Lauretta’s grand day

MADISON, Wis. — A goal for the Salzl family recently came to fruition on the colored shavings at World Dairy Expo. 

Gin-Val Logic Lauretta-EXP was named grand champion of the International Milking Shorthorn Show.

Lauretta is a 6-year-old daughter of GE Ginger-Effect Huck Laura sired by GMC Rebel Logic-ET. She is classified Excellent 93 and produced 34,037 pounds of milk during her last lactation.

“She has a big pedigree,” Kristen Salzl said.

Salzl and her husband, Cory, own Corstar Farm where they milk 25 cows and own 30 acres of land near Litchfield, Minnesota.

They purchased Lauretta in 2021 after she was tapped intermediate champion at Expo for a farm in New Hampshire. They brought her back to Expo in 2023, where she was named reserve grand champion of the International Milking Shorthorn Show.

The Salzls went to WDE with the goal of Lauretta winning the title of International Milking Shorthorn Grand Champion. Little did they know their dream was going to become a reality.

“The aged cow class was probably more stressful because everybody all week said, ‘The aged cow class is going to be the hardest class of the day and whoever wins that is going to have a pretty good chance at grand,’” Salzl said.

During the aged cow class, Lauretta was not pulled in line first. However, when the judge saw the cows side by side, he tapped her out for first, Salzl said.

“You could hear the crowd cheering,” Salzl said. “That was one of the more awesome moments. There were some really big names in that class.”

Usually, the Salzls show at the Minnesota State Fair and WDE. This year they decided to not show at the Minnesota State Fair but made their way to WDE.

Lauretta’s journey does not end here.

“If she calves in next year and looks good, we will definitely keep showing her,” Salzl said

They also want to continue her bloodline.

“We need to make more babies and that’s the plan,” Salzl said.

The Salzls are hopeful that Lauretta is pregnant. They bred her and are waiting for a confirmed pregnancy.

“Either way we are going to (in vitro fertilize) her because her daughter, who we sold on the KCCK sale this spring and is now owned by Glamourview in Maryland was named reserve junior champion this year,” Salzl said.

The Salzls graze their cows 12 hours a day and feed the cows baleage, dry hay and a pellet containing protein,
vitamins and minerals in the barn. Allowing them to graze helps them get exercise to stay conditioned Salzl said.

“It works really well with the shorthorns,” Salzl said.

The Salzls have had reserve grand champion Milking Shorthorn at WDE the previous three years with three different cows.

This year they brought four cows to WDE. Three of those cows — a summer junior 2-year-old, a junior 2-year-old and an aged cow — placed first in their classes. Their senior 2-year-old placed third in her class.

“Our junior two-year-old, owned with Leah and Jason James, was named reserve intermediate champion, so during the champion drive, three out of six cows pulled out were bred or owned by Corstar,” Salzl said.

In their first class of the day, the summer junior two-year-old was pulled into first and awarded a trophy. They were overjoyed, but there was even more to come.

“It (was) a good day and it got even better,” Salzl said.