WINNING the Herefords Australia Youth 2015 Ambassador of the Year has capped off an ‘enjoyable journey’ for NSW cattle breeder Helen De Costa.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The 19-year-old from Braidwood was announced as the winner at the Herefords Australia National Youth Heifer Show at Bathurst from July 3-5.
She receives $1000 towards the cost of furthering her agricultural studies.
The three other finalists were Jamie Hollis from Queensland, Emilie Lyons from Victoria, and Toby Linane from NSW.
The win follows on the heels of Helen being named as the recipient of a Royal Agricultural Society of NSW Foundation 2015 Community Futures grant in March.
The grant, up to the value of $25,000, allowed her to partner with the Braidwood Showground Committee to replace the showground’s cattle yards.
Miss De Costa said the upgrade would be completed in time for the Braidwood Show next March, and enable commercial cattle classes to be reinstated.
She was the recipient of the CM Hocking Scholarship through Herefords Australia to help her undertake a Bachelor of Agricultural Science at Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga.
Now into her second year of the degree, Helen is the newly elected president of the Southern Hereford Youth Group.
She has competed at Hereford Youth shows since 2009, and is building a stud herd under the mentoring of Ken and Liz Ikin at Cloverlee Poll Herefords in Bannister near Goulburn.
Miss De Costa has shown cattle at Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra Royals for three Poll Hereford studs.
“I grew up as a ‘half townie-half country’ kid and got interested in breeding cattle after attending a few Hereford Youth workshops and heifer shows,” she said.
“It’s been an enjoyable journey and the Hereford breed has taken me a lot further than I ever imagined. One of the biggest things is the support network within the breed.”
As the Ambassador of the Year, Miss De Costa aims to promote the breed and beef industry to youth and non-members of Herefords Australia.
She believes market opportunities for Herefords lie with the black baldy and in northern Australia to strengthen Bradford genetics.
Miss De Costa said faster finishing times for Hereford cattle meant a quick cash flow for producers.
“We see in the saleyards the demand for Herefords is rising as more commercial breeders are seeing the benefits of the breed,” she said.
“A rapidly growing market for quality and safe beef is the Middle East and some of Australia’s Asian neighbours. Cattle with Hereford content are in good stead to meet this market for years to come.”
Miss De Costa plans to attend local shows and breed bull sales to support the breed and members.
“In doing this I feel I would be giving something back to the mentors and industry that have assisted me to get where I am today,” she said.
“I extend my thanks to Herefords Australia for giving me the opportunity to represent the breed as an Ambassador, and to my family and Cloverlee Poll Herefords for their support.
I also congratulate the other three ambassadors on their efforts.”