The organizers of Australia’s Victorian Winter Fair have announced the event will now be run by another leading cattle competition. The event has been taken over by the organizers of International Dairy Week (IDW).
IDW director Declan Patten said the winter fair would remain as a “stand-alone” event, but there may be some changes, including introducing Jerseys. “Up until this point, the winter fair has only been Holsteins,” he said. “I think that is going to add so much more atmosphere into the show, we are going to get more people, we are going to get more exhibitors.”
VWF co-organizer Stu Modra said he and his wife Clare had been approached by the IDW committee to take over the running of the event. “They (IDW) contacted us probably mid-year, not long after the fair, and indicated that they might be interested in it,” he said “Clare and I had a think about it and thought it was as good a time as any to let it go.”
The fair runs in July at the Prince of Wales Showgrounds in Bendigo, while IDW is held in Tatura in mid-January.
The Modras milk a herd of 170 cows on Gunbower Island, Cohuna, and said it was time for a break. “We’ve been doing it 12 years, and we are just tired,” Mr Modra said. “We run our own farm, and the VWF takes a fair chunk out of the year for us. After 12 years, we just decided we wanted to get that time back. We’ll still show there, of course, but we have enough going on.”
He said it had given Holstein breeders a chance to showcase their autumn-calving cows. “Perhaps they would historically never have seen that, as all of our shows fall in the spring or summer,” he said. “A lot of those cows would have been too late in their lactation to show.”
He said it had been good for young people to get involved in showing, as well. “It’s just a good place to go and catch up with our peers and friends and industry-related groups,” he said. “The thing that we always really liked at Bendigo is that it is all under the one roof, so you don’t have to walk very far to catch up with people.”
He said he, Clare, her brother Adam Dee and cousin Russ Robins came up with the concept of the VWF during a casual evening over a meal and a few beers. “The initial thought was it was only going to be a one year event,” he said.
MrPatten said the Modras were “passing the baton”. “We are excited to take on the fair,” he said. “In our view, it’s the second largest in this country, and I think it’s just incredible for us to take it on. When we took on IDW we learned you never make drastic changes and we think they have created an amazing event. We are not there to shake it up and change the whole thing. We think it’s an outstanding event, the way it is.”
He said plans were in place to bring in Jerseys, either next year or in 2027.
