April 25 2012 08:01 PM

How this year's contest classes were placed

Brown Swiss placings

BROWN SWISS - C A B D
C A B D is my placing for this class of Brown Swiss cows. The class sorted itself into two pairs. The stylish C places over the dark A for her advantage in style, balance, frame, and capacity. C is more powerful through the front end, being deeper in the heart and wider on the chest floor. Additionally, C stands straighter on her front legs, noting that A toes-out on her front legs. C also blends more smoothly from neck to shoulder and shoulder to barrel and has more depth, sweep, spring, and openness to both her fore and rear rib. Still further, C carries her udder higher above the hocks. I grant that A is wider in the rear udder attachment.

Next, in a more logical placing, A places over light-colored B. A carries a more youthful udder higher above the hocks and she is higher and wider in the rear udder attachment. In addition, A has more clearly defined halving through the rear quarters and keeps shorter teats placed more squarely on the floor of the udder, noting the long teats and wide teat placement of B. Additionally, A is much flatter and cleaner through the hocks. I admit that B has more total frame and capacity, with more depth of both the fore and rear rib.
Finally, B places over D for her advantage in the udder. B has a longer fore udder and is tighter in the fore udder attachment. Also, B is fuller at the top of the rear udder and is more nearly level on the udder floor. Furthermore, B is deeper in the chest and blends more smoothly through the front end. Although D has shorter teats, placed more centrally on each quarter, I feel justified in leaving her last because she lacks the youthfulness of udder.

Laurie WinkelmanLAURIE WINKELMAN
Appleton, Wis.
Winkelman placed the BROWN SWISS. She hails from a 130-cow registered Brown Swiss and Holstein farm in Watertown, Wis. Winkelman earned her Ph.D. at Cornell University and now serves as a dairy nutritionist and technical specialist for Vita Plus. As an undergraduate, she was a member of five winning dairy judging teams at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Additionally, she was high individual at the 2002 Intercollegiate Contest and the 2000 National 4-H Dairy Judging Contest. Winkelman has judged county, district, state, and national shows in Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and New York.



Holstein placings

HOLSTEIN - D B A C
I place this fine class of Holstein cows D B A C. D easily wins this class with her combination of modern dairy strength and the fact she has the best udder in this class. When you view the cows from the side, D holds her udder floor higher above the hock than does B, plus, D has a snugger and longer fore udder attachment and has more width at the top of the rear udder compared to B. D also is wider in her chest, deeper in her fore rib, and has more depth and spring of rear rib. Additionally, D is wider about her hips, pins, and thurls. Lastly, D stands with her legs more squarely beneath her rump structure with less set to the hock. Yes, I do admire that B has her teats placed more centrally on the quarters.

In the middle placing, B follows the dairy pattern established by the winning cow. B is longer and leaner in her neck, cleaner in her brisket, sharper over the shoulder, flatter and more incurving in the thigh. B has much more bloom and capacity to the mammary system, especially when the cows are viewed from behind where B has a dominating advantage in width of rear udder. B also exhibits a more open dairy rib and spells more milk from end to end than A. I do admit that A does hold her udder floor higher above the hock than B.

In the final placing, A goes over a similarly made cow C due to her advantage in overall strength and correctness to the udder. A is a stronger-made cow from end to end by being wider in her muzzle, chest, and rump. Furthermore, A has more spring of rib with a more desirable tail head setting. As you look at the mammary systems, A has a longer fore udder attachment with a more nearly level udder floor. I do grant that C is sharper over the shoulders, but she lacks the height of rear udder and correctness of rear feet and legs to place higher.

Paul TrappPAUL TRAPP
Taylor, Wis.
Trapp placed the HOLSTEINS. He is a regional sire analyst with ABS Global. He and his wife, Sarah, and two sons also own an elite group of registered Brown Swiss, Jerseys, and Holsteins receiving All-American nominations across all three breeds. A graduate of the University of Minnesota, Trapp earned All-American Judging honors in both the national 4-H and college contests. Trapp has judged shows in 15 states and in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Puerto Rico, and Japan. At World Dairy Expo, Paul served as the 2010 Associate Guernsey Judge and was the lead judge for the 2011 International Milking Shorthorn Show.



Guernsey placings

GUERNSEY - B D A C
I found a logical placing of B D A C in this outstanding class of Guernsey cows. B places over D for her advantage in dairy character. She is cleaner and longer through the head and neck, sharper over her withers, cleaner through the hips, pins, and thighs. B also excels in feet and legs, standing with a more correct set to her hind legs. She is cleaner and flatter boned through her hock, and she stands more squarely on both her front and rear legs when viewed from the rear. In addition, B has the advantage in udder, being higher in the rear udder and wider at the top of her rear udder. I do grant that D has a more correct slope from hips to pins.

