DAVID and Karen Altmann's Blackwood Park Illawarra stud dominated proceedings in the SA Illawarra On-Farm Challenge late last year, and won champion cow and reserve ribbons.
The Toora breeders, via Murray Bridge, won the four years and five years classes, and placed second in six years and over, before the winner of the four years class - Blackwood Park Laurel 90 - was crowned champion cow.
Judge Scott Braendler, Boldview Ayrshires, Jervois, was full of praise for the cow's udder.
"She had a superb udder and her overall correctness throughout really stood out to me," he said.
"She had the best udder of the whole competition."
In a sign of the high quality of the team of cattle the Altmanns put up, the winner of the five years class Blackwood Park Thelma 77 was crowned reserve champion cow.
Mr Braendler said Thelma 77 had the edge of youthfulness over the cow he gave honourable mention to and winner of the six years and over class Glenhaven Thorn 20, owned by Murray Bridge breeders Ian and Julie Mueller.
"The quality was great right throughout the classes," Mr Braendler said,
"A couple of things I picked up on were great temperament - especially in larger herds which I didn't expect to show, which is a plus for the breed - and the overall correctness throughout with the cattle's great feet, legs and udders."
The Altmanns run 540 Illawarras and Hoslteins, milking 470 cows year-round and supplying to La Vera Fine Cheese Producers in Adelaide and Warrnambool Cheese & Butter.
Proving their cattle are more than just good lookers in the showring, Blackwood Park holds 13 national production records for the Illawarra breed out of a possible 28 categories.
Riding high on her success in the On-Farm contest, Laurel 90 recently competed at International Dairy Week in Vic where she placed second in the four years in-milk class and fourth in the champion cow line-up. Laurel 90 previously was second in the 2.5 years class and reserve junior champion at the Mount pleasant Autumn Fair in 2012.
Later that year she went to the Royal Adelaide Show where she was second in the three years in-milk class and received an honorable mention in the intermediate championship.
The Altmanns also planned to send Thelma 77 over to IDW but could not get her up for the show.
Another home-grown animal Blackwood Park Blitz, whose semen is marketed by Semex, sired Laurel 90.
"She's been mated back to Panorama Anticipation and her production is probably averaging just over 50 litres a day for the first three herd recordings of this lactation," Mr Altmann said.
"We have never won both champion and reserve in the same year, so this has certainly been our most successful On-Farm result."
* Full report in Stock Journal, February 6, 2014 issue.
