Show cow now state’s big star

Cecil jersey named Wisconsin Cow of the Year
By: 
Lee Pulaski
City Editor

CECIL — There are cows as far as the eye can see in Wisconsin, but there’s only one Cow of the Year, and that cow is right here in Shawano County.

Milk-n-More Tequila Naomi, a 7-year-old Jersey cow bred and owned by Milk-n-More Farms, will be recognized for the honor on Oct. 2 as part of the World Dairy Expo in Madison. The award will be presented by Abigail Martin, the 72nd Alice in Dairyland, and Brad Pfaff, Secretary for Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.

Nicolle Wussow, who owns and operates the farm with her husband, Ron, said earlier this week that the Wisconsin Jersey Breeders Association, which they are members of, sent out a notice earlier this year asking for nominees. Wussow said she initially wasn’t planning to put Naomi in for the running until her children, Kaila and Colin, reminded her of how well Naomi had done as a show cow.

“I just kind of put it on the back burner because we have enough stuff going on, so I didn’t really think of it,” Wussow said. “There’s a lot of qualified cows out there, Jersey cows in the state of Wisconsin, so I didn’t really think we had a chance.”

It was only when Wussow sat down and looked at all of Naomi’s previous honors that she realized the long shot wasn’t so long. Naomi was named 2012 Reserve Junior All American Winter Calf and Reserve Junior All Wisconsin Winter Calf. She won those honors as a 2-year-old in 2014, and she won All Wisconsin honors again in 2016.

She earned grand champion honors in 2017 at the junior show at the Wisconsin Spring Showcase, and then she went on to place ninth in the 5-year-old class at the All-American Junior Show.

Wussow noted that both of her children showed Naomi, who seemed to have proper style, balance and correctness even as a young calf. Other children in the area who didn’t have cows of their own were also given the opportunity to show Naomi at events, according to Wussow.

“She caught your eye right away, and we’re lucky that, when she calved, she had a good udder that we could continue to show her,” she said.

However, it wasn’t solely Naomi’s skills in the ring that determined if she would be the Cow of the Year. Officials also took into account how productive she was as a dairy cow.

Naomi has a lifetime production record of 115,010 pounds of milk, and her top year produced 28,560 pounds of milk, which included a fat test of 4.2% for 1,208 pounds of fat, and 3.2% protein for 910 pounds, with a cheese yield of 3,141 pounds.

Wussow noted that dairy production is not always high when it comes to show cows. Show cows produce anywhere from 18,000 to 20,000 pounds of milk in a given year.

“When you combine the two things together, it made it a little bit easier to say that we should submit her (for consideration),” Wussow said. “She is a pretty extraordinary cow.”

Wussow noted that Milk-n-More also raised Naomi’s mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, and each of them proved to be “special in their own way,” even though none of them have achieved the laurels Naomi has.

Naomi will be available for people to see during the World Dairy Expo, but she will not be part of the show itself due to her delicate condition. Wussow said Naomi is currently in the dry barn while pregnant with a calf, due in the winter.

“She’s kind of on vacation, you could say right now,” Wussow said.

Naomi will be turning 8 in December, which is pretty old for a cow, according to Wussow.

“I hope we get a couple more years with her,” Wussow said.

lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com