THE National Dairy Cattle Young Paraders Championship held on September 29 at the Melbourne Royal Show was a display of Australia's top young dairy cattle paraders who qualified at state finals.
The winner of the dairy cattle young paraders competition was determined by who has the best prepared and presented animal which is paraded before a judge.
The competition brings together the best young judges and paraders, aged 15 to 25, one from each state including Victoria.
These participants qualify through success in regional and state competitions.
The national championships are hosted in a different location each year.
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Farmer spoke to Victorian state finalist Sienna Ross before the national finals.
The 17 year old is passionate about dairy cattle and qualified at the VAS (Victorian Agricultural Shows) state final at International Dairy Week (IDW) in January this year.
The Year 11 student found time between classes to take our call and share her excitement about competing at the nationals in Melbourne which was "a dream" of hers.
"I live on a family dairy farm in the small town of Katamatite in northern Victoria where we milk up to 350 Holstein cows per day," said Sienna.
"Working on the farm my passion grew from a young age for showing dairy cows."
Following in the steps of her father who began in the dairy industry around the same age, she said, "It was the best moment to see mum and dad so proud, and even my siblings when I made the state finals."
This was Sienna's first VAS parading competition which saw her up against 14 other confident young people vying for the honour of representing their state.
Other achievements include winning her age group 15 to 18 in the 2022 IDW handlers class against more than 60 other competitors and coming fifth in her heat at World Dairy Expo in Maddison, Wisconsin last year.
Asked what is the hardest thing about competing at the national event, Sienna said, "not knowing the heifer you get to lead" which is drawn out of a hat before the judging.
The VAS competition saw her parade her own cow.
Even if she does not win the top title in Melbourne, Sienna is still thrilled to have got this far.
But if she is successful, "I would have accomplished my goals that will hopefully help me to lead great cows for the top breeders," said Sienna.
"I have been lucky enough showing cows to take me Australia-wide and even to the United States working,” she said.
"I aspire to continue travelling the world showing cows once I complete year 12 in 2025, then study agriculture in some capacity, whether that's agronomy or embryo development," Sienna said.
She attends Sacred heart College in Yarrawonga where she will do up to four units of agricultural studies next year.
Her favourite breed is the Jersey and she currently has a herd of 20 cows of all ages.
"I have been trying to convert my Dad to them," she said.
Other national contenders included Queensland’s Rachel English, 23; Edward Dudfield, 16, from Tasmania, Lucy Newman, 21, from South Australia, NSW’s 15 year old Alexis Allen and from Western Australia, Murray Findlay, 21.
Overall, there are nine categories for judging and parading each year under the Agricultural Shows Australia (ASA) national competition program: beef cattle, dairy cattle, grain, poultry, Merino sheep, meat breed sheep and Merino fleece judging, as well as parading competitions in beef and dairy cattle.
Katie Stanley is executive officer of Agricultural Shows Australia, the peak body overseeing 572 agricultural shows in Australia which attract six million visitors annually and contribute nearly $1billion to the national economy, and says the competition is designed to recognise the best new talent in livestock judging nationwide.
"It's an extremely prestigious event and positions at the nationals are keenly contested," said Ms Stanley.
"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."
The National Dairy Cattle Young Paraders Championship was held at 8am on Saturday, September 29.
More details about the competition can be found at https://agshowsaustralia.org.au/youth-in-agriculture/national-championships/.
