LEADING the calf that smashed auction records was a 15-year-old boy who had just lost his dad.
Charlie Lloyd’s father, Darren, of Lloyd Star Holsteins at Kyabram, was found unconscious at the International Dairy Week campground the day before the event started and couldn’t be revived.
Charlie and his sister, Sarah, 12 — both well known in dairy showing circles — decided to stay at the Tatura event, surrounded by the IDW community.
He knew the calf would make big dollars but no one was ready for the record books to be blown apart, with the bidding reaching $251,000.
“I was really nervous at the start,” Charlie said.
“But as soon as the sale started and I started walking around a bit I felt a lot better.
“When the bids started going up I was just really concentrating. I didn’t know how much she had made until the end — I couldn’t believe it.”
Asked if he thought his dad would have been proud of his role in the auction, he said: “Yes, I hope he would have.
“He would have wanted me to keep going.
“He started me off doing this and did everything for me, running me to shows, bought me clippers, bought me heifers. He taught me everything I know.”
Source: Weekly Times
