The first time Karl Munden ever laid eyes on Paschendaele Klassy Tri Time he was a goner.
“She was a tall and stylish young cow and I just thought she had such a big future ahead of her,” Karl said.
“She really appealed to me from the start and there was something in her that I really wanted to work with and develop.”
At the time, the Ayrshire was being shown by Steve Eagles at International Dairy Week in 2022, and Karl offered to buy her.
“I approached Steve about selling her but he wasn’t interested,” Karl said.
“Luckily when he got home he had a change of heart and I was then able to buy a half share and we moved her up with us in July last year.”
Karl knew Klassy was good, but he had know idea the three-year-old would go on to make history at IDW the following year, when she became the first ever Ayrshire to be crowned Supreme Champion Cow and the first ever intermediate cow to take the top honour.
From the moment she stepped into the IDW ring at Tatura on Ayrshire day last month, Klassy Tri Time’s balance and wonderful mammary system set her apart from every other cow in the ring and the judges were all blown away.
“Our expectations for her were high and we thought she had a good shot at intermediate champion but to get her back up and to see her win supreme champion was just an amazing experience for us all, and something we thought would never have been possible,” Karl said.
“She is such an easy and cruisy cow to work with and nothing fazes her — she never kicks up a fuss.”
In the lead up to dairy week, Klassy won the Gippsland On Farm competition and placed in the top five Leading Edge On Farm Competition in her class.
When she is at home Klassy is just treated as another cow, although she does hang out in the high production herd with all the other show cows so she doesn’t have to walk too far.
The Munden family milks 650 cows at Nilma North in Gippsland.
The herd is comprised of 200 Ayrshires with the rest Holsteins and crossbreeds, and is split into three — a spring and autumn calving herd and the elite herd.
Karl has always had an affinity for the Ayrshire breed.
“My grandad managed Ayrshire herds in England and my family had one of the record-holding Ayrshire cows in New Zealand so I guess I just caught the bug and I like to do things a bit different to everyone else.”
Showing has always been an integral part of Karl’s dairy career.
He loves the challenge of working with good cows and getting them up to where they need to be to compete at a national level and, while the win is still sinking in, Karl said they weren’t rushing any decisions.
“We are looking at her options for the future but our main priority has been just to get her back home and allow her to relax and her do her job as a cow.”
Karl said spending time away from the farm at International Dairy Week wouldn’t have been possible without his father Adrian and brother Tony, who kept things ticking over on the farm.
“My partner Imogen Steiner helps out with the show team and she has been wonderful as well,” he said.