Taranaki wows at Holstein Friesian Centennial | Taranaki News | Local News in Taranaki

NINE-YEAR-OLD Tiana Davison, formerly of Waitara, now of Kaponga, wowed an audience of 250 people when she spoke at the Centennial celebrations of the New Zealand Holstein Friesian Association in Palmerston North last month.
Tiana and five other members of the association from around New Zealand, with Tiana being the youngest by far, spoke of their involvement with the organisation.
Tiana said, “I have been involved in the Holstein Friesian Association for nearly my whole life, firstly under my parents and then in early 2009 I established my own stud, Montana Holsteins. I currently have four animals registered under my own stud, but often try to convince mum and dad that I have a wee share in their cows.”
“During my time in the breed I have seen and heard of many changes as the association has moved into the 21st century. The two most notable changes in recent times for me would be that the registrations are no longer manually processed with photos; today they are electronically processed via computer, and secondly would be the renaming of the association to Holstein Friesian New Zealand and also with the logo being re-stylised.” 
“I would just like to share a few of my achievements with you during my time in the association. In 2008 I won the young handlers class at the Easter Royal Show and was also selected to lead in the Holstein Friesian Team in the Royal Easter Show Inter Breed team, in which we won. 
“I had been attending the Royal show since I was five years old and had told my mum that one day I wanted to win that title, so as a seven-year-old to win it was massive. 
“The other achievement I had was winning the 2009 North Island Junior Handler at the North Island Championships in Stratford; this for me was another huge feat as I was competing against youth members who were a lot older than me. 
“I have been very lucky to be the recipient of the Arapeta Trophy both in 2007 and 2009, and all in all I think I have achieved a fair amount in my short time with the association and I hope to keep building on these.”
Tiana congratulated Holstein Friesian New Zealand on achieving 100 years.
Other members from Taranaki also had their chance in the spotlight the same day when a number of annual awards were presented.
Dwayne Taylor of Waitara won a trip to Victoria, Australia, to attend an All Breeds Youth Camp early next year. This camp is a very popular in Australia and is often used as a stepping stone for people to attend the International Dairy Week held shortly afterward.
Brian Hughes of Barlee Holstein Friesian stud, Hawera, won the Merial Ancare Progeny Competition with a team of young daughters by the well known sire, Aurora Donor Favour. This award is judged based on the conformation and production of the cows.
Wayne & Leeanne Taylor of Waitara won the Valden Trophy, awarded to the cow that has demonstrated profitable production and is expected to breed efficient profitable offspring, with their 13-year-old cow Muritai Dalton Wattle VG87 who has bred many daughters and sons for the dairy industry. Wayne & Leeanne also won the Nutritech Performance Awards for the Taranaki region, awarded to herds with the highest earning herd average based on the Fonterra Milk Payment system of A (Fat) + B (Protein) – C (Volume adjustment) for the 2008/09 season. The Muritai herd of 230 cows averaged $2,113.71 per cow for that season.
The next day was the Annual General Meeting of Holstein Friesian New Zealand after which Wayne Taylor was voted in as President.