Red dirt, Red cattle
Niamh Barnett reports on her trip to Australia for the National
Youth Hereford Expo
On Thursday the 28th of June I jumped over the ditch to the
National Youth Hereford Expo in Wodonga, Australia which
was about a three hour drive north from Melbourne.
I went to gain experience, network and above all learn and
the Australian National Youth Heifer Expo went above and
beyond what I had expected.
There were 67 participants, split into four groups based on age
and experience; pee-wees, junior, intermediate and seniors.
There was a combination of bulls and heifers along with polled
and horned cattle, leading horned cattle was a new experience
for me. The Aussies taught me numerous things from clipping
and cattle presentation to hair training and Aussie lingo such
as baldies being a Angus cross Hereford animal.
The weekend was almost like a cousin to Future Beef however
with a focus on Herefords. Thursday afternoon is when the
action started, registrations opened and animals arrived, I was
fortunate enough to be allocated a horned heifer each from
Sugarloaf Creek Herefords. Friday had an education focus. As
part of the intermediate group, I attended modules that
included learning about EBV’s, pasture management, nutrition
and genomics.
microphone and told the audience their placings and why.
Later that afternoon we had cattle classes where the heifers
were judged. That night was finished off with a dinner and
auction.
Sunday morning was busy with paraders classes where the
handlers were judged. The event was then wrapped up in the
early afternoon with prize giving.
Australia was a big eye opener for me when it came to cattle
showing. For some of my new Aussie mates going to a show
on a regular basis wasn’t unusual. Whereas I usually only go to
a few shows a year, if that. I would highly recommend this
annual event to anyone keen. I meet some great people,
obtained valuable knowledge and overall I think it is obvious
that it was a priceless experience I thoroughly enjoyed.
I would like to thank Herefords Australia and particularly the
youth committee for welcoming me to the expo, as well as
everyone who was friendly and helped make the weekend
such a great one.
“The weekend was almost like a
cousin to Future Beef, however with
a focus on Herefords”
On Saturday in the morning we did stock judging on bulls and
heifers, where the majority of competitors had a go on the
FUTURE BEEF NEW ZEALAND
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