Sherraine Holsteins, Belbrook Holsteins and Cresslands all picked up top-three placings in the "on farm" and photo awards.
Ninety herds of Holstein Friesians numbering over 730 cows were shortlisted at a regional level in February, then re-judged recently to select the best nationally.
Belbrook won champion and reserve champion for 3-year-old cows, and all New Zealand junior cow, plus second places in the 2-year-olds, mature cow and veteran-cow classes.
Sherraine won the champion all NZ senior cow, while Cresslands took out the champion 5-year-old cow.
Belbrook Holsteins, at Cust, is owned by Robbie, John and Emily Wakelin, who are fifth-generation dairy farmers.
Robbie said their father Trevor started breeding Holsteins in the early 1960s in Spencerville, before the family moved to Cust 13 years ago.
"Dad said a bloke he went to school with had Holsteins, and he liked them, so we started breeding them. When John and I took over the farm we just carried on and they are all I have known."
He says his favourite part of dairy farming is the breeding.
"I love trying to get the next generation better than the previous.
"Dad did an amazing job of building up the foundation herd, and we are just as focused on maintaining the highest quality of the breed."
"It’s the attention to detail we follow. We individually select the right bull for the right cow, and also work with embryos as well."
The brothers farm 350 Holstein Friesians at peak milk. Among the Holstein Friesians are 12 Jerseys which Robbie said he bought on a whim one day.
"I liked the one I saw at an auction so I bought it. It went on to win as well at the Canterbury Show.
"Now I have 12 as a little breeding hobby mob for me."
Robbie said the breeding community in North Canterbury was very supportive of each other.
"The mature cow we got reserve champion with this year was bought off Sherraine as an in-calf heifer, and the veteran cow we got reserve with goes back to a cow we got from Cresslands three generations back.”
Olivia Cahill, a fourth generation dairy farmer at Sherraine Holsteins, said she was thrilled to win the "all NZ senior cow" award.
"We have always had pedigree Holstein Friesians on the farm at Ohoka, which Dad, Peter Sherriff, started 31 years ago when he moved the herd up from South Canterbury. Our winner won at the Canterbury Show last year and we had her photographed and then submitted into the competition."
At Cresslands, Graham Stewart and his son Andrew continue the work Graham’s father Gordon started in the late 1950s.
"Dad was looking for a cow which would be able to milk during the winter to maintain town supply, and the Holstein Friesians were the best around. We continue to breed these pedigree cows today, concentrating on their functionality with good udders and capacity."
john.cosgrove@alliedpress.co.nz
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