ASHVILLE Holstein breeders, the Mason family, continued its stellar run on the 2013 show circuit, by winning three of a possible five first places in the recent Semex Holstein Australia On-Farm Competition.
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The Masons' Jervois Holsteins stud took out the two-year-old class with Jervois Steady Winnie, the three-year-old class with Jervois Aspen Lassie, and the five-year-old class with Jervois Talent McKenzie.
The wins followed an outstanding result at the 2013 Royal Adelaide Show where Steady Winnie was second in her class, Aspen Lassie was winner of her class and Talent McKenzie won the six-year-old class.
Jervois also showed the supreme intermediate champion of the show with intermediate champion female Jervois Shottle Concorde.
On-Farm judge David Peglar, Sleep Hollow Holsteins, Langhorne Creek, said the Masons' cattle were all beautifully balanced with great diary quality.
"They had a little more spring and openness in the rib and udder texture that made them stand out," he said.
Aspen Lassie was a particular standout.
"She has a bit more size and scale and I think she's International Dairy Week calibre because she's a class up from all her competitors," he said. "She's 15 centimetres taller and longer than anything else and for that reason she would be very competitive at IDW and some of the other bigger shows in Australia."
Talent McKenzie was a clear winner in the five-year-old category with her "outstanding udder which sat high and wide".
But the big winner of the competition was Neil and Grace Kroehn's Belmont Holsteins stud and its seven-year-old cow Belmont Skyframe Sandmaid which won the mature class.
Mr Peglar described the mature cow class as "amazing" with about a dozen cattle particular standouts.
"She still had so much width, spring and openness of rib that went right to the top," he said.
*Full report in Stock Journal, November 14 issue, 2013.
