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    DARLINGTON, Wis. – Like the Energizer Bunny, Random Luck B Tea Rose 3E-95 just keeps on ticking, collecting more accolades to add to her already impressive resume. To celebrate her career thus far, Tea Rose will be honored at World Dairy Expo in Madison, as the 2021 Wisconsin Cow of the Year.
    Tea Rose is owned by Matthew and Allison Thompson, and was bred on their family’s Random Luck Farm, operated by their father, Rick Thompson, who milks 52 cows on their dairy near Darlington.
    Tea Rose was originally selected as the 2020 Wisconsin Cow of the Year by the Wisconsin Brown Swiss Breeders, in anticipation of the World Brown Swiss Conference being held in the state in conjunction with World Dairy Expo. When COVID-19 struck, both events were cancelled for 2020; causing Tea Rose’s honor to be delayed to the 2021 show.
    “It is very flattering and humbling for Tea Rose to be selected by the Wisconsin Brown Swiss Breeders,” Rick said. “The Wisconsin Brown Swiss membership voted and chose her to receive the honor. There were a lot of worthy candidates nominated for the award, so for fellow breeders to select her, that really means something to me.”
    A daughter of Mort Legacy Bonanza, Tea Rose hails from the heart of one of the Random Luck foundation cow families, being a granddaughter of Sun-Made Jetway Taps 2E-92. Her mother is Random Luck Premium Twinkle EX-92, and Tea Rose completes six generations of Excellent cows.
    “Tea Rose is one of those cows that makes you want to get out of bed and head to the barn every day,” Rick said. “She is easy to work with and pretty easy to look at as well.”
    As a breeder, Rick said that Tea Rose exemplifies what he is striving to create.
    “Tea Rose excels in breed character as much as any Swiss cow I have ever worked with,” he said. “She is pretty special; she is 10 years old and she still continues to get better with each calving.”
    Not a new name to Brown Swiss enthusiasts, Tea Rose is in her seventh lactation, having calved just before Christmas last year. She has spent the 2021 show season adding a few more banners to her already impressive collection, being selected as the grand champion Brown Swiss and the eventual reserve supreme champion of both the Wisconsin State Fair and the Youth Classic Dairy Show.
    Her previous accolades include six all-American nominations, which have netted her three reserve all-American titles: in 2019 and 2017 as an aged cow and in 2016 as a 5-year-old. Her name is one frequently heard read off by the announcer at World Dairy Expo, as she has placed in the Top 10 in her class six times in milking form, including three times placing second.
    Throughout her showring career, Tea Rose has won several championship banners in both the open and junior divisions of the Wisconsin State Fair, including being a two-time supreme champion, and claiming several reserve and honorable mention supreme banners as well.
    Tea Rose also serves as a perennial anchor to many of the Random Luck group class nominations that the Thompson family has accumulated over the years.
    Early in her career, Tea Rose was often exhibited by Allison, but in more recent years, Matthew has had the privilege of escorting her in the show ring as a junior exhibitor.
    “Tea Rose is just a great cow to work with. She is pretty mellow and never freaks out about anything,” Matthew said. “She is so easy to work with and she always does pretty well; that makes it a lot of fun to show her.”
    Tea Rose joined the elite club of pinnacle-scored Brown Swiss when she was appraised Excellent at 95 points, the highest score obtainable by any Brown Swiss cow in the United States, just shy of her seventh birthday.
    “Every cow has a story, I think that is what draws us to becoming breeders,” Rick said. “Tea Rose’s story, and really the story of the whole cow family, is really interesting.”
  

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