ADGA National’s Day 2: 7.7.19
Youth Day:
After getting a great lesson from Elianna on Saturday night we watched her and the rest of the hard working youth show Sunday morning. Youth Showmanship started at 8 am with the PeeWee glass and ended around noon with Seniors. Elianna competed in the Intermediate II Showmanship competition and placed a strong 6th in a highly competitive class of 32 other young adults from across the country. CONGRATULATION E on such a fantastic placing, you can see how much your hard work has paid off. You can see full results of the Youth competitions that took place on Sunday on ADGA’s National Show website
We also want to congratulate a few more of our local youth from the Snohomish, WA area: Kayla from Abstract Acres (Boyds Barnyard) placed 2nd in Intermediate II, Katie (Boyds Barnyard) placed 11th in the Senior class and Kaylie Jamieson placed 4th in the Senior class. Well done ladies and to all the youth who participated yesterday, you make our future look so bright!
A little Tourist Action: Faith Hope & Charity Vineyard
After the intense youth competition we headed out for a relaxing wine tasting experience. The area is booming with great vineyards, many, many more have popped up since the last National’s was held in this area so if you enjoy wine and beer it’s well worth a short drive (just 45 mins) S, N, E or W to find some great experiences. I recommend this little gem Faith Hope & Charity if you want to experience the land and the wine this place is nestled in a valley just NE of the fairgrounds and the views do not disappoint, the wine is not too bad either.
A lover of old world wines, I have to admit I haven’t given OR or WA as much opportunity as I should but FH&C surprised me with Italian gem. Often called the “poor mans Barolo” or the “People’s wine” Barbera is one of my favorite go to wines and as wine goes it’s relatively new to the American market. Barbera is an Italian wine that was born in the northern Italian region of Piedmont, the same region famous for the Nebbiolo grape and the coveted Barolo and Barbaresco wines that grape produces. FH&C has one of their own, it was pleasant, it’s sweeter, being young but the acidity from the blueberry notes and a subtle hint of pepper on the palate helps balance out the vanilla which hits on the the nose. The Syrah needed to open and the pinot while enjoyable needed some food to balance the higher acidity, I recommend you get a pizza to go with these reds as they all do better with food, something with mushrooms or red meat would do well and may have brought out the forest floor characteristics I was excited about but didn’t taste as strongly. My favorite of the 4 was the Zin. it was smooth and balanced between the notes of vanilla and raspberry, it was also the last one I tried so it had more time to open which these all needed to do. The Peach Sangria is coveted by some, a two lovely Nubian breeders have waited 4 years to bring their bottles back for refills of this nectar so give it a try. You can buy a bottle for $20 and bring it back for refills. Regardless of the wine the views are worth the trip to this amazing piece of heaven.
ADGA National’s Day 1: 7.6.19:
Gaelic Roots arrived early as a volunteer for the show. Vet check went smoothly and it was quick to get set up in our pens and ready for the week ahead. By about 7pm herds were already forming a line for Saturday morning vet check. Vet check was thorough and very efficient, Dr. Acton and herd team did a fantastic job and we thank them for all their hard work.
Chelsea and I spent time Saturday evening following Elianna from Highland Ranch Dairy goats as she prepared her showman ship goat’s udder. I’ve always said anyone who gets into dairy goats as an adult, who didn’t experience 4H in their youth, should reach out to their 4-H goat group as those kids have some of the best advice and experience to share. E, did not disappoint and you can check her out in the video below thoroughly explaining how she gets her udders show ready. There are some great tips in here from her for getting that clean sharp line as well as the products she has found work best.
Announcement 6.28.19: Join Donovan Family Farm & RainySunday Ranch as we go behind the scene at Nationals 2019.
We’ll be hosting a daily morning show (The Morning Milk Out), sharing special edition videos, podcasts and articles that feature interviews with exhibitors seasoned and new.
We will cover everything from:
Breeding programs and show string considerations
Youth interviews, what it takes to compete for National Showmanship
Fitting your goat for a National show
The production awards explained
What’s in your tack box
Local hot spot tours
Home a way from home (a look at how people live at Nationals)
Grounds, barns and exhibitor display tours
…and more!!
Donovan Family Farm 