A 72 hour truck trip from the Crest family farm at Athabasca, Alta., to Toronto paid off for two teenagers at this year’s Royal Agricultural Winter Fair.
Katelyn Crest, 16, was first in her class for showmanship among 127 entries in the Nov. 7 4-H Canadian classic junior dairy show and was then crowned honourable mention grand champion showman.
She was the only participant from Alberta.
Her brother, 19-year-old Chad Crest, led out his black and white heifer at the Nov. 11 open Holstein show and won the summer yearling class. He was also awarded best bred and owned honours.
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There were more than 320 head from Canada and the United States in the show.
The teens were among the shrinking number of westerners at the show, which is dominated by Ontario and Quebec herds.
“It is an honour to win,” said the siblings’ mother, Sue Crest.
“You don’t do it for the money. You do it for the prestige.”
A red ribbon from this show also places Chad’s female in the race as an All Canadian 4-H calf.
Wins are included in the female’s pedigree and add to the cow’s value.
The young female is a 4-H project that Chad has shown across Western Canada in open Holstein events. His best win was a reserve junior championship at the Red Deer Westerner Dairy Classic in October.
The 4-H classic junior dairy show has been running for 31 years. This year, 360 of Canada’s top dairy youth from 51 teams in seven Canadian provinces participated.
