Australia and New Zealand's seven sharpest young dairy cattle judges and the most skilled dairy cattle paraders were announced on Thursday by Agricultural Shows of Australia.
All are eligible to compete in the national finalists of the prestigious annual competition to be judged next month.
National finalists dairy cattle judges are:
- 18-year-old Tanille Hughes, Harvey, will represent Western Australia.
- 18-year-old Loka Manu, Kandanga, will represent Queensland.
- 24-year-old Brittany Legge, West Nowra, will represent NSW.
- 21-year-old Bridgit Liebelt, Meadows, will represent South Australia.
- 22-year-old Zoe Hayes, Girgarre, will represent Victoria.
- 23-year-old Kyle Barker, Flowerdale, will represent Tasmania, and is also the national finalist for the dairy cattle paraders competition.
- Courtney Davies is the successful competitor in New Zealand. She was also the successful competitor for beef cattle judging.
National finalists dairy cattle paraders are:
- 19-year-old Jai Thomas, Perth (who won the national title for dairy cattle judging in 2018) will represent Western Australia.
- 21-year-old Thomas Wade, Mudjimba, will represent Queensland.
- 16-year-old Katelyn Atkins, Tamworth, will represent New South Wales.
- 22-year-old Courtney Afford, Woods Point, will represent South Australia.
- 18-year-old Georgia Sieben, Torrumbarry, will represent Victoria.
- 23-year-old Kyle Barker, Flowerdale, will represent Tasmania, and is also the national finalist for the dairy cattle judges competition.
- 19-year-old Georgia Whitworth, Tuakua, (who won the national title for beef cattle judging in 2019) was the successful competitor for New Zealand.
ASA chair Dr Rob Wilson said the competition was designed to recognise the best new talent in livestock judging and presenting nationwide.
ASA is the peak body overseeing 572 agricultural shows in Australia, which attract six million visitors annually and contribute nearly $1 billion to the national economy.
"It's an extremely prestigious event and positions at the nationals are keenly contested," Dr Wilson said.
"These young people are the future of agricultural show competitions, which are crucial to the continual improvement of Australia's food and fibre.
"The national competition is a coveted opportunity to grow personally and professionally by practising skills against the cream of the crop."
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The national competition is held in a different location each year to promote livestock judging, parading and the industry as widely as possible throughout Australia.
This year it will be hosted by Queensland Ag Shows at the 143rd Royal Queensland Show in Brisbane from August 7-9.
Queensland Ag Shows president Kerri Robertson said in a dairy cattle judging competition it was important for the assessor to relate the form of the animal to its function.
"These young judges will be looking for structure, soundness and strong milk production attributes in the dairy cows they are judging," he said.
"Entrants use their skills to adjudicate the placings of the stock and then must articulate their approach."
The dairy cattle paraders' competition is designed to determine who most effectively presents and parades an animal before a competition judge.
"Competitors have one hour to prepare their animal for presentation at judging," Mr Robertson said.
"They have to wash, clip, groom and then finally parade the animal before the judge."
Previous winners of the national dairy cattle judging competition are:
- 2008 Thomas Pearce, NSW.
- 2009 Patrick Buckley, NSW.
- 2010 Adam Forbes, NSW.
- 2011 Olivia Millhouse, Tasmania.
- 2012 Troy Mostert, WA.
- 2013 Lachlan Fry, WA.
- 2014 Robert Walmsley, SA.
- 2015 Ashleigh Mayo, NSW.
- 2016 Sarah Peters, Qld.
- 2017 Craig Robertson, NZ.
- 2018 Jai Thomas, WA.
- 2019 Andrew Gray, SA.
Previous winners of the national dairy cattle paraders competition are:
- 2008 Shanae Perkins, Tas.
- 2009 Katy Cullen, NSW.
- 2010 Casey Treloar, SA.
- 2011 Gianna Kelly, Qld.
- 2012 Erin Taylor, Vic.
- 2013 Dwayne Taylor, NZ.
- 2014 Kayla Bradley, Vic.
- 2015 Kelly Manning, WA.
- 2016 Katie Anderson, Vic.
- 2017 Renee Andersonm Vic.
- 2018 Clinton Keir, Qld.
- 2019 Rebekah Love, Qld.
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