Mitch, Nug ideal match ... no bull
YOUNG Mitch Woodiwiss is making an early start as a livestock handler.
The five-year-old from Railton was quick to make sure eight-weekold simmental bull calf Nug was comfortable in his stall at the Royal Hobart Show yesterday.
It wasn’t quite a stampede but organisers were delighted almost 17,000 people filed through the gates on People’s Day, after other shows around the state battled dwindling crowds.
IT’S a rare day when you come face-to-face with a bull weighing almost a tonne.
And that was just one of the attractions for the bumper crowd that turned out for the Royal Hobart Show’s annual People’s Day.
Almost 17,000 people filed through the gates of the show yesterday, leading Royal Agricultural Society of Tasmania chief executive Scott Gadd to breathe a sigh of relief after recent concerns about declining show attendance figures across the state.
“Today’s gone really well, we got a good early roll up of patrons and it’s a pretty crowded site,” he said. “I think the weather helps, this year it’s being kind to us,” he said.
A shock decision last week to cancel this year’s Devonport Show had raised questions about the future of other Tasmanian agricultural shows.
The Devonport Show, which had been running for 108 years, was due to be held on December 1-2, but the Devonport Agricultural and Pastoral Society cancelled it because of falling crowds and rising costs.
The decision came after organisers of the Royal Launceston Show raised concerns about that show’s viability.
However, Mr Gadd backed the Royal Hobart Show to remain a strong fixture.
“We try and program good entertainment that will fill the day up. We usually use acts that people wouldn’t otherwise get to see and they all get that for the ticket price,” he said.
“That value-for-money proposition is something we worked hard on.” In the beef pavilion, Catherine and Allan Murfet were showing their two-year-old 806kg bull Cathnal Upshot, from their Cathnal Santa Gertrudis Stud at Sheffield.
The healthy beast won the senior interbreed bull sash on top of winning the supreme exhibit for the Santa Gertrudis breed.
“We are happy with this animal’s correct structure and he has such a great, calm temperament,” Mr Murfet said.
Mitch Woodiwiss, 5, from Railton, is making an early start as a livestock handler.
Mitch’s love for animals, especially eight-week-old Simmental bull calf called Nug, lured him to the show.
Cake Decorators Association Tasmanian president Elizabeth Hudnott has been competitively decorating cakes for five years, and she won four divisions.
Mrs Hudnott won best buttercream cake, pot of colour, decorative cupcake, and decorative cookie, with her threetiered cornucopia cake being the centrepiece.
Mrs Hudnott said her love for the Show stemmed from her desire to improve her decorating skills.
“You think you can do something and then you find it’s a lot harder than you thought, but when you get there in the end, it’s wonderful,” she said.
Peter Manning, who first exhibited Wyandotte Bantams at the Show 59 years ago when he was just 11, was named the 2017 Royal Hobart Show’s Living Legend.
Mr Manning has been on the poultry, pigeons and caged birds committee since 1999. He has kept an array of birds over the years including large fowls such as Old English Game, Hamburg’s, Indian and Jubilee Games. He has judged and exhibited at every show in Tasmania.
RAST Board member David Skinner, who is celebrating 70 years’ association with the Show, was awarded a long service award.
Dairy farmer Samantha Johns, 23, who works the family farm with parents Brian and Judy at South Forest on the North-West, won the junior cattle handler champion award.
“I love animals and working on the dairy farm,” she said.
Miniature Goat Breeders Association of Australia show manager Jan Roberts, said it was the first time the goats were judged at Hobart and it had gone well.
“We had a great turnout of well presented miniature goats, with 35 entries from four breeders,” Mrs Roberts said.
Sandra Hoffman, of Kirrasumm Kids Stud at Pawleena, won the best miniature goat exhibitor of the show.
“It’s a great honour and we are constantly improving to breed pure Australian miniature goats,” Mrs Hoffman said.
For more information about this year’s show, go to hobartshowground.com.au
That value-for-money proposition is something we worked hard on. Scott Gadd, Royal Hobart Show