Ovensdale Pearl proves you can teach an old cow new tricks

You can't teach an old dog new tricks - but you sure as hell can teach an old cow.

TOP COW: Shane Bourke and Matt Henry with supreme judge Greg English and Supreme Dairy Cow Ovensdale Pearl 534. Picture: Dominic Elsome

YOU can't teach an old dog new tricks - but you can teach an old cow.

This was proven last Thursday when Illawara cow Ovensdale Pearl 534 claimed supreme champion dairy cow at the tenth Queensland Dairy Showcase at the Gatton Show.

Co-owned by Hodgsonvale and Gladfield dairy farmers Matt Henry and Shane Bourke, the six-year-old cow stood out amongst the crowd. Pearl also claimed supreme champion udder and attachment.

What made her wins even more incredible is she had only arrived in Queensland in March, having been bought at a dispersal sale in Victoria.

Mr Bourke said bringing the cow to Queensland and acclimatising her before taking her to her first ever show had taken huge effort from Matt Henry.

"We're over the moon actually. She's travelled all the way from Victoria - it's a big trip for a cow ... then to break an older six-year-old cow in, it's a big effort from Matt to get her to this stage,” Mr Bourke said.

Her debut performance in the show ring held big promise given how well she took to the environment.

"Normally you take them to a show to break them in - everything is new, they haven't been tied up all the time,” he said.

Having calved between arriving and the dairy showcase, he said the pair were extremely happy with her performance.

Supreme Judge Greg English was similarly impressed with the Illawarra, with one aspect standing out to him.

"Her overall quality as a dairy cow - she was so capacious, and the reason a dairy cow needs to be so capacious is they can consume large volumes of feed to convert that into large volumes of milk,” Mr English said. He was extremely impressed by her first performance in the show-ring, and expected a long, successful show career ahead of her.

"Obviously, if that was here first show - teaching a cow to lead as a mature cow isn't an easy thing to do, and hat's off to the exhibitors for the effort they have put in,” he said.

And Mr Bourke is also looking forward to more successes with Ovensdale Pearl.

Next stop will be the Ekka.

He and Matt Henry also plan to breed the cow with their stud herds, with both farms to benefit from the progeny.

Dry not a barrier for dairy

TOUGH conditions have continued to weigh heavy on dairy producers.

Despite this, the quality of the the cattle on show at the tenth Queensland Dairy Showcase held at the Gatton Show last Thursday was superb according to judge Greg English.

"So much of Australia is in drought, all of the dairy areas in Australia are suffering because of the drought and the high input costs associated with the drought,” Mr English said.

To present top quality cattle was an incredible achievement.

"For the way that these cows were presented today - an enormous amount of time, effort, feed and money has gone into them,” he said.

"It's a true testament to the dedication of all the people associated with the shows.

"The quality was outstanding and the placings were extremely close in a lot of the classes, particularly between the Illawaras and the Jerseys - the quality of the Illawarras and the jerseys that came out in the supremes was outstanding.”

It was a special return for far-north Queensland-based Mr English last week.

"I judged here at the first on in 2009... so it was really good to be invited back today, ten years on,” he said.