A Jersey cow that sold for $50,000 in October after having claimed the 2017 International Dairy Week supreme grand champion interbreed award won the top Jersey award again at IDW on Wednesday.
Bushlea Van Fernleaf 10 was bred by long-time exhibitors the Kuhne family's Bushlea Jerseys, Koonwarra, Vic, but this time delivered the win for its new owners.
The cow was sold in October at the Global Impact Sale, Camden, NSW, to a syndicate of overseas and Australian buyers.
One of the owners Cybil Fisher, from Wisconsin, United States, said she was contacted by Tasmanian Brad Cullen when the cow was offered for sale
"Brad was literally shaking when he called me and he said 'I've never seen a cow this good, I love her, I really love her, would you want to own her?'," Ms Fisher said.
So Ms Fisher, Matt Senecal, farm manager at the Arethusa Farm Dairy, in Connecticut, in the United States, and Mr Cullen bought the cow at the sale.
After the sale, other buyers bought into the syndicate, including Frank and Diane Borba, from the United States, Andrew and Jennifer Vander Meulen, Avonlea Genetics, Canada, and Jake Hanford, United States.
The cow is still with the Bushlea herd, and the Kuhnes have offered to house it for the rest of its life.
"This cow is pretty special, if she was in the US she is still pretty special," Ms Fisher said.
The syndicate planned to flush the cow to something that had appeal in North America.
"The North American market is different," Ms Fisher said.
"She's been bred in Australia by several generations of Australian bulls, and bulls breed differently in Australia than they do in the US."
Ms Fisher said the championship win was special.
"I was crying," she said.
"I've owned cattle that have been grand before, but there is something very special about buying a cow internationally and then coming over and have her repeat that performance and do well."
Judge Pat Nicholson, Girgarre, Vic, said the five-year-old Fernelaf was a balanced cow throughout.
"She is sharp and dairy and she has that beautiful texture and softness about her," he said.