EASTERN ONTARIO: Morrisburg cow wins second show this season

By Tom Collins
SPENCERVILLE — A cow bred in Quebec and now owned by a Morrisburg dairy farm has been tapped as grand champion in back-to-back shows.

Jeanlu Stanleycup Alexis, owned by Michael, Thea, and Emma Farlinger of Signature Holsteins at Morrisburg, Ont., had done well at previous shows and in previous years but was crowned for the first time as a grand champion this year. She was named top cow at the Maxville Holstein Show on June 22 and followed that up by being crowned grand champion again at the Eastern Ontario Invitational on Aug. 14 in Spencerville.

Jamie Black was the judge at both shows and said there’s no advantage to a cow when he awards it victory in a previous show.

“The only advantage she has is that she’s the kind of cow I like,” he said after the Invitational show. “She just overwhelmed the rest of the show. She has a huge frame, lots of width, moves around the ring really nice for a big cow. She’s a special cow.”

Black grew up on an Eastern Ontario dairy farm and now lives in New York where he and his wife Petra own Opportunity Holsteins and Jerseys. Black was the judge of the National Black and White Holstein Show at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair.

Farlinger bought her for $20,400 three years ago from a Blondin Farms sale in Quebec to be a show and breeder cow. The plan is to have her embryos flushed for the Japanese dairy market.

Alexis was named honourable mention at the Eastern Ontario Western Quebec Holstein Show at Metcalfe in both 2016 and 2018, and was twice in the top four in her class at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair and was nominated as All-Canadian.