A REGULAR competitor at the dairy junior judging competition, Casey Treloar, Port Lincoln, is set to represent the state in the national contest after winning the state title.
Ms Treloar first entered the competition at 11 and has come on since then, including judging at some smaller country shows.
“I worked in the United States for a while and developed a knack for finding what cows I like,” she said.
“I think we need to encourage more people to get involved with these competitions because without young people in judging we don’t have the future experience on how to pick the best dairy cows.”
The competition had groups of young potential judges cast their eye across a class of four each of Holsteins, Jerseys and Guernseys under the eye of overjudge Brian Carscadden, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
Second place in the open section was Jerry English, Malande, Qld, with Bridget Liebelt, Paris Creek third.
In the under-15s class Jacob Fiebiger, Angaston, was first, Hayley Braendler, Jervois, second and Archie Hadden third.
Landmark achiever prize went to Cameron Braendler, Jervois.
Mr Carscadden said the best cow does not always have to to be the biggest, but it did need to be correct.
“They have to be good before they can be big,” he said.
When judging dairy cattle, Mr Carscadden said the mammary system was worth about 40 per cent of the scoring system, followed, in importance, by the feet and legs.
He said an good trick was to rank the cattle as they entered the ring in general appearance on first impression before analysing their parts.
“If, all of a sudden, the cow you had at the top ranks at the bottom, then you need to re-evaluate," he said.
“There are always justifications for any placing you make but always look at the udder.”
Elizabeth Anderson
Editor of Stock Journal.
Editor of Stock Journal.
