“Coming to the County Show, exhibiting in the beef cattle ring for the very first time and coming away with some championships is a tremendous honour, particularly after everything we’ve been through.”
Fifteen months ago, Stuart Williams, lost his entire dairy herd to TB.
The cost, both financially and emotionally, was a harsh one, but gradually the fields at Willhome Farm in Camrose have been restocked with livestock which this week won the judge’s very firm seal of approval.
George, an eight-year-old Highland Bull, won reserve champion in the male Highland section while his adorable little Brown Swiss heifers chums won the champion in-calf and a first in the maiden heifer.
“Those Brown Swiss heifers are real little supermodels,” said a delighted Stuart following Wednesday’s wins.
“The maiden heifer ‘Eat, Sleep, Show, Repeat’ came to us from Scotland and her mother, Rhapsody , is the most famous of her breed in the UK.
“And today has been George’s first show with us and the very first time we have ever shown an animal in the beef ring.
“Some of our competitors this morning have enjoyed some extremely good successes at the Royal Welsh, so we knew we were up against some very tough competition.”
But the mighty George, who weighs in at around 900kg, impressed the judges considerably.
“He’s an extremely gentle, quiet bull and whenever people are around him in the barn back at Willhome Farm, he likes nothing better than having his back scratched.
“Getting recognition like today’s is a great boost after losing 650 cows to TB in just three years.
“It shows how important it is to keep moving forward.”
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