When the five-year-old Holstein, Avonlea Rival Ruth, was named champion cow at the Victorian Winter Fair in Bendigo, it was the third consecutive senior champion win for brothers Drew and Glen Gordon of Gorbro Holsteins.
The brothers also claimed the intermediate and reserve intermediate championships, on their way to the coveted Premier Exhibitor title.
Drew attributes their success to their continued investments in elite animals, used to bolster the genetic diversity in their herd. He believes the show ring is an important tool for promoting his cattle, with the sale of premium dairy stock providing a significant revenue stream to their business.
The brothers manage their Master Breeder herd alongside their parents Ross and Janette Gordon, Drew's wife Stacey and Glen's wife Genna.
Together the family milk 650 cows on 400 hectares (200ha effective milking area) at Cohuna in northwest Victoria.
The high-performance herd grazes irrigated annual pastures over the cooler months, with the PMR diet supplemented with maize and pasture silage through the summer.
Plans are underway to build a 150 metre barn to house the milking herd during the more extreme weather periods.
It will feature a concrete feedpad and compost loafing areas, with misters and fans installed to minimising heat stress.
Once built, Drew hopes to use the facility mostly through the summer, with the herd grazing pastures at least once a day from late autumn through to the spring.
"Those 40-degree plus days really knock the cows around, with the impact of heat stress affecting both production performance and the cow's fertility," he said.
"The cows will perform a lot better over the summer in a temperature-controlled environment."
Drew enjoys breeding cows and showcasing his herd, and says their ability to offer buyers something new and different at each sale has been an important factor in their success.
"We always select our best for our sales - but to do this regularly, we must re-invest in new and exciting pedigrees to maintain buyer interest," he said.
Alongside regular private sales, the Gordon's have begun hosting high-profile on-farm sales.
In 2017 and 2020, their sales both grossed in excess of $400,000, with another event sale planned for November this year.
When searching for new pedigrees, their priorities include high type and proven cow families.
This led them to the farm of renowned Master Breeder John Gardiner of Avonlea Holsteins.
Having selected 11 Avonlea females to take back to their Gorbro herd, Drew said John was very supportive in offering them his best.
Among the group was the 2021 Victorian Winter Fair senior champion, Murribrook Reginald Victory, and the now 2022 senior champion, Avonlea Rival Ruth.
"When we first saw Ruth, we knew she was pretty special," Drew said.
"We thought she could be a big time show cow - and now she's living that potential."
Winter Fair judge Mr Ben Govett and associate judge Ms Olivia Millhouse placed Ruth confidently at the top of her class.
In his comments, Mr Govett praised Ruth for her exceptional balance and dairy strength, her openness of frame, correctness to her rump and strength of fore udder attachment.
The five-year-old used her superior balance of frame to place ahead of the reserve senior champion and best udder of the show, Clydevale Solomon Sunset, exhibited by the Dee family of Macorna.
In his comments, Mr Govett highlighted the exceptional depth of quality throughout the classes, in particular the strength of udder attachments.
"To be long-lasting and commercially viable, the Australian dairy cow needs to have a great udder," he said.
"It needs to be soft, and it needs to be well attached to carry the amount of milk these cows are pushing - and that's the type of mammary system each cow had throughout the in-milk classes."
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The Gordon's bought their intermediate champion, Windy View Awesome Pauline-RED, in 2021 from Cooriemungle breeder Jason McVilly.
The Winter Fair was Pauline's first outing, with the three-year-old winning intermediate champion for both the Holstein show and red and white show.
Though she had always showed promise, Drew admitted Pauline hadn't really gained his attention until after her first calf.
"When she calved, she really stood out with her great frame and terrific udder," he said.
"She's always been pretty quiet and was easy to train to the halter. I think she's got a great future ahead of her."
The junior Holstein champion, Mario Park Chief Alicia, is owned in a partnership with NSW breeders Cameron Yarnold, Todd Wilson and Natt Lowman.
She sold to the partnership for $8,500 at the Cherrylock 'Fast Track to Success' sale hosted by professional cattle fitters Brad and Jess Gavenlock in November 2021.
After the sale, Alicia remained under the management of the Gavenlocks, competing at several major shows, and winning her class at Sydney's Royal Easter Show in April.
Her dam, Mario Park Sid Alicia, is also a former class winner at both Sydney and the Winter Fair, with the next dam being the former Holstein Australia Cow of the Year, Mario Park Goldwyn Alicia.
For Mr Gavenlock, Alicia typifies the type of animal he likes to promote through his sales.
"She has a great pedigree and a great nature," he said. "She's an easy heifer to get ready for shows, and just keeps getting better with age."
Brad believes his sales give breeders an opportunity to fast-track the genetic advancement in their dairy herd, while also providing opportunities to compete at shows at the top level.
"That's why we called our sale 'Fast Track to Success' - and so far it has delivered on its promise," he says proudly.
Poowong dairy farmers Rod and Steph Goode also bought their red and white reserve junior champion at the Gavenlock's 2021 sale.
Cherrylock Applesauce-RED is a daughter of the 2021 and now 2022 red and white senior champion, Bluechip Shesaawesome Apple-RED.
Rod and Steph also exhibited the red and white junior champion, Westmuir LR Mirand Apple-RED, with both heifers descendants of the renowned US champion cow, KHW Regiment Apple-RED.
The Goodes milk a mixed Jersey and Holstein herd of 350 cows at Poowong in southern Gippsland.
Their Boronia Glen Holstein herd has been developed largely through the appendix system, with occasional investments in elite pedigrees used to fast-track their genetic progress.
Steph in particular has an affection for the red and white Holstein, and her keen interest in genetics has led her to members of the Apple cow family.
She believes it is the best cow family in red and white and will help her build a better type of cow in their herd.
"I want cows with a lot of type and production," Steph says.
"But it takes time - so hopefully buying in some better pedigrees will improve our base for breeding better cows."
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