19 year old Thomas is the Western Australian state finalist at the 2021 Agricultural Shows Australia National Young Judges finals held at the Royal Queensland Show. Hailing from Bullsbrook, an hour north of Perth, Thomas grew up on a sheep and cattle farm, and has been showing poultry for just over ten years.
I keep several breeds, a mixture of hard feather, soft feather, waterfowl, and turkeys, and exhibit at eight or so shows a year. These are a combination of club shows, local ag shows, and the Perth Royal. In the last 3 years I’ve started judging some shows, too.
I’m on the Perth Royal poultry committee and think shows are a great way for agriculture to engage with the wider public. I currently work at a horse stud, and I also work on the family farm.
I’ve also recently started a Hereford Stud and definitely want to grow the Hereford Stud over the next few years, and keep some time aside for the poultry.
I started competing in junior judging in 2018, and was lucky enough to represent Western Australia at the national finals in Adelaide that year. I think it’s an amazing opportunity to improve and display your judging skills.
Growing up on a farm I’ve always been involved in agriculture, but my grandparents were really supportive of my poultry hobby in its early years, they would drive me to shows and events, and help out with the poultry at home.
In my first year of showing I joined the Midland Junction Poultry Society, since then I’ve become quite involved in the club and really enjoy the social aspect of the hobby.
It’s really hard to pick a favourite show, in WA I really enjoy the Perth Royal, but I also love the small ag shows. I also travel over east to the Canberra Royal poultry show, and I find that really enjoyable, and I’m keen to travel over east more to see some of the big shows.
I’ve had a few big wins at smaller shows and a few sectional winners at Perth royal, it’s hard to pick a favourite moment.
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