All 16 Young Parader prize winners at the ASB Stadium on Sunday with youth representative Courtney Davis, right, alongside Royal Agricultural Society national president Geoff Smith, who presented the awards.
All 16 Young Parader prize winners at the ASB Stadium on Sunday with youth representative Courtney Davis, right, alongside Royal Agricultural Society national president Geoff Smith, who presented the awards.
The inaugeral Northern District Royal Agricultural Society Young Parader prizegiving ceremony at Whangarei on Sunday was attended by people from Kaitaia in the north to Helensville in the south.
About 90 of them made the journey to the ASB Stadium Lounge to celebrate the success of northern youngsters who received prizes in the 2017-18 junior and senior dairy and beef Young Parader competition.
Senior dairy fourth placegetter Sean Alexander and his Ayrshire entry with senior dairy third placegetter Jennifer Thomas and her Jersey at the Whangarei Show.
The competition had a different name in the past, but this year it was refreshed to be more aligned to the national and Australasian Young Parader competitions as well as to develop skills within the Northern District competitors.
Speakers at the Sunday prizegiving attributed the new high profile for the Northern District to its youth representative, Courtney Davis, for organising the ceremony.
Junior dairy: Alyssa Bishop, of Dargaville, 1; Ella Martin, Kamo, 2; Odyssey Travers, Kaitaia, 3; Siva Horsford, Kawakawa, 4.
Senior dairy: Angel Somerville, South Head, 1; Danika Beardsall, Whangarei, 2; Jennifer Thomas, Wellsford, 3; Sean Alexander, Whangarei, 4.
Junior beef: Ryan Penney, Kaikohe, 1; Jayden Schaumkel, Wellsford, 2; Maasi Schaumkel, Wellsford, 3; Max Tunnicliffe, Ruawai, 4.
Senior beef: Cara Doggett, Wellsford, 1; Georgia Tilly, Kaikohe, 2; Andrea Scott, Waitoki, 3; Sacha Tunnicliffe, Ruawai, 4.
Senior beef winner Cara Doggett with her Shorthorn Alaska.
Competitors in each of the four classes received $100 for first place, $75 for second, $50 for third and $25 for fourth place, sponsored by the Northern District RAS.
Speakers at the prizegiving ceremony included Northern District Royal Agricultural Society chairman Kevin Cholmondeley-Smith, national RAS president Geoff Smith and Young Paraders Cara Doggett and Angel Somerville.
Mr Cholmondeley-Smith said the RAS emphasis on youth promotion had been spectacularly successful, with young people learning good husbandry and stock confirmation skills enabling them to compete overseas. Cara Doggett described how she had been showing beef cattle at A&P shows for 10 years and had represented the Northern Region in a Hawke's Bay competition.
Junior beef winner Ryan Penney tidies up his calf before the judges' inspection.
Angel Somerville said she started showing stock as a 4-year-old, had nine calves at calf clubs and would in future like a herd of Ayrshires and Holsteins.
