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'Big Brown' is really an Upperville cow
'Big Brown' is really an Upperville cowBy Bill Walsh
Times-Democrat Staff Writer
Most of us will celebrate when the Washington Redskins win the season's final game in February, but our celebration will be filtered by the television screen that stands between us and Jason and Clinton and London and the rest of the Super Bowl champions.
Northern Fauquier County is home to the figurative winner of the Super Bowl, World Series, Winston Cup and Triple Crown all rolled into one, and you can celebrate her achievements without interference of any kind.
Just say cheese, and smile.
Old Mill E Snickerdoodle OCS — Snickerdoodle to her friends — has just returned from Madison, Wisconsin, where she was named Reserve Supreme Champion of the 2008 World Dairy Expo, which owner Allen Bassler Jr., likens to winning the nation's best-known sporting events all rolled into one.
Bassler manages minuscule Oak Spring Dairy, an offshoot of Rokeby Farm in Upperville, where he milks the amazing brown Swiss matron and about eight other cows, mostly brown Swiss with a Jersey or two thrown in.
Some of their milk finds its way to Rokeby's main residence. Most of it goes into the small processing plant adjacent to Bassler's home on the famous farm's property, where it is made into cheese.
"Cheddars, Darby, Leicester, some Swiss, emmental, a little Parmesan, some provolone," Bassler counts off. "A little cottage cheese and cream cheese. Up until about two years ago, we were the only one in the country making Leicester, and, still there are only two or three of us making Darby."
Bassler makes about eight wheels of raw-milk cheese every few days, and they are destined for a converted garage on the grounds where they will age for two years. The finished product goes to restaurants and retail outlets, the vast majority of which are within a 50-mile radius. Marshall IGA carries all his products, Bassler said.
During a visit last week, Snickerdoodle appeared unfazed by her latest accomplishment, and why not? In 2003, she was named Supreme Champion of the show — essentially, crowned best cow in the nation — and was named Grand Champion brown Swiss at the same venue in 2002, '03, '04, '05 and again this year. She was the Reserve Grand Champion of her breed in 2006.
To date, she has produced more than 170,000 pounds of milk, Bassler said, and is on her way to lifetime production of 200,000 pounds — or better.
"She has averaged 60 to 63 pounds per day over her lifetime," Bassler said of the 10-year-old cow. "Right now, she is milking about 85 pounds per day. She has gone up as high as 120 pounds."
As a cheesemaker, Bassler's interest is in the solid content of liquid milk, and his champion, he said, "is very high in fat and protein. She averages 4.5 [percent] lifetime in butterfat, and 3.7 [percent] protein. She's a cheesemaker."
And a moneymaker.
The dairy industry is to genetics what Jim Zorn is to football coaching: way ahead of the game.
Top-notch cows are "flushed" for their eggs which are sold to other breeders to implant in surrogate cows.
Snickerdoodle has produced 265 usable embryos, 95 of which have been sold to overseas breeders.
"She has averaged 11 eggs over 25 lifetime flushes," Bassler said, which he characterizes as "extremely good.
"Seven is the average in dairy," Bassler noted.
One fertilized embryo sold to a breeder in Switzerland for $2,600. The average selling price has been about $1,600. One of Snickerdoodle's live calves sold for $28,000 a few years ago.
"People want her genetics," Bassler said.
"This year at the Nationals, every heifer class had at least one and as many as three in the top six sired by one of her sons," he noted. "Her genetics are remarkable."
At 10, Snickerdoodle's career is winding down, and Bassler is unsure whether she will be back in Madison next year. He has already made the decision not to breed her again, so her career in the milking parlor has a definite end in sight.
"She has won Grand Champion five times now," Bassler mused. "No other cow has ever done that at Madison. She is in a class of her own.
"This year, one of the judges said 'usually you don't want to take grandma to the prom, but this is one grandma I want to go with.' Then he said the only thing wrong with her is her zip code," he added with a laugh.
There have been offers to change her zip code over the years, and while he never seriously entertained selling her, said 15-year-old A.J. Bassler, Snickerdoodle's official owner, "Daddy did."
"A guy wanted to buy her this year, even at 10," his father said. "But she's a family icon. It's probably better to leave it that way."
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