Team UK clean up at the Open Junior Show, held 26th – 29th October in Cremona, Italy.
In the early hours of Wednesday morning, a team of four Holstein young breeders flew to Cremona to compete in the Open Junior Show. The team was made up of: Matthew Williamson (Border & Lakeland), Bob Lawrence (Lancashire), Peter Cotton (Derbyshire) and Robert Morley (Border & Lakeland).
That afternoon, teams from all over Europe met at the ANAFI stand, where each competitor drew a calf and was presented with a personalised leather halter. The UK team enjoyed a walk around the cattle lines to look at the animals being prepared for the country’s National Holstein Show, which would take place a few days later.
Thursday saw the first day of the junior show, which would prove to be long, busy and tiring, but very successful for the young breeders! At 10am, the junior clipping competition commenced, during which the competitors were allocated 1 hour and 40 minutes to clip their heifers. This was soon followed by the senior category. In the afternoon, the junior and senior showmanship classes took place, during which the clipping results were also announced (see below). The evening saw each member compete in a stock judging competition, for which they were required to give reasons to the judge and their fellow young breeders. To end the day, ANAFI arranged a meal for all the teams, which was a great chance to socialise and get to know one another.
Friday morning soon came around and was allocated to the final aspect of the competition – a technical quiz. With this done, the UK team spent the afternoon preparing their calves for the heifer classes the following day and watching the National Jersey Show. A much needed early night was had by all, ready for the National Holstein Show on Saturday. During the show, each competitor was required to lead their heifer for the breeder in the morning’s calf classes. The afternoon allowed the opportunity to appreciate the extremely high standard of animals in the in-milk classes. The highlight of the trip for HYB was held before the championship, during which Peter Cotton was announced as Overall Champion of the Open Junior Show (see below for full results). After watching the championship, the team returned to the hotel to pack and get a few hours’ sleep, before flying back to the UK with their heads held high.
Congratulations must go to each member of the team on their fantastic results and for doing HYB, Holstein UK and their country proud. A full write-up on the trip will be included in February’s copy of the Journal.