E396 After the Storm Breaks: Why Cremona’s 80th Edition Means Everything

For five years, Europe's elite dairy families bred champions in silence—first pandemic, then bluetongue, stealing their stages but never their standards. Now, as November 27-29 approaches, 150 farms from six nations prepare to converge at Cremona with 800+ elite cattle, proving that excellence survived the unthinkable. This episode reveals how operations like Sabbiona Holsteins (12 generations, 175 EX cows) and Bel Holstein (Grand Champions since 1987) maintained world-class genetics with nowhere to show them—and why their reunion matters far beyond ribbons.

Key Takeaways:

• How European dairy survived the cruelest pattern: pandemic closures (2020-2022), false recovery (2023), then bluetongue's devastating return (2024)
• Why both high-tech operations (Sabbiona's 650-cow robotic system) and traditional farms (Bel Holstein's h ...