Numbers were down but some 38 competitors braved the 40 plus degree heat in Dubbo on Saturday to take part in the ASC Western Group 11 Finals at the Dubbo showgrounds.
The group final, held as a young judges day, allows young agricultural enthusiasts to travel to a single location and take part in a cross-section of judging finals with the possibility of going on to the state finals at the Sydney Royal Easter Show in March.
Co-ordinated by volunteers from the Dubbo Show Society, the Group 11 final is the only final in the state run separately to the local show.
Chief cattle steward and day co-ordinator, Kelly Lovell, Dubbo, said the concept of having a day totally designated to the group finals made it easier for everybody.
“A lot of the kids at shows might be working or competing in one section that might be running the same time as something else and therefore they have to miss out,” Ms Lovell said.
On the day competitors judged beef cattle, pigs, poultry, fruit and vegetables, grains, fleece, meat sheep and Merinos, as well as took part in beef cattle paraders.
Held prior to the commencement of the school year it allows those that attend boarding schools in Orange, Bathurst and Sydney to still have a chance to pursue an interest in judging.
The Group 11 final drew outside interest from people in Goulburn and Gloucester causing the quality of participants to continue to intensify, with the Western Group a strong region to qualify at.
“We have had a couple of successes at the state level from representatives from our region. Emma-Jane Lovell won state and competed at the 2016 national final in Tasmania for meat sheep judging and we were fortunate enough for her to win nationals,” she said.
The largest section of the day was the beef cattle paraders with 19 competitors travelling from across the state to take part in the early morning class.
For the first time the young judges day hosted a poultry judging competition for people wanting to add another species to their belt.
Judged by Brad O’Leary, Ballimore, the competition had competitors assessing male and female Belgian Bantam fowls. Another was the pig section facilitated by Wesley Temessl, Dubbo.
Section of results from the Western Group 11 Final:
Beef cattle judging first place Hannah Powe, Cargo; second place Brenden Lydford, Dubbo; and third place Nathan Leach, Narromine.
Fleece judging first place Emma-Jane Lovell, Dubbo; second place Connor Whiteman, Gilgandra; and third place Bailey McBurnie.
Ms Lovell also went on to win the fruit and vegetable judging and grain judging.
Meat sheep judging first place Reece Webster, second place Ian Lamb and third place Korina White. Mr Webster also placed first in Merino sheep judging, second place to Bailey McBurnie and third place to Connor Whiteman.
Non-qualifier junior judging section results were as follows.Poultry judging first place Korina White, second place Reece Webster, and third place Connor Whiteman, Gilgandra. Pig judging first place Ian Lamb.
