World Hereford conference: Young Breeders competition
Commencing the week’s competition in Queenstown and Wanaka for the World Hereford Conference Youth competition, Lucy Collin, Georgia Rhodes, Callum Woodhouse, and Cara Doggett travelled from Christchurch to Queenstown as a team. Road tripping together unified the team and gave plenty of opportunities to complete quizzes on agriculture, information on countries that are attending, and the Hereford breed.
Arriving at Game Over in Queenstown on the 7th of March, the team met their fellow competition teams and rivaled on the go-kart track and laser tag. Jumping on a bus, all 36 competitors made the trip from Queenstown to Te Anau, where the teams get delegated their show heifers, handler splits, and speaking order for judging.
Heading to Waiau Hereford Stud for a day full of modules on the 8th of March, these modules were set to test their agricultural knowledge and practical skills. Modules were comprised of Agribusiness, Meat butchery, animal health, genetics, and fencing. Each module, a team member was able to play to their strengths. The fencing was Lucy’s favourite her quote “the fencing as it had so much pressure to made sure we work together and it really showed our team bond”. Not only their bond of the team was important during this module, their commitment too, but the southern rain also didn’t shy away. Ending the day of modules was the quiz night, where the road trip preparation came to play. 8 rounds of questions from general knowledge, famous faces, sport, geography, food, animal health, beef, and the Hereford breed. The team did very well and Callum took his chance on the buzzer round, 10 quick-fire questions. Callum nailed the buzzer round taking the win for FBNZ.
9th of March entailed the judging competition at Monymusk Polled Herefords, where bulls, heifers, 2yr cows + calves, fleece, and two breeds of sheep were to be judged. Adhering to the RAS rules, each round was 8 minutes, this meant the team had to be quick to judge and ‘go with their gut’. Speaking on the yearling heifers, it was interesting listening to how different countries placed their heifers and spoke.
The presentation day, 10th of March had arrived, with much preparation the team delivered a 10-minute presentation on ‘if you were a person of influence how would you bridge the gap between the urban and rural sector’. Ending the presentation the Gala dinner commenced, a highlight for Callum, “meeting new people especially on the outing on the T.s Earnslaw to Walter Peak Station”, the team all agree with Callum, as the gala dinner showcased all of what the agricultural sector can produce and a once in a lifetime opportunity to be on board the T.s Earnslaw.
After a great night, the 11th of March was a day of fun, shot over jet in Wanaka, and seeing the sights of Wanaka before all the show prep begins. 12th – 14th March, showing and show prep. The team meet their allocated heifers from Waiau Stud and took an opportunity to have a practice clip before heading into the clipping competition. Then went on to the handler competition and beef ring, where the Hereford breed was the feature breed. The team did extremely well, supporting each other and Waiai and showing their heifers to the best of their ability. Finally prize giving, it was great to see some many countries competing in something that everyone is very passionate about, Georgia agreeing “meeting and talking to new people from around the world that have the same passions and interests as me, was my highlight”.
The FBNZ team would like to give a massive thanks to the team sponsor Kaitoa Herefords and Future Beef, without their support they wouldn’t have had the networking opportunity and the opportunity to meet passionate and like-minded youth nor the ability to enter the competition. Cara’s biggest take away was “Future opportunities, contacts and many friends that have the same aspiration to showcase cattle”.
The team is very grateful and has individual sponsors to thank as well as Hamish Grant. Hamish was the teams Manager and helped support the team from team selection all the way to prize giving, a big thank you to Hamish. Starting with a thank you for the sponsorship of Lucy, Farmlands Dannevirke, PGG Dannevirke, and New Vision vet services. Georgia would like to thank Watts Contracting. Callum thanks Generation Angus and H & T Agronomics and Cara would like to thank Ceejay Shorthorns and New Zealand Beef Shorthorn Association. Attending the World Hereford Conference Youth competition gave the team and Future beef recognition and endless future opportunities, meeting passionate people and networking was fantastic and once again couldn’t have happened without the support and sponsorship.
