Brooking and Dusty Rose finish undefeated season with RBC Supreme Win

Words by Jeff Gaye

Countess has been turning heads and stopping conversations all year.

Brooking Countess 7077 won Supreme at Prince Albert and Grand Champion Female at Farmfair on her way to winning SupremeChampion Female in the RBC Beef Supreme at Agribition in November. She was shown with heifer calf Brooking Dusty’s Countess 9026 at side.

Countess was bred by Justin and Tawnie Morrison of Brooking Angus Ranch at Radville, Saskatchewan and bought as a calf by Randy James of Dusty Rose Cattle Co. in Arcola, SK. The pair was exhibited by the Morrisons throughout the year.

Randy saw something special in Countess at the Brooking female sale. Now everybody sees it.

“It was just one of those rare years where you just are sort of dominant,” Randy said.

“Every show you go, to you have a real shot at winning.”

But being “sort of dominant” doesn’t mean winning comes easy. “It was ridiculously competitive in there, especially the Angus two-year-olds. But just the two-year-olds in general,” said Randy. “All breeds were real competitors, and it was just exciting to actually be in the hunt at every show you went to.”

While Justin and Tawnie were in the ring, Randy was trying to stay calm. “You kind of feel confident, but you never really know,” he said. “There was never anything guaranteed along the way. It was good to see that much competition, but it definitely made every show nerve-racking. I probably put on 10,000 steps at every show just pacing around.”

Countess and her calf compete in the RBC Beef Supreme Challenge

Photo by ShowChampions

It was exciting for the crew too, but they were focused on their work. Justin said on one hand, you don’t prepare any differently for the big ones; every show deserves your best. But he admits there’s something special about Supremes, and you can see it in the crew.

“The competition doesn't change the way we do things. When you’re showing with a cow like that, you try your hardest,” he said.

Besides impressing judges wherever she went, Countess caught the eye of everyone in the barn. Randy said the appreciation from the other exhibitors means a lot.

“We had just the acceptance across all breeds. Walking through the barns, every barn you get into at every show, people from all breeds were just appreciating this cow. And that was good to see because a lot of times there's a little bit of breed prejudice—it's just the way it works.

“But she was a pretty popular cow across all breeds, and a lot of top-notch breeders really appreciated her for what she was. That was kind of the highlight for me.”

Justin also noticed that respect in the barn.

“It only happened a few times in my life where we had an animal this good,” he said. “But when you walk the pair to tie-outs or into the show ring, you'll see people having a conversation and they'll stop talking and they'll watch her walk by.

“There's a Charolais breeder that said she was their favourite cow that has ever been shown in the Supreme. When other breeders and your competitors give you those kind of compliments, it's pretty rewarding.”

Randy said Countess combines power and “a lot of middle” with a genuine feminine look, traits that don’t often come together. Her heifer calf definitely shows Countess’s ability to produce top-quality females, and Randy expects the power will come through in her male offspring. “I think she's one of those cows that is kind of all-around enough to raise both sexes, and have real good quality in both sexes of her progeny,” he said.

Justin said the judges were obviously impressed with the cow, “but for a two-year-old to raise that high end of a calf, one that's arguably better than herself, that is a very rare feat.”

The partnership between Randy and the Morrisons clicks very well. Randy sold his own Simmental operation a few years ago to work full-time in the oil patch, but he is still very much a cattleman and has been for three decades. And his investment in Countess goes beyond the price he paid for her.

“A lot of the investor-type guys are not necessarily cattle people, where I guess we are,” he said.

“I don't know if that changes things. But you do look at things a little bit different. It's not just about making money. There's more pride in the outcome of this show with these animals. I’m as excited about what we do with this cow from here on, as I was about what we could do from the time we bought her till she won that show.

“It just gives you a little different perspective. You know, you appreciate things more because you know how much hard work it takes to get to that point, and the hard work it takes at home to get these animals to the show.”

Justin said the big shows are not typically part of the Brooking plan, and that it was Randy who saw Countess’s show ring potential. “We were lucky that Randy bought that heifer calf and had a goal to do things like this,” he said.

Justin does some pre-show prep work at Agribition.

Photo by Laura Elizabeth Photography

The RBC Supreme win puts Countess into the spotlight—or more into the spotlight. After all, she hasn’t exactly been waiting in the wings up to this point.

“That cow had an incredibly busy year last year. She was asked to do a lot as a two-year-old. I mean, she calved early and just about immediately went out to the flushing facility,” said Randy. “We had good success flushing her and then we were still able to get her back in time to be able to show her, and not every two-year old is able to do that.”

Randy expects Countess to be the centerpiece of his marketing for the next few years.

“I think we're looking at having around a dozen calves over this spring,” he said. “We will probably market some of those somewhere in the fall. That's a little too far away to know for sure. But we'll definitely be marketing embryos again, probably in the New Year's Resolution sale. And we’ll have some available this fall. They were real well accepted this spring, so obviously we'll try to sell some more next spring.”

Countess’s amazing run is the result of a great partnership and an outstanding animal. Justin said Randy’s ownership was key to bringing her to the RBC Supreme championship. “Randy is as ideal a partner for that cow as possible,” he said.

Photo by ShowChampions.

“And it's not like the heifer was cheap when he bought her. So it's pretty rewarding that she did so well for Randy, after kinda sticking his neck out so much on her as a calf. It's nice that it all worked out.”

And Randy gives full credit to Justin and the Brooking crew.

“I didn't have a ton of input on the day to day stuff. So that was all Justin. He's one of the best in the business in my mind. You need such an attention to detail and no small thing goes missing.

“And I honestly believe that if she was in somebody else's hands, the results might not have been as good. I’m just real happy to be able to be partners with them on the cow.”