The 2024 Victorian Winter Fair supreme champion cow was shown by Matt and Nicola Templeton, from View Fort Holsteins, who talk about the pedigree of the champion and overcoming battles to keep doing what they love.
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00:00The Victorian Winter Fair wrapped up on July 4 with the judging of the Supreme Senior Champion cow
00:08and it was Matt and Nicola Templeton from View Fort Holsteins who came away with the Champion Ribbon.
00:15Matt tells us a little bit about the Champion animal.
00:19Yeah, so we purchased her in the annual dispersal in December 2020 and yeah, off-brand sorry.
00:29Like I said, she's a Kimberley Big Cow.
00:33She's got a big Australian pedigree.
00:38Yeah, so she's a three-tone and that family reverts back to the Felicities
00:45who is probably the greatest known cow in Australia.
00:49She's known as Australia's Sweetheart.
00:52And then generations after was Gordon Three-Tone and she's only three generations from her.
00:59So yeah, it's a pretty cool pedigree to have.
01:04And like I say, to carry her off the park pretty good still, it's an honour to have her.
01:10And how does she go in your herd?
01:12She's a no-fuss cow.
01:15This is the first time we've shown her.
01:18She's been waiting for the right time.
01:21So yeah, she goes along with the herd.
01:25Like I say, no fuss.
01:27She gets in calf every year.
01:29She's 92 points now in the classification system.
01:33So yeah, we're going to sell a daughter out of her in our sale.
01:38So yeah, she ticks all the boxes for us.
01:41And what other plans do you have for her?
01:43We're going to try and keep her going and take her to International Dairy Week.
01:48She's only just fresh.
01:50We're giving the best we can of her.
01:52We can't even garb her again.
01:54We're giving the best we can to comfort her.
01:57And how do you feel about winning the Grand Champion at Vic Winter Fair,
02:01which is one of the premier events in Australia?
02:04Well, this is the first time that we've actually shown the street in our own right.
02:09And yeah, to come out on top is very, very rewarding.
02:15Yeah, we bought a nice sample, I suppose, of selection of animals.
02:21But probably with our sale in mind, really, just as part of a promotion.
02:26But yeah, I think to come out on top has just really shown the strength of what we have in our herd.
02:33And yeah, it's been very rewarding.
02:35And on a personal level, I know you've had a few battles.
02:38So can you kind of talk a little bit about that and how much this means to be here
02:43and being able to do what you love?
02:53Like you say, we have had some battles, but you've got to stay positive.
02:57And the reason we get up every day and milk our cows is our cows.
03:03We love farming, but we love our cows even more.
03:06And this is an avenue as part of our business now.
03:10And that leads into our sale.
03:13So yeah, but like I say, everyone's got their own sort of battles they fight.
03:20But unless you stay positive and have someone to look forward to,
03:23i.e. getting up every morning to look at these cows and get them ready for the show,
03:28that's what we love to do.
03:30I would like that as well, to support them from the dairy industry.
03:35And particularly our shelving community has been amazing.
03:41Yeah, the people that rallied around us the last couple of months
03:44and helped us get here, they know who they are.
03:47We could never have come without them.
03:50So yeah, we're very, very thankful to our crew, backing the shed
03:54and just so many people for getting us through this week.
04:00For more information, visit www.fema.gov