Hills heifers win on debut

Heifer judge David Kerber, Woodside, and judge of the in-milk heifer and mature cow sections Bill Leggat, Murray Bridge, both commended the entrants on the evenness of the cattle presented.

"The consistency across the board was at a much higher standard than I've seen before," Mr Kerber said.

"To get three heifers matched together in confirmation is a difficult thing to do.

"Today it was quite evident the standard was strong throughout the groups."

Mr Kerber said he was looking for heifers that were well-grown for their age and had the opportunity to make good milking cows.

He said the quality of entrants across the board was high, with only 14 points separating the highest and lowest groups, while the top groups had only a single point between them.

The winning group of three heifers came from first-time entrant Shane and Kylee Mieglich, Paringa Park View, Charleston.

Mr Kerber commented on the evenness of the line, with all exhibiting "outstanding feet and legs" as well as good balance and "dairy angle".

"They are heifers that are pretty hard to fault with really good frames," he said.

While he said the three were very hard to split, he did praise one as being incredibly complete.

Mr Mieglich, who picked them out with his father John, said he kept coming back to that heifer in the paddock while trying to pick his three.

"We didn't know if she would downgrade the group or bring it up, but I had a gut feeling," he said. "I couldn't pick anything bad about her."

The heifer was sired with AI from a McCormick bull, while the other two were sired by Isley and Beau.

Mr Mieglich said it was a great feeling to win first time out.

The winner of the individual champion heifer prize also came from a relatively inexperienced entrant.

Ben Wilhelm, Mount Torrens who manages a herd alongside Rodney Herrmann, entered the competition for the second time this year.

He said Mr Herrmann picks his entrants then Mr Wilhelm looks through the herd for his own.

He said he picked that particular heifer from the paddock.

"To me she stood out from the others," he said. "She was a big-framed dairy cow."

Bred by Aftershock, Mr Wilhelm described the 22-month-old heifer as "very typey from a good cow family".

Mr Kerber described the heifer as very well-balanced with good length who walks on good legs.

The in-milk heifer competition was won by Michael Kowald, Springhead Dairy, Mount Torrens.

Mr Leggat praised the heifer's udder, and commended its teat placement.

"For a heifer that has been calved this length of time she is quite brilliant," he said.

The final award was for a mature cow, and went to Glenmax Holsteins, owned by Andrew and Sonya Maxwell, Charleston.

"She has capacity through the front end and a rear end that blows you away," Mr Leggat said.

"Muzzle width is important in this country and this is a great muzzle."

Mr Leggat was also impressed with the capacity of the 10-year-old cow on her seventh calf.

"You don't see many cows of this age with this kind of capacity," he said.

"She's a powerhouse."

Mr Maxwell said the cow was out of bull Willswick Duke Red, while her mother was by a homebred bull, Glenmax Super.

He said he picked her for the competition for her longevity, feet and legs.

Mr Leggat said the mature cow competition, which was introduced in 2013, was a good chance to showcase those cows that had "done the lot".

"It gives the judge a wonderful opportunity to talk about what's important to a dairy cow."