HEARING foreign accents around the cattle sheds at the Sydney Royal Show is no surprise, however this year it marked the return of international helpers.
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See subscription optionsFor many years cattle exhibitors of Royal shows across the country were employing skilled workers from overseas to help present their prized entries, but then COVID-19 hit and flights were halted. It has been three years since many internationals have made the trek to Australia.
This year four Canadians took part, two of which included Shelby Bygrove and Ken Hayes who were members of the Pine Creek Angus team which won the Urquhart and Hordern Perpetual Trophies, and the interbreed breeder's group.
Arriving the week of the show, Kailey Brandl of Brandl Cattle Co, Jarvie, Alberta, leant a helping hand to Tattykeel Angus, Oberon.
Raised on a purebred black and Red Angus operation which consists of around 120 cows and annually markets about 50 bulls in their on-farm sale in March, Miss Brandl said she was drawn to Australia to gain experience, see new things and see how different things were.
For the second generation beef producer, this included the school's involvement in agriculture and the varying breed numbers.
"Some breeds here have bigger numbers than we would see in Canada (or vice versa)," she said. "It's also cool to see how the schools are all about ag.
"It is nice to meet new people, make friends. I can't wait to be back."
Also from Alberta was Trinity Martin, Stettler, who arrived in Australia early February and attended the Royal Canberra Show with Pine Creek Angus before joining the Goondoola Livestock team at Cargo.
"It has always been my dream to come to Australia," Miss Martin said. "To gain new experiences, be in the warmer weather and I wanted to get a whole new look at the industry."
For her the highlights were getting to go to different shows - which also included Blayney Show - working with the cattle and seeing how different people worked. She also won senior champion parader in the Simmental Youth Competition.
"The atmosphere and expectations are different," she said. "I will absolutely come back."
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