With preparations well under way before the holiday season hit, Scott laughed and said they don’t get to celebrate Christmas in July either because that’s Winter Fair time and they are busy with cattle then, too.
Scott comes from a dairying background and used to work alongside the Blue Chip Genetics team.
“I have been involved with cows ever since I could walk,” he said.
“I came to northern Victoria from NSW 17 years ago and I get a real thrill out of managing good cows and setting them up for the show ring.”
The couple purchased a 32ha farm at Tallygaroopna four years ago, which has allowed them to manage their own stock and elite cattle for their clients.
“We were on the lookout for a specialised stud stock farm and we now have a facility which includes a show barn and plenty of shedding,” Scott said.
In the lead-up to IDW the days are long, starting with an early alarm at 3.30am and finishing at 10pm (the couple also manages a 600-cow herd at Invergordon).
They are back and forth as they tend to the show cows and the commercial herd.
The show cows come to Eastview Holsteins eight to 10 weeks prior to IDW to give them plenty of time to settle in and get on with the business of being appropriately fed and groomed.
They are housed in a show barn, in a set-up similar to the sheds at IDW in Tatura, with a milk line running through the centre and cows milked off a bucket.
It is a system that works well.
“The cows are in show mode from the moment they get here,” Scott said.
Every animal is treated individually and fed according to their own diet.
This year the IDW show team consists of 40 head — 20 in-milk cows and 20 heifers, from stud farms across northern Victoria and the Western District.
The couple is also preparing 10 of its own cows within the 2024 team.
“We have Jersey, Brown Swiss, Illawarra, Red and Whites and Holsteins in our elite team this year, which means we will have a busy program showing cattle every single day of the event.”
Scott has been attending IDW for years and he said he loved it for the camaraderie, networking, catching up and, of course, the showing.
“I get such a huge thrill out of managing and preparing good cattle — there is nothing quite like it.”
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