February / March 2010 - Australian Jersey Breeders Society

ice cream and the beach! I was thrilled
when my host family offered me the
experience to see Niagara Falls.
We went on the Maid of the
Mist cruise up to the falls and
also visited the Hershey’s
Store and MarineLand!
August 2 I returned to
Alberta where I was
hosted by Markus
Hehli and his fiancée
Amanda. I met Markus
when he first travelled
to Australia in January
2007 on the Semex
Youth Exchange.
Returning every
January since, Markus
and I have kept in touch
and this opened up to me
some great experiences
in Canada. Markus and
Amanda operate Mosnang
Farms, a predominately Holstein
herd (with a few jerseys) with
Markus’ parents. We took a select
team of Holsteins and two jerseys to Olds Fair
in August, where I had the honour of leading the
Mosnang superstar, Bramville Golden Boy Zippy, to
Champion Jersey. Markus and Amanda also took me
to West Edmonton Mall, the biggest shopping centre
in the world. What a treat! (And the perfect place to
shop for an outfit to wear to Markus and Amanda’s
upcoming wedding!) I then returned to the Haeni’s
at Lone Pine Jerseys where the weather was perfect
for numerous campfire dinners. I also spent a day with
the local Vet and swimming in the Red Deer River at
Dry Island Buffalo Jump! Then it was time for me and
two of my four host brothers (aged 9, 11, 13 & 15)
to prepare for the 25th annual Western Canadian
Classic (or WCC), which is an inter-provincial 4H dairy
youth competition run over five days. It includes the
four western Canadian provinces (states), British
Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba,
and a team of up to thirty kids, each with a heifer,
from each province. As the name suggests it is the
biggest event for dairy youth in Western Canada
and the teams start preparation twelve months in
advance to strive for success in the stall, clipping,
dairy science, showmanship, and conformation
categories, and to ultimately come away with
the Premier Province title. Rotating across the four
provinces, this time it was held in Saskatchewan,
in the town of Moose Jaw. One afternoon all the
participants took a break from the competition
and we were treated to the Tunnels of Moose Jaw,
tours of the underground “Passage of Fortune” and
“The Chicago Connection”. I was also fortunate
enough to see the town’s 9.8 metre fibreglass Mac
the Moose - the world’s largest moose! At the end of
the week the awesome Alberta team walked away
with the Premier Province title and I won
the Alumni Showmanship Class!! Just
a few reasons to celebrate at the
banquet and dance on the
final night! After returning to
Alberta, and recovering
at Lone Pine, I met with
Markus and departed
with the Morsan Farms
show team, bound for
the Western American
National Fair at Salem,
Oregon. This was my
first time to The States
and I was excited
about working with
some world-class cattle
and seeing some of the
continent. It took us two
days to get to the show;
what an experience it
was stopping to chore and
crossing the border with cattle.
The trip proved to be worth it
as we celebrated with Premier
Exhibitor and Grand Holstein with
Eastside Lewisdale Gold Missy, the threeyear-old
that was later sold in November at the
Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto for $1.2million!!
Once back in Alberta I returned to Lone Pine again,
and the Haeni’s took me to world-renowned Spruce
Meadows, Calgary, to watch some world-class
equine events. I then travelled to Rimbey to attend
Markus’ and Amanda’s wedding. Congratulations!
What a great night! From there I continued on to
the Morey family of Unique Valleystream Genetics,
Rochester where I had one host brother (14) and
one host sister (16). During my nine days there I
experienced the local “Steak Night”, went to a
rodeo, got a tour of the Athabasca Hutterite Colony,
and visited Skycrest Holsteins and Rietveld Dairies. I
then departed to Saskatchewan where I spent two
short but fun nights with Joanne Edwards of Bramville
Jerseys, Nokomis. Here I did a few chores around the
farm and went to an awesome Keith Urban concert
in the local city of Saskatoon.
September 24 I flew from Saskatchewan, bound
for Madison, Wisconsin for World Dairy Expo. What
a spectacular event!! Here I helped with the
Semex Walk of Fame for two days until the string I
was helping, ButlerView Holsteins, arrived. We had
great success, with the highlight being KY-Blue
Rueben Marla-Red winning Champion Red & White
Holstein. From Madison I travelled back to Canada
with the Lookout Jersey and Holsteins show team.
It was a day and half travelling back to Quebec
where I spent three nights near North Hatley at the
picturesque Lookout farm, where my Aussie mate
Jason Hayes was working. From there I continued
to Rapid Bay Jerseys near Ormstown where I spent
three weeks. During this time I worked a lot with a
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