| SHOWS |
Jerseys reign as queens of Royal Easter Show J
ERSEYS have lived up to their reputation as Dairy’s Finest cows by recording a clean sweep of interbreed championships at the Sydney Royal Easter Show. Jersey Australia general manager Glen Barrett described Jerseys as “Queens of the Ring” after taking out all four Interbreed Champions. WINDY WAYS GALAXIES DAWN 7 was crowned the Supreme Champion Jersey Cow before taking the Interbreed Supreme Champion Dairy Female for owners Brad and Jess Gavenlock and Frank Walsh. BROOKBORA VALENTINO SWEET ELFA took home the Intermediate Champion Jersey Cow as well as the Supreme Intermediate Champion Dairy Female for the Bacon family’s Brookbora Jerseys in northern Victoria. LIGHTNING RIDGE MB VIP FELIZ -ET rounded out the Jersey clean sweep winning Junior Champion Jersey and Supreme Junior Champion Female for D Patten, J Lindsay, C Moscript, and F and D Borba. The Wilson Family from Tamworth took home the final interbreed class winning the Supreme Dairy Pen of 3. Jerseys won three of the four interbreed titles in 2019. Mr Barrett said this year’s clean sweep of the Interbreed titles was further proof that Jerseys are Dairy’s Finest cows Jersey Australia is running a promotional campaign called `Dairy’s Finest’ to highlight the strength of the Jersey cow and milk and its success in Australian farming conditions.
Mr Barrett said the quality of the Australian Jersey cow was certainly on display in Sydney. “Jersey Australia congratulates all exhibitors on what was a tremendous show, highlighted by the dominance of Jersey cows,” he said. Mr Barrett said DAWN 7 was now the benchmark cow in Australia. “She is a tremendous cow and this win follows her recent Supreme Champion win at the Central Gippsland Jersey Fair in March.” WINDY WAYS GALAXIES DAWN 7 co-owner Brad Gavenlock admits the stud has had a “fairytale run” but every win remains special. WINDY WAYS GALAXIES DAWN 7 was Supreme Intermediate winner in 2019, and earlier KATHLEIGH GUN GRACE, co-owned with Andrew and Cassandra Kath, was Supreme Senior Champion in 2018 and Supreme Intermediate Champion in 2016 Mr Gavenlock said the keys to success including having good cows, a lot of luck and the right management which comes from years of learning what works and what doesn’t work. He said it was hard to fault WINDY WAYS GALAXIES DAWN 7. “There hasn’t been a Jersey cow that has beaten her yet,” he said. “She has very few faults and is so well made. They haven’t made a perfect cow and she’s not perfect, but I don’t know where I’d change her and she’s got even better with age.” It was the first time Brookbora Jerseys has shown at Sydney, making victory even sweeter. “Sydney was one of the first shows I went to and we always wanted to show there so we were fairly ecstatic when we won,” Daniel Bacon said. “It was exciting to be part of the overall Jersey success.” Mr Bacon described BROOKBORA VALENTINO SWEET ELFA, who was also intermediate champion at the recent Central Gippsland Jersey Fair, as a standout cow in the herd. “When she calved in, we thought she looked pretty good and she just kept getting better and better,” Mr Bacon said. “She’s the kind of cow we like to breed; a long flat boned dairy cow with a good udder and a Best Udder, Senior Champion Cow, Supreme Champion Exhibit – Windy Ways Galaxies Dawn 7 cow that should last a long time.” – Cherrylock & Windy Ways Jerseys. Pictured L-R: Frank Walsh, Michael Millner (RAS President), Brad, Jessica (holding Maggie) Britney & Penny Gavenlock. The Australian Jersey Journal – July-August 2021 // 30
