General News
29 January, 2023
Ben's golden week
DINGEE breeder Ben Govett claimed the crowns of premium breeder and premium exhibitor of brown Swiss at last week’s International Dairy Week in Tatura. The top prizes capped off a successful championship despite taking a smaller show team to the...
DINGEE breeder Ben Govett claimed the crowns of premium breeder and premium exhibitor of brown Swiss at last week’s International Dairy Week in Tatura.
The top prizes capped off a successful championship despite taking a smaller show team to the Southern Hemisphere’s biggest cattle show.
“We started a bit behind the eight-ball this year because of the October floods and took a smaller team to IDW,” Mr Govett said.
“The floods affected our younger cows under two years and stock six years and older.”
Despite the reduced team, Mr Govett also collected prizes for junior champion, champion and reserve intermediate champion, best udder of show and grand champion in the Swiss sections.
And while the focus for more than 45 years at the family property has been brown Swiss - they still make up about half the 300-strong milking herd - Mr Govett was awarded first place in senior two-year-old Holstein milker section.
Mr Govette said Holsteins with a smattering of Jerseys now completed the farm’s herd.
In the IDW sales, Mr Govett sold his junior champion brown Swiss for $17,000, well above this year’s average of just under $10,000. A second cow sold at auction for $9000.
Mr Govett said the family had stuck with brown Swiss for almost half a century because of the breed’s longevity and heat tolerance.
Success at IDW was a turnaround from the height of October’s flood emergency in the Dingee district when tankers could not reach local properties to collect milk.
Mr Govett estimates 30,000 litres were dropped in one week.
He says floods also affected feed crops but the latest sowing had shown good early growth.
His contribution at IDW this year was not limited to the show ring. Mr Collett was a judge of the all-breeds youth sections and then on Monday flew to New Zealand to judge at that country’s major dairy show.
He has judged the Sherri Martin Youth handler’s competition and has been a judge for state and national competitions.
Mr Govett was the 2004 ABS Australia youth ambassador award winner, which saw him travel and work across Germany and Europe. He was also the youth representative for Holstein Australia at the 2012 Holstein World Conference at the Royal Winter Fair, Toronto.