WEBVTT 00:00:10.220 --> 00:00:14.039 Creeping across the pasture land. Got dirt on 00:00:14.039 --> 00:00:18.739 the boots and a working hand. From the milk house 00:00:18.739 --> 00:00:24.000 home to the auction call. These are the folks 00:00:24.000 --> 00:01:00.579 standing strong and tall. Yeah, this is... Usually, 00:01:00.579 --> 00:01:03.859 when we discuss a major agricultural convention, 00:01:04.099 --> 00:01:07.299 the focus immediately goes to, you know, the 00:01:07.299 --> 00:01:09.780 trade show floor. Right. The new robotic milkers. 00:01:09.840 --> 00:01:12.400 Yeah, exactly. Or some massive corporate merger. 00:01:12.700 --> 00:01:15.000 But today we're stepping away from those corporate 00:01:15.000 --> 00:01:17.540 booths and, well, we're stepping directly into 00:01:17.540 --> 00:01:21.200 the sawdust. I love that. Picture the scene. 00:01:21.359 --> 00:01:25.340 It is a Sunday morning, late March. The blowers 00:01:25.340 --> 00:01:28.299 are humming incessantly in the barns. You've 00:01:28.299 --> 00:01:32.390 got that heavy scent of fresh hay. and Orvis 00:01:32.390 --> 00:01:35.049 shampoo just hanging thick in the air. Oh, man, 00:01:35.150 --> 00:01:37.030 you can smell it just talking about it. You really 00:01:37.030 --> 00:01:38.950 can. And we're standing right on the edge of 00:01:38.950 --> 00:01:41.209 the ring at the Showplex in Hamburg, New York. 00:01:41.370 --> 00:01:43.129 The center of the universe for that weekend. 00:01:43.450 --> 00:01:46.450 Exactly. And look, if you are scraping the return 00:01:46.450 --> 00:01:48.530 alley right now, or maybe you're feeding calves 00:01:48.530 --> 00:01:50.530 out in the freezing cold while listening to this, 00:01:50.609 --> 00:01:52.390 you need to care about what happened in this 00:01:52.390 --> 00:01:54.510 building. Absolutely. Because it's not just a 00:01:54.510 --> 00:01:57.129 show. No, it's not. The decisions being made 00:01:57.129 --> 00:01:59.209 by the judges on that colored sawdust today, 00:01:59.290 --> 00:02:02.250 those are the exact genetic blueprints that will 00:02:02.250 --> 00:02:04.810 dictate the profitability of your herd. Yeah, 00:02:04.849 --> 00:02:07.629 the longevity, the structure of the cows in your 00:02:07.629 --> 00:02:10.270 freestall barns like five years from now. That 00:02:10.270 --> 00:02:13.599 is the perfect way to frame it because... The 00:02:13.599 --> 00:02:16.020 show ring often gets dismissed by commercial 00:02:16.020 --> 00:02:19.039 dairymen as just a beauty pageant. All the time. 00:02:19.139 --> 00:02:20.960 People think it's disconnected from the harsh 00:02:20.960 --> 00:02:23.060 realities of a commercial milking facility. Right. 00:02:23.319 --> 00:02:26.159 But walking into that building, I mean, the energy 00:02:26.159 --> 00:02:30.099 is a physical wall. It is the absolute definition 00:02:30.099 --> 00:02:33.180 of sensory overload for a dairy breeder. Just 00:02:33.180 --> 00:02:35.560 wall -to -wall cattle. Yeah. The sheer concentration 00:02:35.560 --> 00:02:38.960 of elite genetics in one space is staggering. 00:02:39.909 --> 00:02:42.669 What happens in Hamburg sets the genetic trajectory 00:02:42.669 --> 00:02:45.229 for the entire North American dairy industry. 00:02:45.490 --> 00:02:47.490 And we are not just analyzing a single event 00:02:47.490 --> 00:02:49.370 here. Paint this audio picture for a second. 00:02:49.469 --> 00:02:52.569 We have two massive elite level shows running 00:02:52.569 --> 00:02:54.969 simultaneously in adjacent ranks. Literally side 00:02:54.969 --> 00:02:57.250 by side. Yes. On one side, the International 00:02:57.250 --> 00:03:00.110 Jersey Show is underway. Judge Shiki Cherist 00:03:00.110 --> 00:03:02.370 is out there on the microphone and his energy 00:03:02.370 --> 00:03:04.949 is just off the charts. He is so fun to watch. 00:03:05.370 --> 00:03:08.349 He really is. He is practically bouncing on his 00:03:08.349 --> 00:03:11.250 heels, actively hunting for exhibitors to talk 00:03:11.250 --> 00:03:14.210 to between classes. He projects this enthusiasm 00:03:14.210 --> 00:03:17.569 that completely electrifies the bleachers. And 00:03:17.569 --> 00:03:20.610 then literally right across the aisle. Next ring 00:03:20.610 --> 00:03:22.830 over. Yeah, Judge Chip Savage is operating with 00:03:22.830 --> 00:03:25.949 a completely different intensity. So true. He 00:03:25.949 --> 00:03:30.439 is standing dead center. Silently and like intensely 00:03:30.439 --> 00:03:33.219 sorting through a massive power packed class 00:03:33.219 --> 00:03:36.639 of red and white mature cows. The contrast in 00:03:36.639 --> 00:03:39.120 judging styles and the breed atmospheres occurring 00:03:39.120 --> 00:03:41.659 at the exact same time is fascinating. Two different 00:03:41.659 --> 00:03:44.740 worlds. It is. The jerseys bring this undeniable 00:03:44.740 --> 00:03:47.120 elegance, you know, sort of fiery refinement. 00:03:47.259 --> 00:03:49.240 Fiery is a good word for them. Yeah. Well, the 00:03:49.240 --> 00:03:51.280 red and whites, I mean, they just project sheer 00:03:51.280 --> 00:03:54.659 undeniable power. But in both rings, the standard 00:03:54.659 --> 00:03:57.250 of excellence is so high. that the tension is 00:03:57.250 --> 00:04:00.069 palpable. The tension was incredible. Just watching 00:04:00.069 --> 00:04:02.289 Deb Crothers working as the ring runner for the 00:04:02.289 --> 00:04:04.530 jerseys, that was a master class in handling 00:04:04.530 --> 00:04:06.449 pressure. Oh, ring running is no joke at that 00:04:06.449 --> 00:04:09.250 level. She is frantically running back and forth, 00:04:09.289 --> 00:04:11.469 communicating the judges' signals, correcting 00:04:11.469 --> 00:04:14.550 class placings. In the winter yearling class 00:04:14.550 --> 00:04:17.209 alone... Which was huge, by the way. Yeah, 18 00:04:17.209 --> 00:04:20.730 absolute beauties. She had to physically correct 00:04:20.730 --> 00:04:24.259 the lineup five separate times. Oh. Five times. 00:04:24.399 --> 00:04:27.199 Five times. It's loud. It's incredibly tense. 00:04:27.339 --> 00:04:30.459 The crowd is hanging on every single move. And 00:04:30.459 --> 00:04:33.180 the quality of the cows in both rings is forcing 00:04:33.180 --> 00:04:35.579 the judges to split the finest of hairs. And 00:04:35.579 --> 00:04:37.839 see, when a judge of that caliber is moving animals 00:04:37.839 --> 00:04:41.860 around five times in a heifer class, that communicates 00:04:41.860 --> 00:04:44.839 that the top end of the class is flawlessly tight. 00:04:45.040 --> 00:04:47.699 They're identical in quality. Exactly. They are 00:04:47.699 --> 00:04:49.579 no longer judging the overall animal at that 00:04:49.579 --> 00:04:51.560 point. They are dissecting the biomechanics. 00:04:51.620 --> 00:04:54.129 Like getting down to the millimeters? Yeah. They 00:04:54.129 --> 00:04:55.949 are scrutinizing the angle of a pastern, the 00:04:55.949 --> 00:04:58.649 exact sweep of a rib, the precise tracking of 00:04:58.649 --> 00:05:01.290 a hind leg on the move. Right. It is a high -stakes 00:05:01.290 --> 00:05:03.610 puzzle where a fraction of an inch in structural 00:05:03.610 --> 00:05:05.870 correctness separates the winner from the middle 00:05:05.870 --> 00:05:07.889 of the pack. And that was just one morning of 00:05:07.889 --> 00:05:10.370 the New York Spring Dairy Carousel, which ran 00:05:10.370 --> 00:05:14.350 from March 29th to the 30th, 2026. A massive 00:05:14.350 --> 00:05:16.949 weekend. Yeah, this is a wall -to -wall, multi 00:05:16.949 --> 00:05:19.430 -breed explosion that officially kicks off the 00:05:19.430 --> 00:05:21.870 North American show season. The tone setter. 