Jess fits the part

A FIVE Ways dairy farm has become the most successful competitor in the Semex-Holstein Australia On-Farm Competition, entering its fifth consecutive champion in the country’s largest livestock judging competition.
The Gardiner family, Harley and Valmai and John and Cherie, who conduct Avonlea Holsteins at Five Ways, had three entries represented in the finals, including four-year-old Champion Avonlea Juror Jess.
Judge David Kerber, of Woodside, SA, said Avonlea Juror Jess was a well-balanced animal that stood out from an extremely strong class.
“Balance refers to all the parts of the cow that fit together exactly where they are meant to be,” he said. “Jess is a beautifully balanced cow. I just love her – she just fits together so well.”
The Gardiners also entered Avonlea Silky Figsie in the Reserve Champions in the Senior Two Year Old class and Avonlea A.C. Connie in the Mature class. Both came second.
Avonlea has entered champions in five of the six years that the competition has been running. The only year Avonlea did not enter a champion was in 2004, when John Gardiner judged the competition.
This year’s competition attracted more than 2900 entries from 465 breeders throughout Australia, with about two thirds of these contesting the south-east Australian finals.