It was a celebration of the long-standing tradition of agricultural showmanship — and the unique character of Dal's Agricultural Campus.
“We’re outstanding in our field” was the theme for this year’s College Royal celebrations held this past Friday, October 18.
Hundreds of students had the afternoon off from classroom activities to participate in the event, one of the largest to date. The event is a testament to generations of students dedicated to maintaining the culture of animal husbandry and health, while continuing to improve public awareness of agricultural issues.
Demonstrations include livestock handling skills, knowledge of agricultural plants and the ever popular Farmers' Olympics, which is a myriad of events relating to "good ol' life on the farm" – think hay-bale rolling, feed-sack racing and, of course, the famous milk chug.
College Royal also includes the ever-popular Faculty and Staff class. Dean David Gray earned a seventh-place brown ribbon for his efforts in the faculty class.
Show day is definitely the heart of the event — a tradition for students as old as the campus itself. Pre-show preparations included clipping, grooming, washing, brushing, trimming and powdering.
Students participate in showmanship classes such as Novice and Experienced Dairy, Novice and Experienced Sheep and Open Poultry. Faculty and staff also participated in the same classes in their own category.
Judges look for the best showman in each class. The individual who best presents his or her animal, has the most control and appears the most comfortable wins the class.
The livestock show was the biggest on record, with 137 students and 13 staff participating. Credit for the success is due in no small part to College Royal co-chairs Leigha Sandwith and Rob Beckwith and their entire team of volunteers.
College Royal results
Novice Poultry Grand Champion - Kaitlin Mc Donnell
Novice Sheep Grand Champion - Jakob Vogel
Experienced Sheep Grand Champion - Emily Sutherland
Overall Grand Champion Sheep - Andrea Hamilton
Novice Dairy Grand Champion - Wyatt Oulton
Experienced Dairy Grand Champion - Andrew Greene
Overall Grand Champion Dairy - Wyatt Oulton
Staff Sheep Grand Champion - Holly Hines
Staff Dairy Grand Champion - Marla MacKay