A 21-MONTH-OLD “very correct” heifer has claimed the top title at the Mount Torrens dairy heifer competition.
The young heifer, exhibited by Shane and Kylie Mieglich, Paringa View, Charleston, was picked out by judge Gavin Newman, Newlyn Park, Meadows.
Mr Newman praised its balance of strength and refinement.
While the heifer was younger than many of the others in the competition, Mr Meiglich said they had not been able to fault it while selecting their entries.
“We had a few dozen to look at and she got left in the yard because we couldn’t pick a fault,” he said.
Mrs Mieglich said the young heifer, sired by Trigger, was one of the first the couple had bred since they began management of the operation three years ago.
The quality of the heifer was such, that it pulled the Mieglich’s group of three into second for the overall group placing.
First place in the group of three heifers went to the entry of brothers Roger and Michael Kowald, Mount Torrens.
Mr Newman described this entry as even and displaying good dairy characteristics.
The Kowalds also had equal second in the individual competition with two of their heifers.
For the competition for the older livestock, the winner of the mature cow was described by judge Rob Walmsley, Kongorong, as a “pretty easy winner”.
The eight-year-old cow from Bernard Gladigau, Mount Torrens, impressed Mr Walmsley with its “overall completeness”.
“It’s a square, balanced cow, with a really good udder,” he said.
Mr Gladigau, who has been farming for 56 years, had his cows selected with the help of sharefarmer Kirk Bela.
Second in the mature cow section was the entry from Rodney Herrmann, Mount Torrens, with Ben Wilhelm, Mount Torrens, in third place.
Mr Herrmann was also the owner of the two-year-old entry.
Mr Walmsley said the heifer exhibited good “capacity, width and volume”, with “a soft, textured udder”.
Second in this section was the older heifer of Mr Bela, which had the “best udder of the day”, with third place to the Mieglichs.