View Fort home-bred cow takes 2022 International Dairy Week Holstein championship
Taking the International Dairy Week Holstein championship was special for the Templeton family with the cow View Fort Dictator Dottie being a third-generation animal bred on their farm at Tarwin, Vic.
The Templetons - Matt and Nicola and Matt's parents Bruce and Jan - have enjoyed considerable success at IDW over the years.
View Fort Dictator Dottie took all before it at this year's event, claiming the Australian Grand Champion Cow award, as well as the Holstein championship.
In 2020 the Templetons also took the double with an Avonlea Holstein cow.
But this year's win was especially satisfying with the winner View Fort Dictator Dottie the embodiment of their View Fort Holsteins breeding philosophy.
Matt Templeton said being a home-bred cow meant a lot.
His father imported the cow's granddam as an embryo from Canada in 2006.
He had been impressed with embryo's dam Bridgeview Gibson Dottie when he saw it before the Royal Winter Fair.
Bridgeview Gibson Dottie went on to win the long-time production cow class in Canada.
"She's a 96-point cow - and just a cow that exemplifies what we try to breed for still today," Matt said.
"Just overall balanced dairy quality and very good udders, that's the main thing.
"We milk cows every day of the year and udders is how we make money."
Eight-year-old View Fort Dictator Dottie had had five calves and was a no-fuss cow in the herd.
Nicole said Dictator Dottie was a great herd cow, who had two daughters and two granddaughters in the herd already.
"She's a prolific breeder and we think the ideal dairy cow," she said.
Matt said they hadn't yet decided what was next for the cow.
Dictator Dottie calved only in November and was on heat the day before the show.
The Templetons milk a rolling average of 240 cows in their herd in Gippsland.
Matt said after a wet season, it had finally dried out in December and would hopefully roll through to autumn.
"But we don't need another wet winter," he said.
Holstein judge Murray Sowter, Moss Vale, NSW, said it was difficult to go past the aged cow for his champion.
"A cow that just about ticks all the boxes for me, a cow that is beautifully balanced, hard topped, long necked, open of rib and a particularly nice mammary," he said.
"Her correctness of structure, the youthfulness of her udder, the strength of her attachment and her overall style and balance just gets her to the top of the show today."
Red cow takes intermediate champion
The intermediate champion was a red Holstein, Eclipse Altitude J Princess - Red, exhibited by Robsvue Myponga, SA, and Busybrook Holsteins, Oamaru, New Zealand.
The classy junior two-year-old swept all before it in the intermediate class taking the red intermediate championship and best udder, as well as the overall intermediate championship and best udder.
Eclipse Altitude J Princess - Red was also named overall red Holstein champion of the show and reserve interbreed intermediate champion.
None of the owners was able to attend the event with work commitments keeping the SA connection away and COVID restrictions preventing the NZ contingent from attending.
One of the owners Rob Walmsley, Robsvue, Myponga, said the partners had picked up the champion sight unseen at the dispersal sale of master breeder Richard Hull's Eclipse Holsteins at Jancourt East in June.
The heifer was sold due to sexed Mirand-PP for $9000.
"We liked her pedigree and thought she could turn into something but never imagined she'd turn out that good that quick," Mr Walmsley said.
"We are pretty blown away."
Mr Walmsley said despite not being able to attend it had been a real buzz to watch the event's livestream and be a part of the win.
"You always go to IDW with dreams and ambitions and it doesn't always come off but sometimes it does," he said.
He also praised the efforts of Mal Nikora and Kelly Bleijendaal, who prepared the animal for the show.
"We took her across to Gippsland just before Christmas ... and they got her ready," he said.
Mr Walmsley wasn't sure yet what was next for Eclipse Altitude J Princess - Red, which calved in November.
They might carry the young cow through to the Victorian Winter Fair or might look to flush it.
"It would be good to get some embryos back to our partners in New Zealand," he said.
Judge Murray Sowter said he was impressed by the overall correctness of the heifer.
"This junior two-year-old is an outstanding heifer," he said.
"She's a beautifully balanced heifer, an unbelievable correct set of feet and legs, and has the ability to walk around her udder.
"She got such a beautiful top and extension of neck and the height of the rear udder."
Junior championship reward for show specialists
The junior Holstein champion Lightning Ridge Thunderstorm Nico was exhibited by a young couple who show cows as a hobby.
Kelly Bleijendaal and Mal Nikora, Longwarry, Vic, who own the heifer with Busybrook Holsteins, NZ, both work in the dairy industry but are not dairy farming.
Ms Bleijendaal is a calf rearer while Mr Nikora works for genetics company STG Australia.
The pair have been involved in showing for more than 10 years and have taken three strings of animals to IDW as a couple.
The raise their small herd of 15 show animals on the farm on which Ms Bleijendaal works.
Ms Bleijendaal said the championship win was unexpected but was a great reward for the work they put in to preparing their animals.
The picked up the champion calf at the Lightning Ridge Genetics sale in December for $8000, after having previously worked with and being impressed by its dam.
"We liked the family," Ms Bleijendaal said.
"She has six generations of excellent behind her and she's just a pretty fancy heifer herself so we thought she'd have a bright future."
Judge Murray Sowter said the calf "has a wonderful frame and style and width, so hard on top".
International Dairy Week 2022 at Tatura: Your guide to the results
Interbreed Intermediate champion
CHAMPION: Jersey cow, Kings Vale Joel Made, Roger Perrett
National Holstein Show Intermediate champion
CHAMPION: Eclipse Altitude J Princess, Red, Robsvue & Busybrook
RESERVE: Byrne Lea Octane Buttersnap, Rowlands Park
HONOURABLE MENTION: Avonlea Tatoo Dixie, J & C Gardiner
Red & White Intermediate champion
CHAMPION: Eclipse Altitude J Princess, Red, Robsvue & Busybrook
RESERVE: Gorbro Unstopabull Admire, Gorbro Holsteins
HONOURABLE MENTION: Lightning Ridge Cmd Dback Barbara, J Jennings & B, E & R Thomas
Declan Patten and Bradley Cullen were not even primary school age when International Dairy Week began three decades ago.
Now the dairy duo are running the nation’s most prestigious cattle show, which kicked off this week in Tatura.
Mr Cullen, 27, and Mr Patten, 33, were set to take over the reins last year from IDW founder Brian Leslie before the pandemic put a logistical spanner in the works.
However, the event kicked off on Sunday and the new team, which includes co-ordinator Stacey Leppert, have ushered hundreds of farmers and exhibitors to the Tatura Park.
Mr Cullen, who grew up on a dairy farm along NSW’s south coast, has previously attended IDW as a photographer as well as an exhibitor.
“Brian (Leslie) has established an event which is so highly regarded throughout the dairy world,” he said.
“When the opportunity came up to take over the management of Dairy Week, we were really keen to get started. We want Dairy Week to be a celebration of our industry. It’s so well regarded within our sector but we hope in the coming years to get more people outside of dairy involved and understanding how the sector operates.”
Mr Patten, originally from Gippsland, has spent the past decade working in the dairy sector both in Australia and on an American farm outside Chicago.
“Pre-pandemic, I was heading over to the US pretty frequently,” he said.
“There’s a real pride in agriculture in America and an understanding of the importance of dairy that we want to bring here to Australia.”
Source: Alex Sinnott, The Weekly Times, 20 January 2022