Debbie Lee was a wide-eyed first grader when she started showing Jersey cattle at the Calgary Stampede Dairy Classic.
She was Debbie Longeway then and went on to become Alberta dairy princess in 1973.
Today, as chair of the Stampede dairy committee, she continues to promote the event that has exhibited cattle in Calgary for 125 years.
However, as she and her daughter, Danielle, combed through the Stampede archives and local newspapers, they struggled to find a full history of the event.
They are keen to find more pictures and stories that families may have stored away without realizing their value.
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“Maybe we can find some of these in Grandma’s scrapbook,” said Lee.
They need help identifying old pictures and adding more news clippings and memorabilia to the collection.
Their research uncovered a time when all cattle were horned and men dominated the event. Bulls, cows and heifers were shown.
The first show was held Oct. 19-20, 1886, as part of a larger farm event attended by 500 people.
“Cows for milking purposes” vied for $10 in prize money at that first show. Homemade cheese and butter classes called for entries of not less than 20 pounds of cheese and 10 or 15 lb. of butter. The entry fee was 50 cents and first prize was $6.
The fair was attracting 100,000 visitors by 1913, and in 1923 it evolved into the Calgary Stampede. Guernsey, Ayrshire, Jersey and Holstein were shown.
The dairy show recently became a large spring event that attracts exhibitors from across Western Canada.
The show has modernized.
Women are now equal partners on the farms and at the shows, a large junior component is featured, judging clinics are offered and red and white Holsteins have taken their place in the show lineups.
The next step was to join Facebook and Twitter and produce a webcast of the show.
“Hopefully in the future, with the webcast, we can get the show around the world,” said Lee.
Calgary area veterinarian Gordon Atkins said the show exemplifies the growth and changes within the Canadian dairy industry.
Cows produce more milk for an average of 33 to 34 kilograms per day, which is double what it was 50 years ago.
That dedication to high production means more attention must be paid to the conformation and care of dairy cows to make sure there are many years of production ahead.
“The advancement in milk production has probably exceeded the advancement in conformation improvement,” Atkins said.
“At this show, we see the tip of the iceberg as far as outstanding conformation cows go, but we still can’t get the average age of our cows in the commercial end up to the fourth lactation,” he said.
A cow’s most productive period is during the fourth lactation.
“We can’t get them to the third lactation, so we need to still have more improvement in the genetics of good conformation and in the management factors like building design to maximize cow comfort, milking equipment to minimize mastitis to help along with the genetic to make the cows last longer.”
Many of the improvements came from a willingness to adopt new technology.
Artificial insemination using semen from top ranking bulls was introduced in the late 1950s, but producers had to use fresh semen in the early days because the freezing technology had not yet been introduced.
Embryo transfers started in the early 1970s and is common practice now. At this show, three females from one cow showed in a single class.
The science of genomics is well adopted among dairy producers, and Atkins predicts genetic content of animals will soon be evaluated better than ever by examining the DNA of every individual.
“The dairy industry is leading the way as far as practical application of the technology,” he said.
This year’s Stampede Dairy Classic was held March 25-26.
Jersey
•Grand and reserve champions: Lone Pine Jerseys, Didsbury, Alta.
Holsteins
•Red and white champion: Tom De Waal and Continental Holsteins, Leduc, Alta.
•Grand champion: Wendon Holsteins, Innisfail, Alta.
