The parade of Brown Swiss champions is one of the highlights of World Dairy Expo’s cattle shows. As the breed honors its history with Swiss yodeling and music, the day’s best animals make their way to the center of the ring for the ultimate title of Grand Champion.

This year, judge Phillip Topp of Botkins, Ohio, selected the mature cows for those top banners. Grand Champion was the winning Component Merit Cow and Senior Champion, SS Debs 929, owned by Landen Knapp of Epworth, Iowa. Cows are eligible for the Component Merit class if they have produced at least 8,500 pounds of combined fat and protein in their lifetime. Debs will be 10 years old in December.

Reserve Grand and Honorable Mention then went to the top pair of Aged Cows, both owned by Brian Pacheco of Kerman, Calif. Brown Heaven Carter Tutti won the class, and her herdmate Iroquois Acres Total Candy followed in second.

In the Junior Show, Judge Topp and his associate Kaleb Kruse of Dyersville, Iowa, also stuck with their Senior Champions. Grand Champion went to Dakota Fraley’s bred and owned Four-Year-Old who was first of the Open Show, TwinCounty Famous Diamond of Reedsville, Wis. Reserve Grand Champion was the first place junior Aged Cow, Graystone Kingpin Gitana, for Amelia Somers of Walton, N.Y.

The open Intermediate Champion banners both went to younger, bred and owned cow. Intermediate Champion was the Junior Two-Year-Old, Pit-Crew Daredevil Shay for Pit-Crew Genetics of Cambridge, Minn. Reserve was the Summer Junior Two-Year-Old, Just So D Tangerine for Just So Farm of Lake Mills, Wis.

Pit-Crew Genetics also bred the Junior Show Intermediate Champion, the Junior Two-Year-Old Pit-Crew Phantom Nikita, who is leased by Allison Foss. The Reserve banner went to La Rainbow Sweet Sangria-ETV, the second open Summer Junior Two-Year-Old owned by Brody Jackson and Blake and Garrett Hill of Cattaraugus, N.Y.

In the Heifer Show that concluded on Tuesday, the Junior Champion banner went back to Jenlar Rasta Westlynn-ETV owned by Siemers Farm of Newton, Wis., last year’s Junior Champion. The Reserve Junior Champion was Pit-Crew Collapse Talista, the winning Summer Yearling owned by Pit-Crew Genetics and also leased by Allison Foss. Talista earned Junior Champion honors of the Junior Show, with M&M Carter Sage following in Reserve for Jacob and Levi Stuessel of Alma Center, Wis. She was the winning open Winter Yearling.

There were 379 animals exhibited in the International Brown Swiss Show. The Premier Breeder went to Brown Heaven of Vercheres, Quebec, while Premier Exhibitor was Just So Farm of Lake Mills, Wis. The Premier Sire was Hilltop Acres B Daredevil-ET.<

Katelyn Allen

Katelyn Allen joined the Hoard’s Dairyman team as the Publications Editor in August 2019 and is now an associate editor. Katelyn is a 2019 graduate of Virginia Tech, where she majored in dairy science and minored in communication. Katelyn grew up on her family’s registered Holstein dairy, Glen-Toctin Farm, in Jefferson, Md.