Mario Park Sid Alicia Ex-92-2 received the Balanced Performance Index (BPI) Highest Female Award, as well as coming third in the six year old class.

Of all the females entered in the fair, Sid Alicia had the top BPI of 334 calculated by DataGene in the April 2018 genetic evaluations.

According to DataGene, Sid Alicia is well above the Holstein breed average, putting her in the top 1 per cent of Australian herd recorded Holstein cows based on genetic merit for profit. She is also among the best in the country for health and type with an HWI of 231 and TWI of 301.

Murray said his family started breeding Holsteins in 2005 after importing embryos from Canada.

This isn’t the first time the Polson’s cows have received praise at a cattle show, Sid Alicia’s mother had previously been a finalist for Holstein Australia’s Cow of the Year.

“We’ve had a good showing of cattle over the years,” he said.

DataGene’s Dr Matt Shaffer said Sid Alicia was the sort of cow many Australian dairy farmers aspired to breed.

“Most dairy farmers want to breed cows that will have long, productive lives in their herd. To do this they need a combination of traits for profitable production and strong conformation and the genes to produce the next generation of great cows,” Matt said.

Sid Alicia wasn’t the only Polson cow to take out awards at the fair; Mario Park Atwood Midas was named Reserve Champion in the intermediate section, while eight-year-old Lochie Polson’s Mario Park Solomon Midas won the Supreme Junior Champion title.

Murray explained how taking their cows to shows like the Victorian Winter Fair is all part of marketing their breed to secure future buyers.

Although the drought that is affecting large parts of western New South Wales isn’t impacting the Polson’s farm at this stage, he said access to future feed may be a problem.

“Out west is where the feed comes from and it’s too dry to grow any,” Murray said.

“We’re a lot better off here than others,” he said.

Although other factors that affect dairy farmers like Murray, are the increasing cost of producing milk, the cost of fuel, fertiliser, rates, water and power all get higher, continuing to expanded further away from the price the farmer gets from selling the milk.

“In a good season, we can grow enough fodder to cover the drier times, which makes it easier to manage the low price of milk,” he explained.

But in a bad season, like the other farmers in the State are facing, he said it can be difficult to cover costs. 

The affects of drought is something that is noticeable at shows like the Victorian Winter Fair, held in Bendigo on July 4 and 5.

Murray said the Polson’s were the only ones attending from NSW.

The Balanced Performance Index (BPI) Highest Female Award was presented by DataGene in collaboration with Holstein Australia and the Winter Fair Committee.