For the first time an Illawarra was named supreme champion at the recent International Dairy Week in Tatura and that trend continued again at the Berry Show on Friday.
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Tom and Kyleigh Cochrane, of Pyree, took out the supreme dairy cow and the FA McIntosh Memorial Trophy with four-year-old Illawarra Kangawarra Stella 3713.
It is believed to be only the second time an Illawarra has taken out the top award at the Berry Show, following the Cochrane family’s Kanga-warra Linda 2, which won the major gong in the early 1980s, a feat she repeated at Kangaroo Valley in the same year.
Proud owner Tom Cochrane was thrilled with the win.
“This is fantastic,” he said.
“We have taken out supreme intermediate champion before but not the top award for a long time.
“To come out here and win supreme is great. It’s a tip-top feeling.
“It looks like 2015 is going to be a big year for the Illawarras.”
Visiting Canadian judge Jamie Wood, who selected the supreme champion cow, described the field, which included Menzies Farm’s champion Holstein Cairns-dale Atwood Twilight led by Stu Menzies and champion Jersey Rivendell Jade Storm Tammy shown by Hayley Menzies from Numbaa and champion Any Other Breed, Sean Tomkins’ Guernsey Alenbry Mentor Sunflower from Gerringong as “top notch”.
“This is one hell of a champion line-up,” he told the large crowd around the dairy ring as he spoke about each of the cows before giving Kangawarra Stella 3713 the now traditional slap on the rump to declare the champion.
“I’m not sure if I will make a lot of friends with this decision, but I can’t go past that Illawarra cow,” he said.
Mr Wood praised the Berry Show and the “stunning” local countryside, saying it was some of the best real estate in the world.
From Brantford in south western Ontario, he was the Holstein judge at this year’s show.
Fresh from International Dairy Week in Tatura where his company Hays Genetics had a trade stand, he described the standard of dairy cattle at this year’s show as “exceptional”.
“There were some excellent cows here,” he said.
“The grand champion line-up was stunning.”
He praised the Berry Show Society for its work and was thrilled to see so many young people involved.
“It is great to see what the Berry Show Society is doing and even better to see the younger generation involved and taking an active role in preparing and showing cattle,” he said.