00:05:21.970 --> 00:05:25.509 Exactly. Across the aisle, the Holsteins were 00:05:25.509 --> 00:05:27.910 gearing up for a historic showdown, while the 00:05:27.910 --> 00:05:30.350 Browns, Swiss, and Ayrshires were bringing incredible 00:05:30.350 --> 00:05:33.949 depth of their own. And look, the bullvine had 00:05:33.949 --> 00:05:37.189 their full class -by -class show reports up immediately 00:05:37.189 --> 00:05:40.410 for all five breeds. They did. Anyone can go 00:05:40.410 --> 00:05:42.589 read those five separate retaps to see, you know, 00:05:42.589 --> 00:05:45.250 who placed 10th in the fall calf class. But that 00:05:45.250 --> 00:05:47.709 is not our mission today. No, it is not. We are 00:05:47.709 --> 00:05:49.449 delivering the director's cut of the weekend 00:05:49.449 --> 00:05:51.970 in this deep dive. Right. We're distilling those 00:05:51.970 --> 00:05:54.149 hundreds of placings down to the core narrative, 00:05:54.389 --> 00:05:57.370 highlighting the standout cows, the people behind 00:05:57.370 --> 00:05:59.689 them, and diving deep into the underlying breeding 00:05:59.689 --> 00:06:02.209 decisions that actually matter to the dairy industry 00:06:02.209 --> 00:06:05.149 at large. Because our focus has to be on translating 00:06:05.149 --> 00:06:08.230 the genetics in that ring to the concrete and 00:06:08.230 --> 00:06:10.300 the freestalls at home. for you listening. Yes, 00:06:10.379 --> 00:06:12.920 the practical application. We need to dissect 00:06:12.920 --> 00:06:15.379 why these specific animals are winning and how 00:06:15.379 --> 00:06:17.920 their biological traits impact the bottom line 00:06:17.920 --> 00:06:20.120 of a commercial operation. So let's start where 00:06:20.120 --> 00:06:22.379 the action was the thickest. Let's head back 00:06:22.379 --> 00:06:26.060 to Sunday's dual rings. If there was one undeniable 00:06:26.060 --> 00:06:29.139 theme of that morning, it was the sheer, breathtaking 00:06:29.139 --> 00:06:32.500 dominance of the mature cow classes. Oh, the 00:06:32.500 --> 00:06:35.279 veterans came to play. They really did. We aren't 00:06:35.279 --> 00:06:37.360 talking about pretty young heifers here. We are 00:06:37.360 --> 00:06:40.079 talking about veterans in their absolute prime. 00:06:40.420 --> 00:06:42.040 Let's look at the red and white heavyweights 00:06:42.040 --> 00:06:44.279 first. Let's do it. The five -year -old red and 00:06:44.279 --> 00:06:48.019 white class was a clash of titans. Elmview Farm 00:06:48.019 --> 00:06:51.319 brought out wild weed warrior Maui Red. What 00:06:51.319 --> 00:06:54.279 a cow. Right? Going head -to -head with lucky 00:06:54.279 --> 00:06:56.980 atomic castaway red exhibited by Tyler Carter, 00:06:57.139 --> 00:07:00.379 Pat DeGroote, and Pat Conroy. Two absolute powerhouses. 00:07:00.620 --> 00:07:03.060 So, Judge Chip Savage gets on the mic and he 00:07:03.060 --> 00:07:05.839 highlights Maui Red's extreme mass, her width, 00:07:06.060 --> 00:07:08.810 and her depth of heart. Classic traits. But see, 00:07:08.910 --> 00:07:10.629 the old cliche we always hear in the show ring 00:07:10.629 --> 00:07:12.589 is that a cow hits you like a truck. Right, you 00:07:12.589 --> 00:07:14.310 hear that constantly. I want to throw that cliche 00:07:14.310 --> 00:07:16.470 out. Okay, why? Because a truck doesn't tell 00:07:16.470 --> 00:07:18.970 me how the animal functions. I want you to explain 00:07:18.970 --> 00:07:21.769 the actual biological engine of a cow like Maui 00:07:21.769 --> 00:07:25.230 Red. When a judge praises depth of heart and 00:07:25.230 --> 00:07:27.970 barrel, what are we actually looking at biologically? 00:07:28.430 --> 00:07:32.149 Well, a dairy cow is, at her core, a biological 00:07:32.149 --> 00:07:35.189 furnace. I like that analogy. Yeah, her fuel 00:07:35.189 --> 00:07:38.430 is forage and her output is milk. When we look 00:07:38.430 --> 00:07:40.970 at a cow with massive depth of heart and barrel, 00:07:41.170 --> 00:07:43.529 we are looking at the architectural framework 00:07:43.529 --> 00:07:46.529 of that furnace. The physical space inside her. 00:07:46.569 --> 00:07:48.910 Exactly. The barrel is her digestive capacity. 00:07:49.529 --> 00:07:52.370 The wider the chest floor, the longer more open 00:07:52.370 --> 00:07:55.350 and sweeping the ribs. Well, the larger the fermentation 00:07:55.350 --> 00:07:57.970 vat. Meaning her rumen. Her rumen, yes. Yeah. 00:07:58.069 --> 00:08:00.709 A dairy cow needs to consume upwards of 100 pounds 00:08:00.709 --> 00:08:03.410 of feed a day. 100 pounds. Just think about that 00:08:03.410 --> 00:08:06.589 volume. It's massive. And a narrow, frail cow 00:08:06.589 --> 00:08:09.329 simply does not have the internal cubic volume 00:08:09.329 --> 00:08:12.689 to physically process that much dry matter. Which 00:08:12.689 --> 00:08:15.329 means if she can't eat the volume required, but 00:08:15.329 --> 00:08:17.410 her genetics are telling her to produce 100 pounds 00:08:17.410 --> 00:08:19.800 of milk a day. She is in trouble. Big trouble. 00:08:19.939 --> 00:08:22.279 She starts pulling energy off her own skeleton. 00:08:22.759 --> 00:08:25.180 She strips the fat and muscle off her own back 00:08:25.180 --> 00:08:28.079 to keep the milk flowing. Precisely. That is 00:08:28.079 --> 00:08:30.319 the metabolic cliff that so many high -producing, 00:08:30.319 --> 00:08:32.700 narrow cows fall off. It's sad to see. It is. 00:08:32.840 --> 00:08:35.279 But depth of heart, the area directly behind 00:08:35.279 --> 00:08:38.100 the front legs, is arguably even more critical. 00:08:38.299 --> 00:08:40.620 Because of the hardened lungs. Exactly. That 00:08:40.620 --> 00:08:43.000 is where the cardiovascular system lives. Look, 00:08:43.080 --> 00:08:46.159 to produce one single gallon of milk, A dairy 00:08:46.159 --> 00:08:49.980 cow must pump roughly 400 gallons of blood through 00:08:49.980 --> 00:08:53.059 her udder. 400 gallons of blood for one gallon 00:08:53.059 --> 00:08:55.960 of milk. That ratio is wild. It's insane. So 00:08:55.960 --> 00:08:58.379 if a cow is producing 12 gallons of milk a day, 00:08:58.500 --> 00:09:01.860 that is nearly 5 ,000 gallons of blood pumping 00:09:01.860 --> 00:09:04.419 through her cardiovascular system every 24 hours. 00:09:05.120 --> 00:09:07.940 So Maui Red, standing there at five years old, 00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:10.240 displaying that massive width and depth, she 00:09:10.240 --> 00:09:12.320 visually confirms that she possesses a cardiovascular 00:09:12.320 --> 00:09:15.799 engine and a set of lungs capable of sustaining 00:09:15.799 --> 00:09:18.779 that extreme metabolic output without burning 00:09:18.779 --> 00:09:21.019 herself out. That reframes the entire visual 00:09:21.019 --> 00:09:23.539 for me. It's not aesthetic mass. It's the required 00:09:23.539 --> 00:09:26.080 infrastructure for sustained elite production. 00:09:26.639 --> 00:09:28.799 Yeah, it's functional mass. She has the biological 00:09:28.799 --> 00:09:31.720 machinery to process feed efficiently and the 00:09:31.720 --> 00:09:34.159 physical strength to hold her own at a crowded 00:09:34.159 --> 00:09:37.539 feed bunk against 300 other cows. Boss cow energy. 