At this year's Sydney Royal Easter Show, Canowindra's Dr Ellen Downes has claimed the Best maintained Illawarra team, over five head award, an achievement she calls a team effort.
Dr Downes said this is award recognises the ongoing hard work of the whole team, which includes her children and cousin's daughter.
"It's a team effort to take cattle and that means everybody has to have the team looking good all day," she said.
This award is based on how well presented the cattle team is throughout the Sydney Royal, which includes everything from the cattle, the bedding, the display and how the team engage with the public. “Ellwater Illawarras” have won this category for the last eight years.
"Those awards reflect the contribution of everybody involved and that's what make that award special," Dr Downes said.
"The best maintained teams reflect the effort of all of the people in your team looking after and presenting those animals to the general public."
Dr Downes said whilst at the Show exhibitors are representatives of the industry, as well as representatives of their respective breed and studs.
Dr Downes said she is the third generation of her family to show dairy cattle at Sydney Show and has had a long association with the Show movement. Whilst she has been showing cattle at the Sydney Royal most of her life she has exhibited her own stud “Ellwater Illawarras” for the last eight years at Sydney Royal.
Along with being an exhibitor, Dr Downes also serves as a Councillor on the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW including positions on the Cattle Committee and Youth Affairs Committee.
Within her role on the cattle committee, Dr Downes introduced two novelty competitions within the dairy cattle section at the Sydney Royal last year; the calf dress-up competition and a celebrity hand milking competition.
"These are novelty competitions in contrast the serious part of cattle judging but they are opportunities to engage the general public and our very young cattle exhibitors.
Ms Downes said there are serious competitions for youth at the Show which include cattle junior judging, junior parading and youth challenges.
The dairy cattle section, in particular, is a very family orientated part of the Show, Dr Downes said, with a lot of exhibitors including their children in the preparation and engagement at the Show.
"We wanted to have something really fun for the younger children, because there is a lot of work involved in exhibiting at the Show” she said.
"So the chance to bring their cow which they have had to prepare at home, dress up themselves and their heifer up and compete at Sydney Show, the kids love that."
This year there were 22 entrants in the calf dress up competition which was judged by a celebrity TV journalist.
Dr Downes said this competition also allows the children to have a chance to show off what they learned, but in a less serious part of the competition.
Dr Downes said there are some really fundamental parts of the Show movement, even at the local level, that have an impact on people. These include the ability to bring the community together, promote the excellence of local communities and agriculture in each region.
Dr Downes said the skills you learn from participating at a show are skills people can carry through with them into the future in many endeavours.
Dr Downes said there are many opportunities to get involved in the local show or Sydney Royal Show across many different areas, and interested people only need to ask to find out what these opportunities are.