News

From Saturday's Truro Daily News:

A thunderous round of applause startled an already nervous Holstein held by equally apprehensive hands.

That moment, Dr. David Gray, dean of Dalhousie Agricultural Campus, breathed a deep sigh of relief after completing his first attempt in a show ring at College Royal, a celebration of agriculture held annually at the university.

“It’s a lot more hard work than I had expected,” Gray said, following the award presentations where he earned a seventh-place, brown ribbon for his efforts against other faculty members.

Being up close and personal with bovines is not a “natural” activity for him so, during recent weeks, Gray had been coached by a team of three students with showmanship experience to prepare for his big day in the spotlight.

 “They’ve been showing me the ropes,” he said.

Hundreds of university students took the afternoon off classroom tasks to participate in the event.

Jen Bent, a fourth-year university student, was ringside with her sheep Cherice.

Bent grew up on a dairy farm and chose to show a sheep for the first time at this year’s event to gain new experience.

“I’ve shown dairy in 4-H for many years and wanted to try something different,” she said.

Read the rest of this article at the Truro Daily News website.