Ava Schwebach has a cuddle with Baby, the chocolate brown alpaca from Eden Rise Alpacas. Her mother Samantha Schwebach said dispelling myths about the temperament of alpacas was half of her mission in bringing three ‘great ambassadors’ to the expo, who enjoyed being handled and patted by anyone.
The 2024 Seymour Alternative Farming Expo brought together an enormous range of displays and stalls to delight the crowds over the three-day event.
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Fine weather saw a boom in numbers as visitors flocked to Seymour, with stalwart activities such as camel rides, sheepdog demonstrations and the famous whip-cracking proving the usual hits.
“The numbers were up on last year,” event manager Jo Smiles said.
The event saw a total of 18,000 people at the expo across the weekend, including exhibitors, with the most popular day being Saturday, with 7000 people walking through the gates.
“It’s similar numbers to last year and it’s great to see people coming out to support local businesses and learning about different farming techniques,” Ms Smiles said.
“We were really pleased with everybody at this year’s event, everybody was really kind and it was just a great few days.
“The weather was fabulous, it really turned it on for us — Seymour showed up and it was just a really great event.”
Livestock displays showed their changing face over the year, with either calves now fully grown or a changed direction in breeding plans.
You'd think the wisdom of Harrison Gurnett was well beyond his youthful age. The 13-year-old has twice now changed the direction of his parents' stud, due to a keen eye on what the future may hold.
Harrison Gurnett brought with him several of the Brahmans he breeds with his parents at Gunyado Bazadais & Dohne Stud at Kerang East, and said the breed was a growing development as the stud added to its experience with Bazadais.
“This is only just the start of what we’re getting into, we have 20 more Brahmans coming from a pretty good breeder who’s being doing it for years — we’re going to take it further,” Harrison said.
Harrison has also turned his hand since last year from breeding Shropshire sheep to Dohne Merinos, based on his newly developing expertise of having an eye for the future market.
“There are not enough clients in the Shropshire breeding world but with Dohnes there are much more people in Australia dealing with them.”
And while he plays down his role on the family farm, saying that he “just does all the work”, his parents take heed of this breeding up-and-comer for good reason — he is only 13 years old, but you would not know it when you sit down for a chat about the reality of not counting his calves before they drop.
He knows he’s still in the building stages as he jockeys for market wisdom.
The chicken shed was its usual hit with an early surge of visitors buying up the flock, while alpacas, boutique sheep and miniature goats all grabbed the attention of would-be passers-by.
Lunchtimes saw the two food courts well patronised with the open air hay bale seating making for a leisurely lunch.
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