Moving to my middle pair, I gave D the nod over A on her advantage in frame. D has more overall strength, substance, and capacity throughout. She is wider in her muzzle and has more width of chest. D has a decided advantage in being deeper in her heart, fore and rear rib, and is wider through her rump. She is also a longer cow from end to end. She also is more level on her udder floor when viewed from the side, recognizing the forward tilt on A. However, I do concede that A is a sharper, cleaner, and more feminine cow throughout.
A easily places over C due to her tremendous advantage in the udder. A has a fore udder which blends more smoothly into her body wall. She has a higher, wider rear udder, a stronger median suspensory ligament, and a more desirable teat placement. A also has a more balanced frame with more substance of bone and she is deeper in her heart and fore rib. I do admit that C is a longer cow than A. Although I do admire the extreme dairyness of C, she lacks the overall quality of udder attachments to merit a higher placing.

Brian SchneblyBRIAN SCHNEBLY
Hagerstown, Md.
Schnebly placed the GUERNSEYS. He is the programs coordinator for the American Guernsey Association. He grew up on Crown Stone Guernsey Farm in Clear Spring, Md., and graduated from the University of Maryland. For the past five years, he has served as a contest official in the National Collegiate Dairy Judging contest for the Guernsey breed at World Dairy Expo and has served as a contest official for the All American Dairy Show 4-H judging contest for seven years. He has judged numerous local and state shows, the Canadian National Guernsey Show, Royal Brisbane Guernsey Show, and Royal Adelaide Guernsey Show in Australia.



Ayrshire placings

AYRSHIRE - D C B A
D C B A is my placing in this well-balanced class of Ayrshire cows. D starts this class because she has the best udder and more overall dairy strength being wider from end to end. D also has more bloom to the udder with more height and width of rear udder. She also has more depth of heel when compared to C.

C keeps this a close placing because she has more depth of fore rib and has more depth of heart. C follows nicely with more overall width and strength than B. She also shows more depth of fore rib and is longer from end to end. C's fore udder blends more smoothly into the body wall; I do grant B is sharper and cleaner through her front end.

In my final pair, B goes over A on her overall dairyness, possesses a longer, cleaner neck and cleaner thigh than A. She also has a higher rear udder attachment. I grant A also has more strength throughout her front end. However, A shows a rounder bone in the leg than any cow in the class.

Steve McDonaldSTEVE McDONALD
Princeton, Ill.
McDonald placed the AYRSHIRES. He is the owner of Mackayr Farm along with his wife, Deb, and also serves as a dairy cattle consultant. He is a lifelong breeder of registered Ayrshires and is the current president of the Ayrshire Breeders Association. The Mackayr prefix has been tied with many All Americans, national show winners, and production leaders along with topping sales across the U.S. McDonald is an experienced dairy cattle judge. His assignments have included World Dairy Expo and the Eastern States Exposition. International judging credits include shows in Australia, Canada, Colombia, New Zealand, and South Africa.



Jersey placings

JERSEY - C D A B
I placed this class of outstanding Jersey cows C D A B. C starts the class because she excels in overall style, balance, and correctness of udder. C places over D because she is longer and leaner in her neck, sharper over the shoulder, cleaner and more open in her rib structure. C also excels D in her levelness and correctness of rump structure, being more nearly level from hooks to pins. C is higher in her rear udder attachment and is much fuller and blends nicer at the top of her rear udder. Finally, C has the advantage of being deeper in her median suspensory ligament and has a more correct teat placement, both fore and rear. I grant D has more width throughout but lacks the overall balance and dairyness of C.

In my middle pair, D places over A because of her overall body capacity. D is wider in her chest and deeper in the heart. D also is deeper in her rib, both fore and rear, than A. In addition, D has a wider rear udder attachment and a much smoother fore udder. I grant A is fuller and blends nicer at the top of the rear udder.

In a close final placing, I place A over B. I give the advantage to A in being fuller in the crops and blending smoother from her neck to the shoulder. She is a longer-bodied cow and excels B in the height of her rear udder. A also has the advantage in median suspensory ligament and levelness of udder floor. I grant B has a flatter bone in her rear leg and a stronger pastern than does A. I admire B for her overall dairy character, but she lacks levelness in her udder floor and correctness of her fore udder to merit a higher placing.


Ron MosserRON MOSSER
Geneva, Ind.
Mosser placed the JERSEYS. He serves as field representative for the American Jersey Cattle Association (AJCA) and the senior type traits appraiser. Mosser has officiated shows in all breeds including six at the North American International Livestock Show, four at World Dairy Expo, three at Eastern States, and 38 state fairs. He also has judged shows in Argentina, Canada, Colombia, Ecuador, and Guatemala. Prior to joining AJCA, Mosser owned Pleasant Ridge Farm and earned numerous Premier Breeder and Exhibitor banners with Jerseys. He also has bred many All American and All Canadians.



Brown Swiss scores
Holstein scores
Guernsey scores
Ayrshire scores
Jersey scores
This article appears on pages 278 and 279 of the April 25, 2012 issue of Hoard's Dairyman.