A REALLY fun spectator sport at Beaudesert Show involves an element most people are familiar with.
In fact, many have it each morning at breakfast and that’s milk.
Dairy Cattle steward Laurie Dunne is in charge of a competition to see which cow produces the most milk over a 24 hour period.
“The Beaudesert Show has what is called a hand-held milking competition and it is one of the few shows that still have it,” Mr Dunne said.
“It is the first event we hold on the Thursday because it’s to see how much milk a cow can give over 24 hours.
“We have good entries in this year, so there will be lots to see.”
He said the milking competition was a tradition at the Beaudesert Show and had likely been part of it since the show’s inception.
“The cows get here on the Wednesday and that evening at six o’clock we do a milk out, so all cows are emptied so they can go on the
timer until the following morning,” he explained.
“The next morning at 6am we do the first milking and record the amount of milk the cows give.
“We also record the amount of butter, fat and protein.”
When 6pm rolls around they are milked again and the same happens at 6am Friday to complete a 24 hour period.
“All the scores recorded are added together and we hand out prizes for those who’ve given the most quantity of milk as well as the highest amount of butter, fat and protein,” he said.
If a cow gives a lot of milk but doesn’t have high levels of butter, fat or proteins, they are disqualified.
Different breeds of dairy cow produce different levels of butter, fat and proteins in their milk.
“It is interesting to see when the scores are all balanced out what it comes down to in terms of kilos of butter, fat and proteins a cow produces over the course of a day,” he said.
The milking is not done by hand, instead a portable machine is used.
“A single milker machine is used, you can milk by hand of course if you wanted to, it’s quite legal, but most of the milking is done using a machine attached to the cow’s udders,” he said.
“This year we have over 15 head entered, so that’s great.
“And it’s always good from the spectator side to see what dairy cows can produce.”