00:09:37.879 --> 00:09:41.519 Totally. Now, physically pivoting across the 00:09:41.519 --> 00:09:43.759 aisle to the jersey ring, the visual is totally 00:09:43.759 --> 00:09:46.539 different. Be a knight. Right. The animals are 00:09:46.539 --> 00:09:48.919 smaller, they're more refined, but the intensity 00:09:48.919 --> 00:09:53.409 is just as high. Into the ring walks Keveta Colton 00:09:53.409 --> 00:09:56.570 Delilah, exhibited by Kira and Griffin Lamb. 00:09:56.850 --> 00:09:59.309 Oh, Delilah. What an entrance. She walked in 00:09:59.309 --> 00:10:01.690 with a massive target on her back. I mean, she 00:10:01.690 --> 00:10:04.990 was the returning 2025 World Dairy Expo Junior 00:10:04.990 --> 00:10:07.970 Show Grand Champion and an All -American. Heavy 00:10:07.970 --> 00:10:10.450 is the head that wears the crown. And JP Charis 00:10:10.450 --> 00:10:12.909 tapped her for both Junior Show Grand Champion 00:10:12.909 --> 00:10:14.889 and Open Show Grand Champion. She delivered. 00:10:15.389 --> 00:10:18.210 She really did. The ringside commentary fascinated 00:10:18.210 --> 00:10:20.549 me, though. They were watching her in the lineup, 00:10:20.710 --> 00:10:23.230 and one commentator asked out loud if Delilah 00:10:23.230 --> 00:10:27.210 is just, quote, crazy. Crazy. Yeah, because her 00:10:27.210 --> 00:10:29.370 head is always cranked up. Her ears are forward. 00:10:29.509 --> 00:10:33.009 She never slumps. She never relaxes. She is intensely 00:10:33.009 --> 00:10:35.269 alert the entire time. Oh, I see what they mean. 00:10:35.409 --> 00:10:38.090 But I want to push back on this concept of ring 00:10:38.090 --> 00:10:42.629 presence. I picture Delilah. Like a heavyweight 00:10:42.629 --> 00:10:45.309 prizefighter who refuses to ever drop their hands. 00:10:45.490 --> 00:10:48.590 She's posing. She's flexing. Right. From a purely 00:10:48.590 --> 00:10:51.490 practical standpoint, is ring presence just a 00:10:51.490 --> 00:10:54.470 beauty pageant trait? Does a cow walking around 00:10:54.470 --> 00:10:57.570 with her head held high actually translate to 00:10:57.570 --> 00:11:00.690 a more dominant cow in a standard freestyle environment? 00:11:00.830 --> 00:11:03.389 Or do we just reward it because it looks pretty 00:11:03.389 --> 00:11:05.990 for the cameras? It is entirely understandable 00:11:05.990 --> 00:11:09.659 to view that alertness as pure pageantry. I mean, 00:11:09.679 --> 00:11:11.759 it does look pretty. But there is a profound 00:11:11.759 --> 00:11:15.539 correlation between ring presence and structural 00:11:15.539 --> 00:11:18.860 health. Really? How so? Ring presence is a manifestation 00:11:18.860 --> 00:11:21.419 of vitality and structural comfort. Think about 00:11:21.419 --> 00:11:23.960 the biomechanics of a cow's spine, hips, and 00:11:23.960 --> 00:11:26.419 hooves. Okay, I'm with you. A cow that is constantly 00:11:26.419 --> 00:11:28.480 head down slouching or struggling to maintain 00:11:28.480 --> 00:11:30.820 her posture in the ring is almost always a cow 00:11:30.820 --> 00:11:32.740 in pain. Oh, that makes sense. Yeah, her feet 00:11:32.740 --> 00:11:35.419 might hurt. due to poor hoof angles, her hocks 00:11:35.419 --> 00:11:37.460 might be inflamed from improper weight distribution, 00:11:37.779 --> 00:11:40.460 or her utter attachments might be failing. Causing 00:11:40.460 --> 00:11:43.340 suspensory discomfort. Exactly. So posture is 00:11:43.340 --> 00:11:47.039 a direct visual health indicator. If standing 00:11:47.039 --> 00:11:50.120 upright hurts, the cow will slouch to relieve 00:11:50.120 --> 00:11:52.759 the pressure on her joints. Or her suspensory 00:11:52.759 --> 00:11:55.000 ligaments. So Delilah can keep her head up and 00:11:55.000 --> 00:11:57.419 stay on for hours because her biomechanics are 00:11:57.419 --> 00:12:00.580 flawless. Flawless. Her feet and legs are perfectly 00:12:00.580 --> 00:12:03.919 angled, so standing on hard -packed dirt or concrete 00:12:03.919 --> 00:12:06.919 doesn't cause microtraumas to her hooves. Right. 00:12:07.000 --> 00:12:09.820 Her udder is snug and well -attached, meaning 00:12:09.820 --> 00:12:12.299 the weight of the milk isn't tearing at her internal 00:12:12.299 --> 00:12:14.320 connective tissue. So she's comfortable. She's 00:12:14.320 --> 00:12:16.559 comfortable. Yeah. And beyond physical comfort, 00:12:16.720 --> 00:12:19.639 it translates to behavioral dominance in a commercial 00:12:19.639 --> 00:12:22.159 setting. Back to the feed bunk hierarchy. Exactly. 00:12:22.320 --> 00:12:25.620 In a freestall barn of 300 cows, the social hierarchy 00:12:25.620 --> 00:12:29.120 is ruthless. The cow with her head up, the one 00:12:29.120 --> 00:12:32.059 projecting aggressive, confident vitality, that 00:12:32.059 --> 00:12:34.580 is the boss cow. She eats first. She eats first 00:12:34.580 --> 00:12:36.440 at the bunk. She claims the most comfortable, 00:12:36.539 --> 00:12:39.139 well -bedded stall. And she's never bullied away 00:12:39.139 --> 00:12:41.700 from the water trough. That's fascinating. That 00:12:41.700 --> 00:12:44.679 structural confidence directly correlates to 00:12:44.679 --> 00:12:47.399 herd health and lifetime profitability because 00:12:47.399 --> 00:12:49.960 she dictates her environment rather than letting 00:12:49.960 --> 00:12:52.200 the environment dictate her stress levels. That 00:12:52.200 --> 00:12:54.519 completely dismantles the idea of it being just 00:12:54.519 --> 00:12:56.779 a beauty contest. It's biological confidence. 00:12:56.840 --> 00:12:59.929 Yes. Perfect phrase. And we saw a beautiful genetic 00:12:59.929 --> 00:13:02.950 echo of that exact concept with the reserve grand 00:13:02.950 --> 00:13:06.110 champion in the jersey ring, Waymar Viral Noel. 00:13:06.470 --> 00:13:08.269 Oh, the comeback kid. The ultimate comeback. 00:13:08.809 --> 00:13:11.669 She hasn't been in a show ring since the 2024 00:13:11.669 --> 00:13:15.129 Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, which is... A 00:13:15.129 --> 00:13:17.750 massive layoff. It's practically a lifetime in 00:13:17.750 --> 00:13:19.830 show cow years. Seriously. She's exhibited by 00:13:19.830 --> 00:13:22.789 Isaac Foltz, Forex Ford, and Cache Valley Genetics. 00:13:22.850 --> 00:13:24.970 And digging into her pedigree, it's amazing. 00:13:25.490 --> 00:13:28.190 She traces directly back to the legendary Waymar 00:13:28.190 --> 00:13:30.830 Patrick Nadine. Nadine? Wow. Yeah, one of the 00:13:30.830 --> 00:13:32.990 commentators recalled seeing Nadine back in 1996, 00:13:33.490 --> 00:13:35.970 remarking on her immense, sweeping rib structure. 00:13:36.309 --> 00:13:39.629 And Noel has it too. She does. Viral Noel inherited 00:13:39.629 --> 00:13:42.309 that exact structural framework, giving her the 00:13:42.309 --> 00:13:44.490 capacity to come back at five years old, after 00:13:44.490 --> 00:13:47.149 a long hiatus and dominate with an incredible 00:13:47.149 --> 00:13:51.190 mammary system. The genetic prepotency to pass 00:13:51.190 --> 00:13:53.830 down that specific structural blueprint over 00:13:53.830 --> 00:13:56.549 decades, I mean, that is what separates a good 00:13:56.549 --> 00:13:59.370 breeding program from a legendary one. 30 years 00:13:59.370 --> 00:14:01.850 of consistency. It proves that architectural 00:14:01.850 --> 00:14:04.789 capacity is highly heritable. So true. Well, 00:14:04.870 --> 00:14:06.629 if the five -year -olds in the jersey and red 00:14:06.629 --> 00:14:08.690 and white rings are demonstrating peak prime 00:14:08.690 --> 00:14:11.429 condition, the carousel pushed the limits even 00:14:11.429 --> 00:14:13.870 further. Oh, we're going older. We are. We need 00:14:13.870 --> 00:14:15.450 to transition from the five -year -old prime 00:14:15.450 --> 00:14:18.029 to the absolute biological limits of the dairy 00:14:18.029 --> 00:14:20.590 cow. I want to look at the animals that