AAM Veld Heifer Competition

On Monday 29 May, the Royal Agricultural Society will be hosting the AAM Veld Heifer Competition, sponsored by AAM Cattle Agents and Auctioneers, at the Royal Show 2023.

For this competition, cattle are brought directly from their veld camps for judging, and then returned immediately. They are not halter-trained, and are not conditioned for showing, making the Heifer Competition very different from the other cattle competitions at the Royal Show.

You could say that these heifers are natural beauties, being judged without the benefit of hours in the beauty parlour or etiquette training! Accordingly, the gallery of pictures here shows a number of gorgeous heifers in their natural environment, submitted by last year's Heifer Competition winner, Ian Cameron, and by Duncan Watson.

The competition is for all heifer types (composites, purebreeds and crossbreeds), and the judges will be looking for femininity, form and function. The AAM Veld Heifer Competition will be judged by renowned cow feminists Barry Symons and Rowan van Aart.

The classes are:

• 3 in-calf heifers

• 3 open replacement heifers

• 3 weaner heifers (weaned 2023).

The champions of these three classes will compete for the honour of being crowned the RAS and AAM Best Heifers in Natal, and for a cash prize.

This competition is a great opportunity to display and promote beautiful heifers, especially those whose breed does not usually get exposure at shows.

The heifers will arrive on Sunday night or Monday morning early (before 9am). The competition starts at 10am on Monday 29 May.