THE potential future farmers of the Manning Valley were shown the finer points of the dairy industry this week.
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Wingham Rotary in conjunction with the Dairy Advancement Group hosted a Rotary Youth In Agriculture (RYAG) dairying camp over four days at the Wingham Showgrounds.
The workshop gave the students a glimpse into what life as a dairy farmer holds.
The unique insight into the dairy industry involved activities such as hands-on milking at recognised dairies, artificial insemination and showing.
Wingham's Hayley Brood was one of those who immersed themselves in the world of dairy during their school holidays
The 16 year old finished overall champion for parading, putting to good use what she had learnt this week.
"We learnt how to judge and I've never lead dairy cattle and they taught me how to do it," she said.
"I've judged before but only beef, and I learnt there's differences.
"With dairy you have to look at the structure of their legs because they have to walk a long way and you also have to look at the hip to pin and the width and depth of the body."
Hayley said her knowledge gained during the camp was put to the test.
"Throughout the week we have a heifer assigned to us and we have a chance to show what we've done," she said.
"We judged all the heifers, and with the top three we had a chance to present why we picked them."
Camp team leader Emma Polson said the four days covered the many aspects of dairy farming.
"We showed them a lot, from parading to judging, and all seeing it in a farm setting," she said.
"They also got a chance to go out and milk individually and they learnt the finer points of showing.
"It was really about getting them to learn about the benefits of the dairy industry."
Fellow team leader Abby McMillan said the camp helped to foster the potential future farmers of the region.
"The future of agriculture is looking good in the Manning Valley with dairy, and with the help of RYAG kids are becoming more interested in entering the dairy industry."