OLDS, Alta. – The four hour trip from Athabasca, Alta., to Olds was time well spent for Chad Crest and his family.
The goal was to show 11 Holstein females at the Olds Fair, which has grown into one of Alberta’s four top dairy shows. This year about 175 Holsteins and Jerseys were entered.
At the end of the junior show Aug. 8, 17-year-old Crest was the holder of the grand champion banners in the open heifer show and the junior show. He also won top senior showman.
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This is the fourth time Crest has won while competing against his sister Katelyn and large numbers of other young people from across the province who like to show cattle, win cash and renew acquaintances.
“I’ve been going to shows since I was a baby,” he said.
Still in high school, Crest plans to continue farming with his parents, Rob and Sue, when he graduates next year.
Quiet and unassuming, he entered the ring confident in the heifer named Skycrest Dundee Putz from the family’s 66 cow dairy.
“She looked good,” he said.
“We always bring the ones that are looking good.”
Showing is a big part of his life – he also grooms and fits cattle for other producers. It means plenty of homework on the road, which will include a trip to the Royal Winter Fair 4-H show in Toronto where as many as 300 young people compete instead of 20 at a typical local youth show.
Last year he and his cattle performed well at the Royal.
“I got fourth in showmanship and eighth with my calf out of 80 kids, so that was pretty good.”
Working with young people like Crest reminds dairy judge Markus Hehli of his own junior showman days, when he honed his skills in the ring as a performer and a judge.
He started showing at the Olds Fair when he was 15 and regularly won championships, including three $1,000 scholarships.
This was the first time Hehli judged the Olds junior show, where classes can contain as many as 16 heifers, both Holsteins and Jerseys.
Four large dairy shows are held in Alberta: Calgary, Red Deer, Leduc and Olds.
“To win here means something,” said Hehli, who has his own dairy near Rimbey, Alta.
Other winners at the show included Lee Simanton of Ponoka, Alta., who had reserve junior heifer and also stood second to Crest in the senior showmanship division.
