WALTON — On Sunday, Aug. 11 while most teenagers were just waking up, 14-year-old Maci Crothers was already collecting ribbons for her prized Jersey cows at the Jersey Parish Show at the Delaware County Fairgrounds. Hailing from Pitcher, New York, Crothers is no stranger to the show ring, and this year’s fair has only added to her growing list of achievements.
Crothers, who’s been showing cows since she could walk, she said, brought 10 Jersey cows to the fair — six milk cows and four heifers. But it was two in particular that caught the judges’ eyes on Sunday. “We showed two, and they were in the same class. One got first, and the other got second in the junior open,” she said with a satisfied smile. The first-place winner, Margo, and the second-place winner are both fall calves, proving that Underground Genetics — her family’s farm — is producing some of the finest dairy cows in the region.
As Crothers moved from the show ring to the tie-stall barn, it was clear that cows are a labor of love.
Crothers explained the process of preparing a cow for show, a practice that combines science and skill. “We’ll bag them based on how much milk they make, and put a certain amount of hours in them to make their bags look the best they can with the most amount of milk they can hold without losing quality,” the teen said expertly.
Preparation is critical for a successful showing. The cows are presented with their udders full, showcasing the quality and capacity of their milk production. “You always want a cow that can milk a lot and has a high, wide rear udder,” she said, pointing out the veins and the level of the udder. “And for the front udder, you want it to blend with the body wall, with lots of openness and depth of rib, and width of chest.”
The attention to detail doesn’t end there. Her expertise extends to selecting cows with the perfect blend of form and function. “You don’t want a narrow chest. You want a big, open dairy cow,” she explains, sounding more like a seasoned judge than a teenager.
As the day wore on, Crothers did not slow down. “I’m going to be showing two more cows, a four-year-old and a five-year-old,” she said, with eyes already on the next event.
The Delaware County Fair might be an annual event, but for Maci Crothers, it’s just another chapter in a lifetime dedicated to dairy farming.