haven't 00:14:20.590 --> 00:14:22.490 just been doing the job for five years, but for 00:14:22.490 --> 00:14:25.330 a solid decade. The ultimate test of time. Yes. 00:14:25.740 --> 00:14:28.919 Let's set the stage for the Holstein -aged cow 00:14:28.919 --> 00:14:32.480 class. Judge Brian Karskadin is standing in the 00:14:32.480 --> 00:14:35.179 center of the ring. A legend. He really is. He 00:14:35.179 --> 00:14:37.240 has judged all over the world. He is a legend 00:14:37.240 --> 00:14:39.940 in his own right. He is evaluating Lopine VA 00:14:39.940 --> 00:14:42.559 Lady Crush, exhibited by Jeffrey Butler from 00:14:42.559 --> 00:14:45.299 Butler View. Okay. And she is going against Jeffreyway 00:14:45.299 --> 00:14:48.299 Hard Rock Twigs, exhibited by Doburner & Bowen, 00:14:48.320 --> 00:14:50.940 Conroy Walker Dairy, and R &F Livestock. Two 00:14:50.940 --> 00:14:53.440 incredible animals. Karsgatan was so blown away 00:14:53.440 --> 00:14:55.720 by these cows that he got on the mic and compared 00:14:55.720 --> 00:14:59.960 them to his iconic 2011 Hamburg lineup. Oh, wow. 00:15:00.379 --> 00:15:03.639 Licorice, Stormatic Hazel, and Gold One Lotto. 00:15:03.759 --> 00:15:06.740 Exactly. He named those three specifically. I 00:15:06.740 --> 00:15:08.860 mean, for anyone deeply invested in Holstein 00:15:08.860 --> 00:15:12.080 history, that 2011 lineup is mythological. It's 00:15:12.080 --> 00:15:14.679 the gold standard. It really is. Those three 00:15:14.679 --> 00:15:18.100 cows reshaped the modern breeding era. To have 00:15:18.100 --> 00:15:21.559 a judge of Karsgaden's caliber invoke those specific 00:15:21.559 --> 00:15:24.519 names is a massive statement. High praise doesn't 00:15:24.519 --> 00:15:26.610 even begin to cover it. He is essentially telling 00:15:26.610 --> 00:15:28.629 the crowd that they are witnessing history and 00:15:28.629 --> 00:15:31.070 that these cows represent the pinnacle of the 00:15:31.070 --> 00:15:33.350 modern Holstein standard. Well, Lady Crush ends 00:15:33.350 --> 00:15:35.629 up taking grand champion of the whole show, bagging 00:15:35.629 --> 00:15:37.789 up perfectly on her fourth lactation. Fantastic. 00:15:37.789 --> 00:15:40.370 But the real mind -bending reality hits when 00:15:40.370 --> 00:15:43.409 we dig into the 150 ,000 -cown lifetime production 00:15:43.409 --> 00:15:46.350 class. This is where it gets crazy. In the Holsteins, 00:15:46.350 --> 00:15:49.389 we have an 11 -year -old cow, Jericho Dairy Barracuda, 00:15:49.509 --> 00:15:52.070 exhibited by Curry Holsteins. She has had seven 00:15:52.070 --> 00:15:55.710 calves. Seven calves. Seven. And she is going 00:15:55.710 --> 00:15:58.669 head -to -head with a 10 -year -old cow, Willow 00:15:58.669 --> 00:16:01.549 Mar Diamond Bick Rose Red from Elmview Farm. 00:16:01.710 --> 00:16:04.799 Two absolute iron women. Karskadon gives the 00:16:04.799 --> 00:16:07.799 win to Barracuda based on incredible foot and 00:16:07.799 --> 00:16:10.379 leg structure and phenomenal utter width from 00:16:10.379 --> 00:16:13.399 behind. But the crossbreed crossover here is 00:16:13.399 --> 00:16:15.480 what's really staggering. Right, with Rose Red. 00:16:15.620 --> 00:16:19.059 Yes. That same 10 -year -old cow, Willowmar Diamondbick 00:16:19.059 --> 00:16:22.000 Rose Red, crossed over and won the Lifetime Production 00:16:22.000 --> 00:16:24.980 Class in the Northeast Spring National Red and 00:16:24.980 --> 00:16:26.919 White Show. Double threat. And she didn't just 00:16:26.919 --> 00:16:30.159 win her class. Judge Chip Savage tapped this 00:16:30.159 --> 00:16:32.919 10 -year -old 7 -lactation veteran as the... 00:16:32.940 --> 00:16:34.960 the honorable mention grand champion overall 00:16:34.960 --> 00:16:37.700 in the red and whites. We have to pause and deeply 00:16:37.700 --> 00:16:40.139 analyze the magnitude of that achievement. It's 00:16:40.139 --> 00:16:42.720 almost unbelievable. It is. Imagine a cow in 00:16:42.720 --> 00:16:44.860 a commercial herd that calved in for the first 00:16:44.860 --> 00:16:47.779 time almost a decade ago. She has given over 00:16:47.779 --> 00:16:51.000 150 ,000 pounds of milk. I tried doing the math 00:16:51.000 --> 00:16:54.179 earlier. That's roughly 17 ,400 gallons of milk. 00:16:54.299 --> 00:16:56.519 Think about the thousands of trips she has made 00:16:56.519 --> 00:16:58.860 to the parlor to produce that. The thousands 00:16:58.860 --> 00:17:01.299 of miles she has walked on abrasive concrete. 00:17:01.600 --> 00:17:04.019 The wear and tear. Yeah, the sheer metabolic 00:17:04.019 --> 00:17:06.880 output of producing that much milk. For that 00:17:06.880 --> 00:17:09.299 animal to walk into a national level show ring 00:17:09.299 --> 00:17:12.079 and beat out cows that are three, four, five 00:17:12.079 --> 00:17:14.799 years younger than her for a grand champion banner, 00:17:14.960 --> 00:17:18.059 it just defies standard biological wear and tear. 00:17:18.480 --> 00:17:21.140 Gravity alone should have taken its toll, specifically 00:17:21.140 --> 00:17:25.220 on the mammary system. Producing 150 ,000 pounds 00:17:25.220 --> 00:17:28.059 of fluid means the udder has been under constant, 00:17:28.119 --> 00:17:31.200 immense downward pressure for a decade. Gravity 00:17:31.200 --> 00:17:33.720 is the absolute enemy of the dairy cat. It always 00:17:33.720 --> 00:17:37.759 wins. Well, usually. Usually. The mammary system 00:17:37.759 --> 00:17:40.980 is held to the body wall, primarily by the median 00:17:40.980 --> 00:17:43.680 suspensory ligament. which is the central support 00:17:43.680 --> 00:17:46.460 cable of elastic and fibrous tissue. Right. A 00:17:46.460 --> 00:17:48.880 mature Holstein udder, when full of milk, can 00:17:48.880 --> 00:17:51.319 easily weigh over 150 pounds. It's like carrying 00:17:51.319 --> 00:17:53.759 a full -grown adult human underneath you. Exactly. 00:17:54.240 --> 00:17:56.579 And that suspensory ligament has stretched and 00:17:56.579 --> 00:17:59.019 contracted under that immense weight twice or 00:17:59.019 --> 00:18:02.140 three times a day, every day, for seven lactations. 00:18:02.279 --> 00:18:04.700 It's a miracle it doesn't just snap. Well, sometimes 00:18:04.700 --> 00:18:07.660 it does in weaker cows. For a 10 -year -old cow 00:18:07.660 --> 00:18:10.339 to maintain a balanced, utter floor that hasn't 00:18:10.339 --> 00:18:13.039 dropped below her hocks, and for her teeth to 00:18:13.039 --> 00:18:15.960 still be perfectly plumb, it requires genetics 00:18:15.960 --> 00:18:19.539 woven with biological steel. Biological steel. 00:18:19.640 --> 00:18:22.539 I love that. The collagen elasticity required 00:18:22.539 --> 00:18:24.779 to prevent that ligament from simply snapping 00:18:24.779 --> 00:18:27.779 or permanently stretching out is phenomenal. 00:18:28.099 --> 00:18:30.680 And the economic impact of that biological steel 00:18:30.680 --> 00:18:33.079 is the holy grail for a commercialized area, 00:18:33.160 --> 00:18:35.640 right? It is the single most important factor 00:18:35.640 --> 00:18:39.700 in dairy profitability. Think about it. The replacement 00:18:39.700 --> 00:18:42.720 cost of raising a heifer from birth to the point 00:18:42.720 --> 00:18:45.940 of her first calving is roughly $2 ,000 to $2 00:18:45.940 --> 00:18:49.220 ,500. That's a huge upfront investment. Massive. 00:18:49.220 --> 00:18:51.819 And that animal does not start generating a true 00:18:51.819 --> 00:18:54.859 profit until halfway through her second or early 00:18:54.859 --> 00:18:56.700 in her third lactation. So she's just paying 00:18:56.700 --> 00:18:58.759 off her own debt for the first few years. Exactly. 