Sydney-bound: Zoe Hayes and her champion Illawarra cow, Freda, with some of the spoils of victory. The pair may travel to Sydney for the Royal Easter Show competition.
Cooper Fisher is the envy of his three siblings after he became the first old enough to compete in the Youth Show at the International Dairy Week event at Tatura Park last week.
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Nine-year-old Cooper only qualified last year, as there is an eight-year-old age limit on participation in the event, which is the largest dairy event of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere.
Cooper was the Champion Junior Leader in the junior champion heifer event with Quality Ridge Sidekick Jane, who was bred on his family’s Quality Ridge stud at Kyabram.
Cooper is the eldest of four and had all his siblings, Max, Harry and Ava, watching from the stands as he picked up the title.
Family affair: Sophie, Lachie and Kaitlyn Joyce from Tongala’s Kalaso Guernseys with one of their prize-winning cows at the International Dairy Week show.
Cooper is the son of Jake and Bec Fisher and explained he had been a part of Jane’s life since she was born on April 1 last year.
The Fisher family and Tongala’s Joyce family, which operate the Kalaso Guernseys stud, picked up a swag of titles from the event.
They formed their own little cheer squad as the Joyce children, Sophie, Kaitlyn and Lachie, were also involved in the International Dairy Week Youth Show.
Steve Joyce, Cooper’s grandfather, owns Kalaso Guernseys and there is always plenty of rivalry between the families when it comes to the Dairy Week event.
• Zoe Hayes is setting her sights on another trip to Sydney’s Royal Easter Show after collecting champion honours at the Tatura Park event.
She is part of the highly respected Hayes family from Girgarre, who operate Llandovery Illawarras Stud.
She was preparing Freda, her award-winning Illawarra cow, for the junior interbreed championship when the Free Press camera caught the pair in what resembled a beauty salon.
Freda had just won junior champion in the Illawarras.
“We had two Jerseys today earn honourable mentions in the intermediate champion (division) and we showed six Illawarras, including the intermediate champion Illawarra.
Winning pair: Nine-year-old Cooper Fisher, from Kyabram, with his award-winning Holstein heifer from the family’s Quality Ridge property.
Zoe was preparing and showing the cows for parents Tony and Elise, while sister Taya was also involved in the event.
“We will be heading back to the farm and then will prepare for the next show, being the Sydney Royal,” she said.
Zoe was also the judge of the Sheri Martin Youth Showmanship Competition, which attracted a large number of competitors across the four age groups.
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