International Dairy Week 2024 will be memorable for many people for many different reasons.
For Hannah Dee, 21, and sisters Astre, 17, and Kendell Modra, 15, and sisters Emily Robins, 20, and Kiara Robins, 18, it will be remembered as time the girls got stuck in, had a go and ran their own show team for the first time.
The girls are no strangers to attending IDW with their respective families, however, this is the first time they have done it all from start to finish on their own.
And their results were certainly not too shabby, with heifers Avalon Mandate Drama, The Points Sidekick Pam and Sherbrooke Karma Olga all taking home class wins.
Of the three milkers, only two made it into the ring with Clydevale Doc Cleavage winning her class and going on to win Reserve Intermediate Champion, while Clydevale Doc Integrity placed fifth in a large class.
The girls all had a busy preparation with Hannah, Astre and Kendell all returning home from a holiday just 10 days before the show.
“This is the first time we have done it all on our own, and while it has been hard, we have been pretty self-sufficient and taken in the experience,” Kendell said.
“We will be back again next year if we have some good animals to bring along.”
Astre said breaking the animals in and getting them ready took a lot of time.
“It is exhausting but rewarding, and it has been great to see our hard work pay off. We all worked really well together,” she said.
Hannah said the experience had taught her she could do more than she ever thought.
“I would normally watch Dad do a lot of the stuff that I have ended up doing this time and I have proven to myself that I can be calm in stressful situations,” she said.
The girls all agree the experience has been extremely rewarding for them all and allowed them to make connections with other breeders.
“At the end we are all still friends, and other than one of the cows not making it out into the ring, it has been awesome,” Hannah said.
Hannah’s mum Mandy Dee said she was extremely proud of the way the girls had conducted themselves throughout the whole experience.
“They all worked so well as a team and it is fantastic,” Mandy said.
“This experience has given them the confidence they can do anything they put their minds to and to see a young, all female team having a go is just really special.”
Astre and Kendell’s mum Clare said the girls had been preparing their show team for months.
“There is so much work that goes into this and we couldn’t be prouder of all the girls to pull this off as well as they have,” Clare said.
While the girls ran the show team all on their own, they did accept help from their parents setting and packing up.