00:18:59.230 --> 00:19:01.630 If a cow washes out of the herd after two lactations 00:19:01.630 --> 00:19:04.490 due to poor feet or a blown udder ligament, she 00:19:04.490 --> 00:19:06.769 was a net financial loss. You lost money on her. 00:19:06.990 --> 00:19:10.369 You lost money. But if you can breed cows like 00:19:10.369 --> 00:19:13.910 Bercuda and Rose Red, cows that thrive into their 00:19:13.910 --> 00:19:16.690 6th, 7th, or 8th lactation, your profitability 00:19:16.690 --> 00:19:19.309 skyrockets because your herd replacement rate 00:19:19.309 --> 00:19:21.250 plummets. Because you aren't constantly raising 00:19:21.250 --> 00:19:24.509 new heifers to replace broken cows. Right. Every 00:19:24.509 --> 00:19:26.970 drop of milk they produce in those later lactations 00:19:26.970 --> 00:19:30.369 is high margin. profit. They are the ultimate 00:19:30.369 --> 00:19:32.789 blueprint for financial sustainability. That 00:19:32.789 --> 00:19:35.509 is just incredible context. Now, while we are 00:19:35.509 --> 00:19:37.789 celebrating these 10 and 11 year old iron women, 00:19:37.970 --> 00:19:40.630 the carousel delivered a massive shock on the 00:19:40.630 --> 00:19:43.109 exact opposite end of the spectrum. Oh, boy. 00:19:43.329 --> 00:19:46.089 The youth movement. Yes. We have to transition 00:19:46.089 --> 00:19:48.250 from the 10 year old veterans to a rookie who 00:19:48.250 --> 00:19:50.329 walked into the building and completely upended 00:19:50.329 --> 00:19:52.750 the hierarchy. Let's examine the youth uprising 00:19:52.750 --> 00:19:55.730 in the Ayrshires. This was a wild story. It was. 00:19:55.750 --> 00:19:58.009 The Ayrshire show, running simultaneously with 00:19:58.009 --> 00:20:00.710 the Brown Swiss, was smaller. They had 49 head 00:20:00.710 --> 00:20:03.150 total, and the milking cow classes were quite 00:20:03.150 --> 00:20:05.609 thin. Not a huge turnout for the older cows. 00:20:05.750 --> 00:20:08.549 No. We saw single entries in three milking classes 00:20:08.549 --> 00:20:10.710 and no entries at all in the senior two -year 00:20:10.710 --> 00:20:13.630 -olds. Then junior exhibitor Michaela Spencer 00:20:13.630 --> 00:20:16.730 walks in. Just her and her heifer. She has exactly 00:20:16.730 --> 00:20:20.450 one entry for the entire show. Her junior two 00:20:20.450 --> 00:20:23.470 -year -old, Chaluka Rinalda Bella. A single entry. 00:20:23.630 --> 00:20:25.990 Bella walks into the junior two -year -old class 00:20:25.990 --> 00:20:28.690 as the only entry, winning by default. But then, 00:20:28.730 --> 00:20:30.730 in the championship drive, she lines up against 00:20:30.730 --> 00:20:33.769 the older, mature cows. The heavyweights. Including 00:20:33.769 --> 00:20:36.289 the four -year -old, Palmyra Blackjack R. Roslin, 00:20:36.509 --> 00:20:39.329 exhibited by Steve Linkowski, who took reserve 00:20:39.329 --> 00:20:41.369 grand champion. A beautiful four -year -old. 00:20:41.430 --> 00:20:44.710 He is. But Judge Churis walks right past the 00:20:44.710 --> 00:20:47.670 mature cows, pulls this lone two -year -old out 00:20:47.670 --> 00:20:50.569 of the lineup, and hands her the Supreme Grand 00:20:50.569 --> 00:20:53.509 Champion banner. A single entry from a junior 00:20:53.509 --> 00:20:56.029 exhibitor taking Supreme Grand over mature cows 00:20:56.029 --> 00:20:58.950 is... incredibly rare unheard of almost it is 00:20:58.950 --> 00:21:01.829 classic underdog territory but it is also a highly 00:21:01.829 --> 00:21:04.250 controversial judging decision in many circles 00:21:04.250 --> 00:21:06.609 which is exactly why i want to aggressively challenge 00:21:06.609 --> 00:21:08.890 this biologically a two -year -old hasn't even 00:21:08.890 --> 00:21:11.569 finished growing her frame her skeletal structure 00:21:11.569 --> 00:21:15.069 is still developing handing her the supreme banner 00:21:15.069 --> 00:21:17.690 doesn't that fundamentally ignore the proven 00:21:17.690 --> 00:21:20.109 durability and the necessary mass of the older 00:21:20.109 --> 00:21:22.809 cows we just spent 10 minutes praising I see 00:21:22.809 --> 00:21:24.869 where you're going. If we just said mass and 00:21:24.869 --> 00:21:26.890 depth of heart are essential for a biological 00:21:26.890 --> 00:21:30.029 engine, how does a gawky developing two -year 00:21:30.029 --> 00:21:33.269 -old beat a mature four -year -old? Are we prioritizing 00:21:33.269 --> 00:21:36.490 a flashy, precocious youth over actual proven 00:21:36.490 --> 00:21:39.089 dairy strength? That is the core debate of dairy 00:21:39.089 --> 00:21:41.390 judging, honestly. But you have to understand 00:21:41.390 --> 00:21:44.549 the specific philosophy of evaluating a two -year 00:21:44.549 --> 00:21:46.569 -old. Walk me through it. You are correct that 00:21:46.569 --> 00:21:48.769 she lacks the sheer mass and the extreme depth 00:21:48.769 --> 00:21:51.609 of barrel of a mature cow. However, a judge is 00:21:51.609 --> 00:21:53.430 not strictly comparing the two -year -old's size 00:21:53.430 --> 00:21:55.049 to the four -year -old's size. Oh, they're not? 00:21:55.230 --> 00:21:57.230 No. They're evaluating the two -year -old against 00:21:57.230 --> 00:22:00.410 the ideal standard for a specific age and assessing 00:22:00.410 --> 00:22:03.069 her potential trajectory. Ah, projecting her 00:22:03.069 --> 00:22:05.650 future. Yes. For a two -year -old to win grand 00:22:05.650 --> 00:22:07.789 champion, she cannot look like a cocky teenager. 00:22:08.470 --> 00:22:11.430 She must possess a structural maturity that defies 00:22:11.430 --> 00:22:13.750 her age. So she has to be advanced. Exactly. 00:22:13.849 --> 00:22:16.710 She has to exhibit extreme dariness, meaning 00:22:16.710 --> 00:22:19.430 she is clean, angular, and free of excess condition, 00:22:19.650 --> 00:22:22.589 while still showing a wide, sweeping rib structure 00:22:22.589 --> 00:22:25.950 that indicates her future capacity. So it's about 00:22:25.950 --> 00:22:28.930 the architecture being so perfect that the judge 00:22:28.930 --> 00:22:31.029 can project what she will look like at five years 00:22:31.029 --> 00:22:33.569 old rather than just measuring her current sheer 00:22:33.569 --> 00:22:37.190 volume. Exactly. But the deciding factor is almost 00:22:37.190 --> 00:22:39.410 always the mammary system. Always comes back 00:22:39.410 --> 00:22:41.750 to the udder. It does. A two -year -old that 00:22:41.750 --> 00:22:44.890 takes Supreme must have an udder that is so highly 00:22:44.890 --> 00:22:48.049 attached, so beautifully veined, so perfectly 00:22:48.049 --> 00:22:51.309 balanced, and so incredibly snug to the body 00:22:51.309 --> 00:22:54.009 wall that it cannot be denied. And Bella had 00:22:54.009 --> 00:22:56.259 that. J .P. Cheris saw an animal that perfectly 00:22:56.259 --> 00:22:58.559 exemplified the ultimate Ayrshire breed standard 00:22:58.559 --> 00:23:01.819 on that specific day. When the structural correctness, 00:23:01.920 --> 00:23:04.200 the angularity, and the utter promise are flawless, 00:23:04.500 --> 00:23:07.940 the judge has to reward it, even over a cow with 00:23:07.940 --> 00:23:10.619 more mass. It sends a message. It sends a powerful 00:23:10.619 --> 00:23:13.640 signal to the breeders. Extreme quality and correctness 00:23:13.640 --> 00:23:16.279 of parts will always trump sheer size. And it 00:23:16.279 --> 00:23:18.079 wasn't just this one two -year -old sending a 00:23:18.079 --> 00:23:20.380 signal on the Ayrshires. Like I said, the cow 00:23:20.380 --> 00:23:22.559 classes were thin, but the heifer classes were 00:23:22.559 --> 00:23:25.400 deep. Really deep. The summer yearling class 00:23:25.400 --> 00:23:28.019 had 10 entries. The spring yearlings had nine. 00:23:28.299 --> 00:23:30.619 If we were looking at the future, the sire data 00:23:30.619 --> 00:23:33.880 from those classes was undeniable. One name kept 00:23:33.880 --> 00:23:37.789 popping up. Heinemann Milius Rage. Rage was everywhere. 