Running for the roses

There is a fairy tale that comes to life in Louisville, Kentucky, the first Sunday of November each year. The lights over Freedom Hall dim, and then, that year’s class of the National Jersey Jug Futurity steps onto the green shavings, each cow spotlighted as her name is announced.

The National Jersey Jug Futurity, held with the All American Jersey Show, is the oldest and richest continuous dairy cattle class in the world, and the pageantry and prestige of Jug Day live up to its history. The class is filled with suspense. After the dramatic entry, the first pull of cows is made in numerical order, and cows stay in numerical order until each is placed. Eventually, the six top cows remain. Their placings are announced over the microphone until two remain. The winner is draped with a purple banner by the judges and a collar of roses is placed around her neck.

Making it to the spotlight on Jug Day is no easy feat. Calves are entered, and nomination fees must be paid by various deadlines. Heifers need to calve in with the exceptional quality of udder that can potentially propel them to the top. Cows need to breed back, ensuring they are at their prime come November. So many things can keep a cow from making it to the Jug.

Growing up a Holstein girl, my dad was passionate about the art of breeding and I was raised with the understanding that a good cow, was a good cow, regardless of her color. My dad was always intrigued by the mystique surrounding the Jug, and he admired those who could capture that moment.

I watched my first Jug on my first trip to Louisville in 1994, just a few months after purchasing my first Jersey. The desire to breed a Jug winner began to sprout within me.

When my son, Austin, made his first trip to the All American in 2008, he saw his first Jug and was in awe of the tradition.

Our Jug dreams began in 2009 when Austin purchased Tierneys Barbaro Lucine, a heifer entered in the Jug. In 2010, Austin and my dad spent the trip back home from Louisville making plans for taking Lucine back for her Jug appearance the next year.

My dad did not make it to the 2011 Jug as he passed away Dec. 26, 2010. Lucine did not make it to her Jug Day either as she did not settle in time to calve and be ready.

In 2015, we came close. Lucine’s daughter, Smokin Hot Rendition Letitia, finished fifth. The exhilaration of watching her parade among the final six is a feeling I will never forget.

This year’s Jug dreams began July 16, 2021, when Smokin Hot Texas Tornado was born. A young milking yearling calved with a heifer calf sired by Guimo Joel-ET, nearly a week overdue. We were excited about the yearling’s future, but it was her calf that caught my attention.

Some calves are born special, and Texas Tornado was one of them. I swear she may have actually told me she was as her mother licked her off. Thoughts of roses and November Sundays flickered through my head.

We consign many of our calves to sales. When the sale managers came looking for consignments that winter, TT was passed on because of her birth date. That was fine with me, I was committed for the long haul.

The next year as the sale managers came looking, Michael Heath took an interest in the chubby, young, bred heifer, about 60 days from her due date. He told me to be sure to have Austin let him know when she calved in good.

Just a few days before the farm accident that ultimately took his life in mid-March, Michael inquired about the “good young Joel.”

TT went a week over, calving the morning of March 22, 2023, just a couple of hours before I got word that Michael’s family had decided to take him off life support.

TT calved with a lovely little udder, and every day brought improvement, growth and change. We showed her successfully as a two-year-old, got her bred back and put our focus on Nov. 10, 2024 — the day of the National Jersey Jug Futurity.

Just a few days before TT calved, the bird flu struck America’s dairy industry, and concerns about the movement of livestock being restricted began to cloud my thoughts. We kept TT home throughout the year for fear of potential quarantines in the event of exposure to a positive cow, keeping our focus on the Jug.

Early the morning of Nov. 4, I put TT on a trailer, headed for her date with destiny in Louisville. I stayed home, with plans to watch the live feed from Freedom Hall.

Anxiously I watched, perched on the edge of a five-gallon bucket directly in front of the television. I watched as TT made the first pull, as she was sent to the group of 11, and as that narrowed down to the group of six. The sixth-place cow was announced...fifth...fourth...third.

My heart raced. Two cows were left standing.

I felt a quick flicker of disappointment when the purple banner did not waft down over her shoulders. But this was followed with awe. Texas Tornado had nearly accomplished the unimaginable as she was named the Reserve Winner of the National Jersey Jug Futurity.

The kaleidoscopic emotions running through my mind were intense — were we victorious, or did we fall short? Depending on the moment, I am still not certain of the answer. And then I walk out to the calf hutches and start dreaming of roses on a Sunday in November, three years away, all over again.