keep swelling out and keep the quality in.”
— Says Kevin Stoltzfus of Warwick Manor Farm, East Earl, Pennsylvania: “Only Udder Comfort will do! We love it for swelling and for fresh cows, applying it on all fresh udders 2x/day for a week after calving. We start our heifers 1x/day for a week before calving.” Son Kolby is the owner-breeder of the International Junior Guernsey Show grand champion ‘Tillie’, and he agrees: “You can really see the difference that Udder Comfort makes. We never want to use anything else.”
— Story by Sherry Bunting, Photos by Sherry Bunting and Michelle McNamara
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