00:23:38.049 --> 00:23:40.269 He was absolutely dominant. He put four daughters 00:23:40.269 --> 00:23:42.869 at the top of the heifer classes. Ms. Cinderella's 00:23:42.869 --> 00:23:45.670 Crown E .T. topped the 10 -head summer yearling 00:23:45.670 --> 00:23:48.250 class for shocking genetics and took reserve 00:23:48.250 --> 00:23:51.190 junior champion. Beautiful calf. And on the map 00:23:51.190 --> 00:23:53.549 Rage Journey won the spring yearling class for 00:23:53.549 --> 00:23:57.349 Ashton and Levi Wilcox. My question is, how does 00:23:57.349 --> 00:24:00.250 a single sire manage to stamp that level of consistency 00:24:00.250 --> 00:24:03.309 across completely different maternal lines? That 00:24:03.309 --> 00:24:06.069 is the definition of genetic prepotency. Prepotence. 00:24:06.069 --> 00:24:09.049 Yes. When a sire is highly prepotent, his genetic 00:24:09.049 --> 00:24:11.269 markers for specific traits like angularity, 00:24:11.289 --> 00:24:13.930 straightness of lines, or foot angle are so dominant 00:24:13.930 --> 00:24:16.269 that they override the variability of the dams 00:24:16.269 --> 00:24:18.769 he is mated to. So his genes just take over? 00:24:18.990 --> 00:24:22.640 Pretty much. When you see a sire put four daughters 00:24:22.640 --> 00:24:25.019 from different maternal lines raised in completely 00:24:25.019 --> 00:24:26.700 different environments with different feeding 00:24:26.700 --> 00:24:29.559 programs right at the top of national level classes, 00:24:29.740 --> 00:24:32.559 that bull ceases to be an interesting prospect 00:24:32.559 --> 00:24:36.359 and becomes a proven commodity. The carousel 00:24:36.359 --> 00:24:39.039 just provided a massive data point for air shear 00:24:39.039 --> 00:24:42.359 breeders. If your herd needs to improve style 00:24:42.359 --> 00:24:44.859 and structural correctness, Heinemann -Milios 00:24:44.859 --> 00:24:47.500 Rage is transmitting a highly reliable pattern. 00:24:48.039 --> 00:24:51.400 That's amazing data to take home. So we've covered 00:24:51.400 --> 00:24:53.960 the single entry underdog story. Now let's look 00:24:53.960 --> 00:24:56.819 at the exact opposite strategy. The big strings. 00:24:57.180 --> 00:24:59.500 Yes. What about the breeders who showed up with 00:24:59.500 --> 00:25:01.599 massive strings of homebred animals dominating 00:25:01.599 --> 00:25:04.819 multiple classes all day long? This transitions 00:25:04.819 --> 00:25:07.539 us to a master class in breeding, the power of 00:25:07.539 --> 00:25:09.640 the farm prefix. I love talking about prefixes. 00:25:09.819 --> 00:25:12.279 Let's start with the Brown -Swiss sweep. Brian 00:25:12.279 --> 00:25:14.519 Pacheco basically backed his trailer up and loaded 00:25:14.519 --> 00:25:16.960 the banners. He had an incredible weekend. He 00:25:16.960 --> 00:25:19.519 really did. He won senior grand champion with 00:25:19.519 --> 00:25:22.680 Iroquois Acres Total Candy, who also won the 00:25:22.680 --> 00:25:25.539 100 ,000 pound lifetime class at nine years old, 00:25:25.579 --> 00:25:28.299 by the way. And he took reserve senior champion 00:25:28.299 --> 00:25:31.759 with Jerlene Ama. I'm a Cali girl. Both incredible 00:25:31.759 --> 00:25:34.880 cows. But the fascinating logistical angle here 00:25:34.880 --> 00:25:38.099 is that Pacheco String is housed and managed 00:25:38.099 --> 00:25:41.220 at Callum McKinvan's Lookout Farms up in Canton 00:25:41.220 --> 00:25:43.769 de Hatley, Quebec. And this brings up the crucial 00:25:43.769 --> 00:25:47.089 role of environmental epigenetics in daily management. 00:25:47.230 --> 00:25:49.490 Okay, break that down for us. Elite genetics 00:25:49.490 --> 00:25:51.849 are only half the equation. You can have the 00:25:51.849 --> 00:25:53.990 greatest genetic blueprint in the world, but 00:25:53.990 --> 00:25:56.569 if the daily management isn't world -class, those 00:25:56.569 --> 00:25:58.329 genetics will never fully express themselves. 00:25:58.650 --> 00:26:01.450 So the food, the barn, all of it matters? Everything 00:26:01.450 --> 00:26:04.089 matters. The specific feed rations, the precise 00:26:04.089 --> 00:26:06.509 timing of hoof trimming, the ventilation in the 00:26:06.509 --> 00:26:09.309 barn, the daily exercise. Partnering incredible 00:26:09.309 --> 00:26:11.630 cow families with the daily management expertise 00:26:11.630 --> 00:26:14.930 of a facility like Lookout Farms creates a synergistic 00:26:14.930 --> 00:26:17.529 effect that results in these dominant multi -banner 00:26:17.529 --> 00:26:19.910 sweeps. But the Junior Dynasty and the Brown 00:26:19.910 --> 00:26:22.519 -Swiss Ring was entirely homebred and mind -blowing. 00:26:22.640 --> 00:26:25.880 Oh, Hannah Balthasar. Yes. Junior exhibitor Hannah 00:26:25.880 --> 00:26:28.839 Balthasar from Bernville, Pennsylvania. She owned 00:26:28.839 --> 00:26:31.480 the entire junior division. Sweat good. Junior 00:26:31.480 --> 00:26:35.220 champion with CIE North Kill Creek Tessa. Intermediate 00:26:35.220 --> 00:26:38.359 champion with North Kill Creek Groove ET. Grand 00:26:38.359 --> 00:26:40.660 champion of the junior show with that same gal. 00:26:40.940 --> 00:26:43.259 Unbelievable. Every single one bred and owned 00:26:43.259 --> 00:26:46.700 under her North Kill Creek prefix. But the detail 00:26:46.700 --> 00:26:49.779 that demands analysis is the fall yearling class. 00:26:50.359 --> 00:26:52.779 Hannah took first place with one heifer and third 00:26:52.779 --> 00:26:54.859 place with another. In the same class? In the 00:26:54.859 --> 00:26:57.539 same class. Those two heifers are by completely 00:26:57.539 --> 00:27:00.079 different sires, one by first choice, one by 00:27:00.079 --> 00:27:02.740 design, but they are out of the exact same donor 00:27:02.740 --> 00:27:05.779 cow, Northkill Creek Groovy. Groovy is a legend 00:27:05.779 --> 00:27:08.240 in the making. Let's do a deep dive into the 00:27:08.240 --> 00:27:10.619 mechanics and the economics of this. How does 00:27:10.619 --> 00:27:13.119 one cow have two daughters in the exact same 00:27:13.119 --> 00:27:16.079 age class? This is the immense power of in vitro 00:27:16.079 --> 00:27:19.099 fertilization, IVF, and embryo transfer technology. 00:27:19.500 --> 00:27:22.980 ET. Yes, ET. A dairy cow naturally has a nine 00:27:22.980 --> 00:27:25.440 -month gestation period, meaning she can typically 00:27:25.440 --> 00:27:27.920 only have one calf per year. Right, biology is 00:27:27.920 --> 00:27:30.720 stubborn. It is. But when a breeder identifies 00:27:30.720 --> 00:27:34.900 a truly elite female, a donor dam like Northkill 00:27:34.900 --> 00:27:37.960 Creek Groovy, They can bypass that biological 00:27:37.960 --> 00:27:40.859 limit. How exactly? They extract unfertilized 00:27:40.859 --> 00:27:43.980 oocytes directly from the donor's ovaries, fertilize 00:27:43.980 --> 00:27:46.140 them in a lab with semen from different elite 00:27:46.140 --> 00:27:49.819 sires, and implant those resulting embryos into 00:27:49.819 --> 00:27:52.720 surrogate recipient cows. So the surrogate carries 00:27:52.720 --> 00:27:55.799 the calf, but the genetics are 100 % from the 00:27:55.799 --> 00:27:59.670 donor and the chosen sire. Correct. This allows 00:27:59.670 --> 00:28:02.990 a single genetically elite cow to produce dozens 00:28:02.990 --> 00:28:06.150 of offspring in a single year. That is wild to 00:28:06.150 --> 00:28:08.289 think about. It accelerates progress so fast. 00:28:08.450 --> 00:28:10.750 When a donor cow like Groovy can throw national 00:28:10.750 --> 00:28:12.730 -level class winners using completely different 00:28:12.730 --> 00:28:15.230 sires, it proves that her maternal genetics are 00:28:15.230 --> 00:28:17.690 overwhelmingly dominant. She overrides the bulls. 