Ayrshire cow named supreme champion dairy female for first time since 1987
An Ayrshire cow who was sold and bought back by the same stud has taken home the supreme champion dairy female ribbon at the Sydney Royal.
The judging was neck and neck between the Jersey and the Ayrshire, but Sorella Gin and Tonic was named the winner by a two-point margin.
Killarney Grove Genetics owner Patrick Buckley, Camden, wept as the cow was sashed, at no fault of the rain which closed out the interbreed.
It was the first time an Ayrshire cow was proclaimed the supreme champion since 1987.
Sorella Gin and Tonic was a daughter of celebrated American dairy bull Palmyra Tri-Star Burdette, who reigned as the Premier Ayrshire Sire at the World Dairy Expo for six consecutive years.
Her mother, Woodburn Park Ginny, was also back-to-back reserve senior champion cow at Sydney in 2015 and 2016.
Sorella Gin and Tonic was one of several embryos sold to Emma Luddington, before Mr Buckley had the opportunity to purchase back her and a sister three years ago.
The cow was also named Ayrshire senior female champion in 2024 just two weeks after calving, but Mr Buckley said this year they had managed to double that turnaround.
"When she calved she just really developed, especially through the midsection, through the middle, bodied down a lot more, and just her udder seemed to really develop as well," he said.
"I would have been more than happy if she had finished second - traditionally it's sort of the Jerseys and the Holsteins that get it."
Mr Buckley has Jersey and Holstein cattle as well, but was hoping to invest more in the stud's Ayrshire stock.
"It sort of shows that they can sort of match it with those more popular breeds," he said.
Impression Kid Rock Bad Reputation, a Jersey heifer by Mr Kathies Kid Rock out of Stoney Point Grand Bea, took home the supreme junior champion dairy female.
It was almost a unanimous decision by the judges, with Brown Swiss judge Niel Van Rensberg describing her as the "most dairy in the class".
Mitch Fleming, Impression, Newry, Vic, said the heifer was the result of embryos his wife Lyndsay purchased for him as a 30th birthday present.
"The camaraderie of this side of the industry and the friendships is very important to us," he said.
"When you do well and you get to share that with people, that's sort of what it's all about for us."
The judges were in total agreement on the supreme intermediate dairy female, handing the champion ribbon to Froglands Viral Rory, a Jersey in milk, by Bushlea PN Viral -ET out of Bluechip Galaxies Rory.
The cow was commended for her cleanness and her "sweep and angle of rib".
A Holstein team recovered the top spot for three females, any age from the reigning Jerseys for the first time since 2017, with Duncan and Danielle Chesworth, Dubbo, claiming the ribbon.
Jersey judge Andrew Vander Meulen, Ontario, Canada, said the team of three had "tremendous mammary systems" and praised them for their uniformity.
