North Canterbury News: October 14, 2021

NEWS
North Canterbury News, October 14, 2021
27
Leading the way ... Georgia Rhodes (left) and Hillary Cooper lead some Lowline cattle at
apast Rangiora Show.
PHOTO: FILE
Competitions in bubbles
By DAVID HILL
Cattlewill be back at the Rangiora
Showgrounds next week.
While the Rangiora Show has been
cancelled, cattle, alpaca and donkey
competitions will be held with no public
present due to Covid­19 AlertLevel 2
restrictionsonSaturday,October 23.
The cattlecompetition will also include
the junior handling and judging
competitions, convenor Phil Worthington
says.
The three sections will be separated
into three separate bubbles, with only
listed exhibitors,officials and supporters
able to enter the showgrounds.
Mr Worthington says 24 Hereford and
lowline cattle have been entered,along
with 14 youngpeople in the junior
herdspersoncompetition.
Youngcattle handlers willbetravelling
from Ashburton, Lincoln and Oxford to
compete againstmembers of the Rangiora
High School cattle show team.
They willbeput through their paces by
judgeAmy Hoogenboom, who will provide
atutorialfor the young handlers once
judging has been completed.
‘‘It’s disappointingnot to have afull
show,but it looksasthough we will have
to do avirtual competition at Canterbury
and there will be no handling
competition,’’ Mr Worthington says.
‘‘So we are thrilled we can offer
something for our young people.’’
Whilemodern technology offered new
opportunities, it was not the same as
beingable to judge an animal up close, he
says.
‘‘Technology means we can do afew
more things, but the thing is with aphoto
or avideothe judge can’tsee the animal
up close, so you can’t tell if acow is pigeon
toed.
‘‘And the skills of handling will wane
over time if we can’t offer opportunities
like this for our young people.’’
Keeping it Scottish ... Marshall Stokes (then 15), of Oxford, leads his 4­year­old
Galloway bull at Canterbury Agricultural Park last year.
PHOTO: FILE
Show week to be revised
By DAVIDHILL
The show must go on, but without the
public.
Whilethe New ZealandAgricultural
Show has officially beencancelled for
the second year in arow, Canterbury
A&P Association presidentChris Harris
says individualsectioncommitteesare
considering holding theirown
competitions similartolastyear.
Mr Harris says it was disappointing to
cancel the showfor the secondyear
running, but ‘‘itcan’t really be helped’’.
‘‘Ourpulling out doeseffect anumber
of businesses and we are very conscious
of that.
‘‘It’s an icon event and everyone wants
it, but there’s just no way we be can
confident of safelyrunning the show.’’
He says the horse section will not be
holding acompetitionthis yeardue to
the size of the competition and the lack of
lead in timetorevisethe event.
But other sections will holdamix of
on­farm competitions and judging at
Canterbury Agricultural Park at Wigram.
‘‘We were lucky enoughtodoitunder
Level 1last year, but it will be more
challengingunder Level2toseparate
people,’’ Mr Harrissays.
‘‘Some of the eventswill be judgedon
farm, so it’s alot easierwhen you know
who’s coming.’’
Some of the judging will be filmed and
available online,hesays.
‘‘It means the show will still exist in
some form. It’s one of thethingsthe
sections are working out, how they will
be able to do it.’’
Alert Level 2restrictions mean that
none of the social events people looked
forwardtowill be held and it is unlikely
exhibitors willbetravelling fromother
parts of the country,MrHarris says.
‘‘Hopefully we will only have to wait
for another year untilwecan do it again.’’
Depending on vaccination rates and
government regulations,MrHarris
suspects if the showdoes go ahead in
2022, vaccination certificatesmay be
required for entry to the show.
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