00:28:17.690 --> 00:28:19.970 She is the anchor of the pedigree, locking in 00:28:19.970 --> 00:28:21.869 the structural correctness regardless of which 00:28:21.869 --> 00:28:24.329 bull she is mated to. We saw this exact long 00:28:24.329 --> 00:28:26.410 -term strategy paying off in the jersey ring, 00:28:26.470 --> 00:28:29.579 too. Mason Zimba with Z Class and Sunnyside Farms 00:28:29.579 --> 00:28:31.940 quietly and systematically took over the show. 00:28:32.140 --> 00:28:35.160 Quiet dominance. He won premier breeder, premier 00:28:35.160 --> 00:28:37.500 exhibitor, junior best three in both the open 00:28:37.500 --> 00:28:40.839 and junior shows, produce of dam and best three 00:28:40.839 --> 00:28:44.519 females. His prefix was everywhere. He built 00:28:44.519 --> 00:28:47.039 a program. He did. But I want to contrast this 00:28:47.039 --> 00:28:50.220 generational homebred strategy with the massive 00:28:50.220 --> 00:28:52.579 financial trend currently reshaping the industry. 00:28:52.720 --> 00:28:55.619 The flush and flip market. Ah, yes. The quick 00:28:55.619 --> 00:28:58.220 turnaround. The high end show ring is heavily 00:28:58.220 --> 00:29:01.539 influenced by investors buying famous cows, flushing 00:29:01.539 --> 00:29:04.480 them extensively for embryos, raising the calves 00:29:04.480 --> 00:29:07.420 and immediately selling them at high end consignment 00:29:07.420 --> 00:29:09.420 sales to people who want instant gratification. 00:29:09.869 --> 00:29:11.930 It's a huge part of the business now. We saw 00:29:11.930 --> 00:29:14.490 it at the carousel. The Jersey winter yearling, 00:29:14.529 --> 00:29:17.289 Big Gun's Joyride Valhalla, was bought at the 00:29:17.289 --> 00:29:19.390 New York Spring Select Sale on Saturday night 00:29:19.390 --> 00:29:21.970 for a massive premium. And on Sunday morning, 00:29:22.029 --> 00:29:24.349 she placed second in a massive class. Less than 00:29:24.349 --> 00:29:26.990 12 hours later. It is buying a ready -made winner. 00:29:27.390 --> 00:29:29.849 So if the flush and flip model guarantees you 00:29:29.849 --> 00:29:32.170 a top -tier animal without the decades of trial 00:29:32.170 --> 00:29:34.930 and error, why are breeders like Balthasar and 00:29:34.930 --> 00:29:37.450 Ziemba doing it the hard way? What are the economic 00:29:37.450 --> 00:29:39.980 risks of the flush and flip model? Well, the 00:29:39.980 --> 00:29:43.200 flush and flip model is high risk, high reward 00:29:43.200 --> 00:29:45.640 financial speculation. Speculation is the right 00:29:45.640 --> 00:29:48.960 word. It requires massive upfront capital to 00:29:48.960 --> 00:29:52.619 purchase the initial donor cow or the high end 00:29:52.619 --> 00:29:55.619 embryos. If the resulting calves don't develop 00:29:55.619 --> 00:29:58.599 perfectly or if the market suddenly favors a 00:29:58.599 --> 00:30:01.640 different genetic profile, the investor can lose 00:30:01.640 --> 00:30:04.059 tens of thousands of dollars overnight. It is 00:30:04.059 --> 00:30:06.519 treating genetics like day trading. That's exactly 00:30:06.519 --> 00:30:09.140 what it is. Yeah. And it ignores the epigenetic 00:30:09.140 --> 00:30:11.779 reality of moving an animal from farm to farm. 00:30:11.880 --> 00:30:14.339 Because the environment changes. Exactly. When 00:30:14.339 --> 00:30:16.940 you purchase an animal at a sale, you are dropping 00:30:16.940 --> 00:30:19.940 her into a completely new microbiological environment. 00:30:20.380 --> 00:30:23.079 New pathogens, different feed sources, different 00:30:23.079 --> 00:30:25.420 social stressors. Which can derail their development. 00:30:25.680 --> 00:30:27.640 Oh, absolutely. When you breed the winter yourself, 00:30:27.759 --> 00:30:30.180 like Balthazar and Zimba, you are developing 00:30:30.180 --> 00:30:32.220 cow families that are genetically adapted to 00:30:32.220 --> 00:30:34.480 your specific farm's environment, your specific 00:30:34.480 --> 00:30:36.839 feedstocks, and your specific management style. 00:30:37.079 --> 00:30:40.460 It's custom -built for their home. Yes. Winning 00:30:40.460 --> 00:30:42.900 Premier Breeder, which is awarded to the farm 00:30:42.900 --> 00:30:45.059 whose bred and owned animals earn the most total 00:30:45.059 --> 00:30:47.980 points, is the ultimate validation of a true 00:30:47.980 --> 00:30:51.119 dairyman. It means you aren't just an aggregator 00:30:51.119 --> 00:30:53.839 of expensive cattle. You are a master architect 00:30:53.839 --> 00:30:57.460 of bovine genetics. It takes so much time. Decades. 00:30:57.759 --> 00:31:00.559 It requires patience, weathering the storms of 00:31:00.559 --> 00:31:03.279 cathode pneumonia and failed matings, and holding 00:31:03.279 --> 00:31:05.940 true to a long -term genetic vision. Blurring 00:31:05.940 --> 00:31:08.180 our eyes and looking at the carousel as a whole 00:31:08.180 --> 00:31:11.230 across all five breed reports. The judges were 00:31:11.230 --> 00:31:13.509 incredibly aligned. They really were on the same 00:31:13.509 --> 00:31:16.309 page. Karsgaden in the Holsteins, Savage in the 00:31:16.309 --> 00:31:18.589 Red and Whites, and Cherist in the Jerseys and 00:31:18.589 --> 00:31:21.650 Ayrshires, they were universally rewarding specific 00:31:21.650 --> 00:31:24.809 traits. Consistency was key. They wanted dariness 00:31:24.809 --> 00:31:27.329 combined with massive spring of rib. They wanted 00:31:27.329 --> 00:31:30.269 high, wide udders snug to the body wall. But 00:31:30.269 --> 00:31:32.309 the trait they were absolutely ruthless about 00:31:32.309 --> 00:31:35.029 was impeccable hind leg tracking. Oh, the legs. 00:31:35.309 --> 00:31:38.660 They were tough on legs. Every judge penalized 00:31:38.660 --> 00:31:41.299 cows that couldn't travel smoothly. I want to 00:31:41.299 --> 00:31:43.359 dig into the biomechanics of the dairy cow leg. 00:31:43.619 --> 00:31:46.660 We hear terms like too much set to the hawk or 00:31:46.660 --> 00:31:50.000 weak pasterns. If I'm walking the barns, a bad 00:31:50.000 --> 00:31:52.279 hawk means a cow that can't get to the feed bunk. 00:31:52.880 --> 00:31:55.440 Simple as that. So explain the physics of the 00:31:55.440 --> 00:31:57.799 dairy cow's leg and why the judges were so critical 00:31:57.799 --> 00:32:00.990 of it. The hind leg of a dairy cow is a complex 00:32:00.990 --> 00:32:03.809 suspension system designed to carry massive weight. 