By Sherry Bunting
Golden-Rose Barbritzi B-Red EX-90 becomes first 20th generation Excellent Holstein in the world!
History was made in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Thursday morning when Golden-Rose Barbritzi B-Red classified EX-90 with an EX-93 mammary system. The senior 3-year-old is the first in the world to complete 20 consecutive generations of Excellent in the Holstein breed, and she’s Red & White to-boot!
At the beginning of those 20 generations is Audrey Posch, born January 24, 1937, the first EX cow of this long and storied pedigree line. Barbritzi sells on Friday, June 28th, as do two of her daughters, her EX-93 granddam, her EX-91 great granddam and over 50 other related females in The Legacy of Golden Rose Genetics sale.
Amid the final sale preparations today, Holstein Association classifier Brian Sparling made time to do the last classification at Golden Rose. Sparling said he was thoroughly impressed with Barbritzi’s udder. “You don’t see them this good,” said Sparling of the senior 3-year-old’s mammary system as he praised her level udder floor and superior teat size, shape and placement.
“She was fresh in March with her second calf and is milking 100 pounds with a 5% test,” reports her breeder Rusty Herr. His father Karl owns the cow with Warren Buckman, and will watch her and numerous family members sell – but not her fifth dam, Oakfield Pronto Ritzi EX-93 2E – the one cow Rusty says he will keep. “That’s one thing I promised myself, I would never sell Pronto Ritzi,” he says of the 11-year-old cow he purchased as a heifer.
“Barbritzi going Excellent is the highlight of my career at the end of this chapter,” says Rusty. “It’s something that has been a goal of mine to get to 20 generations. But to do it with a cow that we bred and that my father owns and to have it be a Red & White, makes it so special.” He explains that Barbritzi was just a young calf at the time of Rusty’s first sale, and was purchased by his father, so Rusty continued working with her. At the time, she as the first Red & White in the Pronto Ritzi family.
A Hylite Barbwire daughter, Barbritzi was born November 2015 just 10 days before Rusty’s dispersal when he downsized his herd and built a beautiful Canadian-style tie-stall show barn to focus on the genetic progress he has achieved with Pronto Ritzi — breeding four of the 20 generations of EX behind Barbritzi and other promising families in the herd.
“Barbritzi’s dam, Ginger, maxed out each time she classified,” Rusty notes. Golden-Rose ABS Ginger-ET EX-94, sired by Apples Absolute-Red — had been purchased 10 days fresh by Mike Garrow at Rusty’s 2015 sale. She scored VG-89 as a 2-year-old, EX-92 as a 3-year-old and was then sold to Ridgedale Holsteins and Dick Witter where she went right to EX-94 after her third calf.
While it has been tough to sell the herd, the farm, the dream, Rusty says he is looking forward to the next chapter and has gratitude for all who have been part of this chapter in the journey. He says it is surreal how everything fell into place and the timing of things. The farm was almost sold in February. “If it had been sold then and if I had moved on at that point, there’s a good chance that this never would have happened,” Rusty reflects. “As of three days ago, I didn’t think this day would come and then Monday. we got the notice that Brian would score.”
When Sparling broke down her scores and turned to congratulate him, his father and his four children had joined the sale crew in the barn at that point, and there were plenty of smiles to carry the work of the day and night ahead of Friday’s sale.