Kruger wins Feedmaster national cattle judging competition
Elandri Kruger won the Bank Windhoek Feedmaster National Cattle Judging Competition hosted at the Windhoek Agricultural and Industrial Show on Monday, 27 September 2021.
Karlien van Der Merwe and Utja Kaapuma scooped the second and third prizes, respectively.
Representing Windhoek Gymnasium Private School, Gobabis Gymnasium Private School and Karstveld Academy Grootfontein High School, the three teenagers were awarded N$30 000, N$20 000 and N$10 000 in prize money. The prize money will go to their school fees and any other educational expenses. In collaboration with Feedmaster, Bank Windhoek will distribute the money to the schools.
In its third year, the nationwide Youth Cattle Judging Course and Competition is a collaboration between Bank Windhoek and Feedmaster.
The initiative aims to provide school learners between grades 9 and 11 with the skills and knowledge on how to feed and judge stud animals on the farm and show rings, specifically focussed on the Simbrah and Simmentaler cattle breeds.
With emphasis placed on the Brahman this year, Feedmaster, Namibia’s leading farm animal feed producer started facilitating its nationwide training sessions in April 2021.
The competition attracted 18 schools countrywide, with 82participants. The selection process involves introducing the course to participating schools in their respective regions. All candidates attended a prejudging course before competing in the judging competition.
The judging course mainly comprises the cattle’s basic anatomy and composition, rules of show associations, the role of the show stewards, feed management of show animals, and the preparation and taming of animals for show purposes. However, training was impacted by the COVID-19 lockdowns and was cancelled before completing its second training phase.
“We had to draw our final 22 learners based on the first training results,” said the Programme’s Leader, Christo van Zyl.
Bank Windhoek’s Head of Corporate Social Investment, Sponsorship, and Events, Bronwyn Moody said the competition is a step in the right direction since it teaches learners techniques, processes, and general knowledge about cattle farming.
Winner of the 2021 Bank Windhoek Youth Cattle Judging Competition, Elandri Kruger.
