Ten-year-old champ of dairy youth show
I won in the Youth Class, [Emes] was third in the jersey class. She comes from a family of show cows. Zara Williams
Zara Williams is just 10 years old but she beat 90 other competitors to win the Youth Show champion title at the New Zealand Dairy Event.
The Manawatu¯ schoolgirl was up against a field of much older competitors –some of them were 25 years old despite it being a youth event – at this month’s competition at Manfeild Park, Feilding.
Organisers said it was the biggest Youth Show they had seen.
Zara won with her favourite cow, three-year-old jersey Landell Valentino Emes.
Landell was the stud name, Valentino the bull’s and Emes the cow’s name.
Emes had a twin sister named Emily.
Competition was stiff, but Zara said she had been showing cattle since she was a three-year-old and it was in her blood.
‘‘Mostly I showed school calves when I was younger, and there were few A & P shows.
‘‘I pick a nice calf, and raise it.’’
Her father, Lance Williams, said the family had just moved from a sharemilking job in southern Wairarapa to Mount Stewart in Manawatu¯ .
He said they started there as sharemilkers, but when the farm came on the market, they bought it.
‘‘It is nice having your own place’’ said Zara.
The 65-hectare farm ran mostly holstein friesians with a handful of jerseys and ayrshires, Lance said.
He said he and his wife Karen did most of the milking, but a relief milker came sometimes to give them a break and they had help at calving time.
Lance said Emes and Emily were born on a rainy night, and were taken to the garage as a result. They both became pets, which all the family loved.
He said their stud, Landell, took 12 animals to the Dairy Event – five cows, two yearlings and five calves, one of which was sold in the Summer Sensation sale.
The calf sold was Landell Diamondback Demi, which made $3600. The average for livestock sold was $3860.
Lance said all the cattle for the show were put in a paddock a month before the event.
He said they were all prepared at the show by Dwayne Taylor.
A total of 370 entries were registered for the Dairy Event.
About 40 South Island and Hawke’s Bay cattle were excluded as organisers worried about the mingling of cows from the North and South Islands and spreading the disease Mycoplasma bovis.
But that didn’t worry Zara. It was a great thrill to win, she said.
‘‘I won in the Youth Class, [Emes] was third in the jersey class. She comes from a family of show cows. Her grandmother, her mother and the sisters were all show animals.’’
Lance Williams said the stud and the family will be a next year’s Dairy Event.