Liz Milsom, with Ninja, is the chief steward of the cattle section at Te Puke A&P Show.
Much of Liz Milsom's donkey work will have been done when Te Puke A&P Show day dawns, but she will still be up at 5am.
Liz is the cattle section's chief steward, and will also be taking cattle, belonging to Whakatane farmer Robert Cleland, to the show.
Work for the 2018 show on February 10 started back in September.
"A lot of it is prep work," she says. "I started basically looking for sponsorship in September, October, contacting people, sending letters."
It worked.
"Genetic Enterprises were new last year and Titan Trailers have come on board this year. It's starting to build. This year we've got new competitors coming in and the calf section up to about 18 calves."
Liz used the Tauranga A&P Show to network and "sell" the Te Puke show and will do the same in Rotorua this weekend.
Liz's father had a Friesian stud and his participation in Te Puke was her first experience of the show, but she drifted away.
"I got back into it when I had a nephew [Jordan] who, for boys and girls' day, wanted a calf and he wanted a pure-bred Friesian, so I rang up a friend in Whakatane and he gave us a calf and we decided to take that to the Rotorua Show and the Te Puke show and it's just grown from there," says Liz.
Another nephew, Ethan, also became interested and their calves are now among the cattle Liz will be showing at next month's Te Puke show.
Seeing the show's cattle section was struggling, Liz took it on herself to try and reverse the decline.
"I said to [secretary] Kim [Cawte], 'I've got a judge' and I've been involved from that point on.
"I got sponsorship for the ring area and this year we've got six new classes and got sponsorship for it all."
She sees the future of the cattle section in youngsters.
"What I want to do is encourage kids to get involved. I want to get the kids who go to the Te Puke boys and girls' days and school days to bring their calves [to the A&P Show]. A lot of people think it's hard work, but [the calves] might be out in the paddock now but they could go and get them a week before the show, spend a week with them and they'd be fine because they'd know the process.
"And I enjoy encouraging kids to get involved. It teaches them more than just boys and girls' day, it teaches them how to be in a ring, how they dress, so if you're in a ring you don't wear gumboots, it teaches them how to hold an animal, how to make it stand and the relationship between them and the animal."
Liz will head to the showgrounds the day before show day to set up the area, clean up and make sure everything is ready.
Saturday will start early as she gets the animals she is showing ready.
"Then I'll probably get there about half six, seven o clock, get the animals sorted and washed before I have to set up the gazebos, make sure the sound system's operating and all that and if there's any late entries, get them all sorted out."
The cattle section judge is New Zealand Holstein Friesian Association president Wendy Harker from Te Awamutu.
"She will say why she had put this animal over that animal and go through the process of why she's placed an animal first.
"It could be something like the composition of the udder might be better or better bone structure, or one's stronger in the legs, has better tail placement."
A feature of the cattle section is the competition to see who can accurately guess the amount of milk a cow will produce.
"I'd encourage people to come over early, have a look, see the animal and see what they think," says Liz.
The cow will be milked by machine and the person with the guess closest to the amount will win.
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