Farmers across the country are busy preparing their cattle for Australia’s premier dairy show, International Dairy Week.
IDW director Declan Patten said with the dairy industry currently in such a great position, numbers for 2024 were looking positive.
“We are expecting a big and buoyant show and we have been well supported with entries,” Mr Patten said.
“This is our third year running the event and I think we have ironed out most of the problems now.”
With six world renowned international judges and two experienced domestic judges, IDW kicks off on Saturday, January 13 and will run through to Thursday, January 18 at Tatura Park.
The judging panel is: Brown Swiss, Niel van Rensberg from Gippsland; Guernsey, Brian Leslie from northern Victoria; Holstein, Barclay Pheonix from Ontario; Jersey, Nathan Thomas; Red and White, Nico Boris from the Netherlands; Ayrshire, Kurt Wolf from Iowa; Illawarra, Brian Parker from NSW; Showmanship, Jessica Gavenlock from Victoria; and Youth Show, Brian Carscadden from Ontario.
Sunday, January 14 will see the youth events get under way, while Monday is all about the red and whites and Illawarras.
Tuesday is Ayrshire, Guernsey, Brown Swiss and the Jersey heifer show.
The Jersey feature continues into Wednesday along with the national heifer show in the afternoon.
Thursday is Holstein day followed by the crowning of the interbreed champions in the afternoon.
Aside from all the regular showing and handling events across all breeds of dairy cattle, plus the program of information seminars, this year will see an exciting new initiative — Cows Create Careers.
About 34 secondary school students from eight schools across Victoria, NSW and South Australia will battle it out for $3000 in prize money — participating in a series of events including the making a 60-second commercial, practical challenges and a treasure hunt.
“This is something I have been very passionate about and we all know what a great career path dairy is, there are so many opportunities and we want to showcase that to the next generation who are the future of the industry,” Mr Patten said.
Following on from the success last year, the food truck event will return with a focus on local produce.
“This was well supported last year with well over a thousand people and we are looking to extend it to include market stalls,” Mr Patten said.
The ST Australia Create the Future Cattle Sale will kick off Wednesday at 7pm.
“We have record numbers for the auction across all breeds which will showcase the best of the best,” Mr Patten said.
The Power of Women in Dairy will also be held on Tuesday from 7.30pm.
This year’s guest speaker is Georgie Herbert — donor and partner director at the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation.
Georgie joined the OCRF in 2020, but was well known to the staff after passionately fundraising for early detection after her mum Mandy was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.
The night will also include the Bette Hall Power of Women in Dairy Excellence Award presentation and World Dairy Expo 2024-25 scholarship information.
“The women in dairy event is a great feature of IDW and a staple event celebrating the many great women in the industry,” Mr Patten said.
“We are really starting to get the atmosphere back around IDW after COVID.
“There is so much positivity and people are networking and connecting and we are always looking at ways to add initiatives to the event and promote the industry.”