The hosting of the Holstein Australia National Judging School at Victor Harbour in South Australia recently has been deemed a success by HA breed development and conformation committee president and school co-ordinator Gino Pacitti.
Gino said 19 enthusiastic participants from Victoria and South Australia took part in the event which resulted in Casey Trealor (SA), Courtney Afford (SA) and Georgia Sieben (Victoria) qualifying for the National Judges Panel.
The panel includes judges from every state in the country.
The event was originally to be held in November but was postponed to March this year.
“It was great to see three of the participants make it through. Some others were pretty close and if they hone their skills in the near future, they will join Casey, Courtney and Georgia,” Gino said.
There is a fair bit of organising that goes into the event which includes cows to judge and farms to visit.
Three South Australian Master Breeder herds — Misty Brae Holsteins, Rockwella Farm and Windy Vale put their hands up so participants could work with their animals as part of the program.
“It really is a team effort to get a course like this up and running and the South Australian sub-branch were wonderful and put on a really great event,” Gino said.
Day one of the three-day event focused on cow structure and the ethics of judging, while day two saw participants working with groups of cows followed by a discussion led by over-judges on the differences in on-farm competition and show-ring judging.
The over-judges were Jenny Grey from The Pines, NSW, Vaughn Johnston, Ewen Pine, Rob Walmsely, Robsvue and David Peglar, Sleepy Hollow, all from South Australia.
The final day was show day, with an early start followed by the opportunity for participants to present to the over-judges.
“It is a really diverse course which not only focuses on cow structure and conformation but also other things a judge needs to be successful including public speaking, microphone technique and judging photos; we really want our future judges to have good all-round skills,” Gino said.
He also said participants couldn’t have had a better team of experienced judges.
“There are many, many hours and years of combined experience from Jenny, Vaughn, Rob and David and the participants certainly made the most of it,” he said.
This year the event was opened up to other breed societies and with the majority of participants below 25, the future of the judging in Australia certainly looks positive.
“It was great to see people from other breeds come along and we have a definite need for more qualified judges within the industry,” Gino said.
“We were all suitability impressed by all the participants which augers well for the future longevity of the industry and the event.”
Gino said the event came at a time when the South Australian dairy industry was in a steady phase after the rapid decline of the past 15 years.
“The industry seems to have bottomed out and many farmers are actually in an expansion phase, many are enthusiastic about their future and more importantly confident which is great for the industry,” he said.
“Dairying is such a great industry and an event like this provides participants with the opportunity to foster relationships and network not just here in Australia, but right around the world — the exposure can be worldwide.”