Shane Railton was born into farming, growing up just outside of Tongala and only a few kilometres from the town’s famous — now closed — Nestle Factory.
It’s any wonder his entire family was involved in the International Dairy Week event at Tatura Park during the week.
Shane, wife Jenny, and children Tahlia and Aisha, all had a role to play as the family’s Belrue Farms Holstein stock was involved in the renowned dairy event.
Their stud is on Looker Rd just outside Echuca and they had 12 cows turned out in pristine condition in a variety of classes.
Not only were the cows involved in competition, but the Railton girls were also part of the youth show.
Shelby, one of the 12 cows on show, ended up being judged the winner of the winter yearling class.
Belrue Farms had another winner in the open Holstein show and several placings in the remaining classes.
“We had five cows being judged today (Wednesday) and five on Thursday,” Shane said.
“We are in the spring yearling, autumn calf and winter yearling classes,” he said.
The Railtons’ 120-acre property is about to enter an exciting new phase with the installation of a robotic dairy.
“At the moment we are only milking a handful of cows, but within the next month to six weeks we will have the new dairy.
Award-winner Shelby was born in April.
The Railtons have a long history with the dairy week event, having purchased their first dairy cow at the event in 2017.
Shane is an electrician by trade and during business hours is the operations manager of the Picola football league.
It was 32 years ago that Shane first attended the dairy week event, when he was working for the McPhee family on its Finley property.