THE thought of being the best young dairy cattle parader in the country hasn’t sunken in for Kayla Bradley.
The 18-year-old Victorian dairy stud owner from Lockington snared the top ribbon at the Dairy Cattle National Young Paraders Final at the Royal Queensland Show last week.
Julia Paulger, Kenilworth was named runner-up.
The prize for winning the Victorian State final last year at the Royal Melbourne Show was a paid trip to compete at this year’s national final which happened to be in Queensland.
The event also included the National Young Judges Final where Robert Walmsley, Murray Bridge, South Australia claimed the champion’s sash.
Queensland’s Simon Tognola, Mareeba was named runner-up.
The judge for both the parading and judging was Rod Verrall, Braeburn Jersey, Gowrie Junction.
Run by the Queensland Chamber of Agricultural Society (QCAS), the competition is held across four levels – local agricultural show, sub-chamber, State and National finals for young people aged 15 to under 25 years.
Kayla has been involved with junior judging since she was eight.
She has since clocked up a decade of junior parading, while also establishing her own 27-head dairy stud, Missy Moo Holsteins.
Although well-versed in handling cattle, she said the national finals were another level again.
“The Nationals are different. You don’t get to choose your heifer, you just take one out of a hat. It’s a lot more serious,” she said.
Kayla’s mum was on hand to see her win, as well as her grandparents from New Zealand.
With a Certificate II and III in agriculture already under her belt, not surprisingly, there is probably milk involved in Kayla’s future.
“I’m not sure what I want to do yet, there are so many options within the industry,” she said.
While overly positive about her own agricultural prospects, Kayla said high school students needed to be given a better insight into agriculture to help them understand the job opportunities within it.
“They just don’t know the options out there,” she said.