00:32:03.950 --> 00:32:07.130 Like shock absorbers. Exactly. The hock is the 00:32:07.130 --> 00:32:09.529 equivalent of the human ankle, and the pastern 00:32:09.529 --> 00:32:12.650 is the joint just above the hoof. When a judge 00:32:12.650 --> 00:32:15.809 says a cow has too much set to her hock, they 00:32:15.809 --> 00:32:18.569 mean the leg is too profoundly bent, or sickle 00:32:18.569 --> 00:32:21.109 -hocked. It looks curved. Right. Instead of the 00:32:21.109 --> 00:32:22.890 leg acting as a straight, weight -bearing pillar, 00:32:23.150 --> 00:32:26.240 it acts as a collapsed spring. This forces the 00:32:26.240 --> 00:32:28.299 cow's weight entirely onto the back heels of 00:32:28.299 --> 00:32:30.500 her hooves, rather than distributing it evenly 00:32:30.500 --> 00:32:32.480 across the entire hoof block. And on a brace 00:32:32.480 --> 00:32:34.819 of concrete, uneven weight distribution is a 00:32:34.819 --> 00:32:37.299 death sentence. It leads directly to heel ulcers, 00:32:37.500 --> 00:32:40.359 digital dermatitis, and chronic laminitis. Which 00:32:40.359 --> 00:32:43.900 ruins the cow. Completely. Conversely, if the 00:32:43.900 --> 00:32:46.359 pastern is too weak, the joint drops and the 00:32:46.359 --> 00:32:48.700 dewclaws drag close to the ground, pulling on 00:32:48.700 --> 00:32:51.440 the tendons with every step. Ouch. The show ring 00:32:51.440 --> 00:32:53.539 has historically been criticized for ignoring 00:32:53.539 --> 00:32:56.660 leg structure in favor of pretty udders, but 00:32:56.660 --> 00:32:59.440 the carousel proved that the judges are now fiercely 00:32:59.440 --> 00:33:01.759 aligned with the commercial reality. They won't 00:33:01.759 --> 00:33:04.980 tolerate a bad leg anymore. No. If the leg acts 00:33:04.980 --> 00:33:07.539 as a faulty pendulum, the cow will not survive 00:33:07.539 --> 00:33:10.480 a modern freestall environment. The sires that 00:33:10.480 --> 00:33:12.740 stamped these correct traits were universally 00:33:12.740 --> 00:33:15.619 rewarded. Right coup. In the jerseys, the video 00:33:15.619 --> 00:33:17.819 daughters were everywhere, displaying incredible 00:33:17.819 --> 00:33:21.759 length and presence. In the brown Swiss, HF Design 00:33:21.759 --> 00:33:24.400 produced structurally flawless class winners. 00:33:24.640 --> 00:33:26.940 But beyond the biomechanics and the genetics, 00:33:27.059 --> 00:33:29.380 the emotional undercurrent of this weekend is 00:33:29.380 --> 00:33:31.519 what grounds the entire industry. It's about 00:33:31.519 --> 00:33:33.779 the people. It really is. Looking through the 00:33:33.779 --> 00:33:35.720 photos and the results, it wasn't just massive 00:33:35.720 --> 00:33:37.759 corporate syndicates winning the banners. It 00:33:37.759 --> 00:33:39.599 was family. Well, you know, farming family. Yeah. 00:33:39.660 --> 00:33:42.519 The Crothers sisters, Cameron and Macy, won the 00:33:42.519 --> 00:33:44.700 four -year -old class in the jersey ring while 00:33:44.700 --> 00:33:47.039 their sister, Deb, was running the ring. That 00:33:47.039 --> 00:33:50.369 is so cool. The Lamb family took grand champion 00:33:50.369 --> 00:33:53.190 in the open jersey show with Delilah, then walked 00:33:53.190 --> 00:33:55.470 over to the red and white ring and took grand 00:33:55.470 --> 00:33:58.109 champion of the junior show. Busy weekend for 00:33:58.109 --> 00:34:00.609 them. And the Wilcox family brought their on 00:34:00.609 --> 00:34:03.150 -the -map prefix to the front of three different 00:34:03.150 --> 00:34:06.130 Ayrshire classes. These are families sleeping 00:34:06.130 --> 00:34:09.170 in tack rooms, washing cows at 3 a .m. in freezing 00:34:09.170 --> 00:34:12.389 water, and living the extreme labor of this life 00:34:12.389 --> 00:34:15.090 together. The technology and the genetic data 00:34:15.090 --> 00:34:17.650 will continue to evolve, but the foundation of 00:34:17.650 --> 00:34:20.269 the dairy industry remains generations of families 00:34:20.269 --> 00:34:23.510 working shoulder to shoulder. Bringing a string 00:34:23.510 --> 00:34:25.929 of cattle to Hamburg requires an insane amount 00:34:25.929 --> 00:34:28.909 of logistical planning, physical labor, and financial 00:34:28.909 --> 00:34:32.369 sacrifice. When a junior exhibitor finally stands 00:34:32.369 --> 00:34:34.690 at the center of that ring holding a grand champion 00:34:34.690 --> 00:34:38.030 banner, it validates every 4 a .m. alarm and 00:34:38.030 --> 00:34:40.710 every frozen water trough they had to break over 00:34:40.710 --> 00:34:43.340 the winter. So let's bring this massive weekend 00:34:43.340 --> 00:34:46.980 of data and observation down to one final critical 00:34:46.980 --> 00:34:50.460 point. Someone is finishing up their chores right 00:34:50.460 --> 00:34:54.199 now, locking the parlor doors. What is the one 00:34:54.199 --> 00:34:56.820 defining thesis you think they should take away 00:34:56.820 --> 00:35:00.119 from the 2026 New York Spring dairy carousel? 00:35:00.260 --> 00:35:02.780 The defining thesis of this weekend is the balance 00:35:02.780 --> 00:35:06.159 of extremes. The balance of extremes. Yes. Historically, 00:35:06.179 --> 00:35:08.420 the industry operated on a forced compromise. 00:35:09.119 --> 00:35:11.820 You either bred for a flashy, precocious two 00:35:11.820 --> 00:35:13.980 -year -old that won the show ring but burned 00:35:13.980 --> 00:35:16.760 out physically by her third lactation. Or you 00:35:16.760 --> 00:35:19.480 bred for a slow -maturing, rugged cow that lasted 00:35:19.480 --> 00:35:22.239 a decade. but lacked the refinement to ever win 00:35:22.239 --> 00:35:24.400 a banner. You had to pick one. You had to choose. 00:35:24.559 --> 00:35:26.820 The carousel proved that compromise is no longer 00:35:26.820 --> 00:35:29.059 necessary. Wow. You can breed an Ayrshire that 00:35:29.059 --> 00:35:31.260 takes supreme champion as a fresh two -year -old 00:35:31.260 --> 00:35:33.579 because her angularity and utter attachments 00:35:33.579 --> 00:35:36.420 are flawless. And if that structural foundation, 00:35:36.800 --> 00:35:39.159 the precise angle of the hock, the strength of 00:35:39.159 --> 00:35:41.519 the suspensory ligament, the sheer capacity of 00:35:41.519 --> 00:35:43.980 the internal barrel is bred right, she does not 00:35:43.980 --> 00:35:46.119 burn out. She comes back. She returns at five 00:35:46.119 --> 00:35:48.380 years old. hitting the ring with the massive 00:35:48.380 --> 00:35:51.260 power of Maui Red. She returns at 10 years old, 00:35:51.320 --> 00:35:54.239 like Rose Red, carrying the weight of 150 ,000 00:35:54.239 --> 00:35:56.619 pounds of milk, and she still commands the center 00:35:56.619 --> 00:35:59.099 of the ring. It's beautiful. The modern dairy 00:35:59.099 --> 00:36:02.119 breeder is building functional, profitable, living 00:36:02.119 --> 00:36:05.400 art that endures. It is the ultimate fusion of 00:36:05.400 --> 00:36:08.159 form and function. But, you know, it raises a 00:36:08.159 --> 00:36:09.860 massive question for the future. What's that? 00:36:10.269 --> 00:36:13.309 If we have successfully bred a biological engine 00:36:13.309 --> 00:36:16.349 that can produce elite volumes of milk as a two 00:36:16.349 --> 00:36:18.969 -year -old and still possess the physical durability 00:36:18.969 --> 00:36:22.250 to last a decade, are we approaching the absolute 00:36:22.250 --> 00:36:24.869 biological limit of the bovine frame? That's 00:36:24.869 --> 00:36:27.349 a huge question. Or will these genetically superior 00:36:27.349 --> 00:36:30.670 supercows eventually outgrow the physical limitations 00:36:30.670 --> 00:36:33.730 of our current freestall architecture, forcing 00:36:33.730 --> 00:36:36.349 us to redesign our barns to accommodate the massive 00:36:36.349 --> 00:36:38.989 capacity we are intentionally breeding for? That's 00:36:38.989 --> 00:36:41.389 our New York Spring Dairy Carousel Weekend Recap 00:36:41.389 --> 00:36:44.070 on the bullvine deep dive. You'll find full class 00:36:44.070 --> 00:36:46.469 -by -class reports, photos, and results for every 00:36:46.469 --> 00:36:49.289 breed at thebullvine .com. Subscribe so you don't 00:36:49.289 --> 00:36:50.289 miss the next show. story.