Young Murray Bridge man finishes second in national dairy parade
William Phillpott has represented South Australia in the 2025 National Championship for dairy paraders, at the Royal Adelaide Show.
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A Murray Bridge man has represented South Australia in the 2025 National Championship for dairy paraders.
Showing dairy cows has been a big part of William Phillpott's life since he was just 12 years-old.
The National Championships for Dairy Paraders is an annual event hosted by Agricultural Shows Australia where state winners compete for the national title.
This year the 2025 competition was held at the Royal Adelaide Show, which is where Mr Phillpott currently is.
On Wednesday, September 3 he competed against other handlers around the country and finished second as the reserve champion.
"We each get allocated a random animal, an hour before showing... in this time it's important to get to know the animal," he said.
"It's going to be very competitive and I'm definitely being pushed out of my comfort zone... the stakes are high."
Despite this Mr Phillpott was excited about the chance to compete.
"It's hard to name a favourite part because it's all great but the time with the animals is great... seeing how they develop and grow.
"It's a big reward to know they're in a good environment," he said.
Mr Phillpott also won champion for overall young judge and will now go off to represent the state in Brisbane next year.
It was about seven years ago when he attended the SA Dairy Youth Camp and met mentor Bridget Liebelt, who took him under her wing.
From there he handled at local shows such as Murray Bridge, Callington and Strathalbyn.
Mr Phillpott has also competed in the the largest annual dairy conference and sale in the Southern Hemisphere; International dairy week.
The show is recognised as being amongst the top five cattle shows in the world.
"It's cool to be up against the best in the country, it help with motivation and learning."
"It's great to be able to learn in big shows and take it back to our small town to teach," he said.
Mr Phillpott works at the local Daish Irrigation and Fodder, who couldn't be more proud of their employee.
