Winner of Southern Rural Water’s National Cow Appreciation Day competition has been given the honour of naming Gippsland’s most famous cow … Clarabelle.
National Cow Appreciation Day is an annual celebration in July that recognises all that is brilliant about bovines and the winning name was picked for its creativity.
The competition winner, Latrobe Valley local Ciele Towb, said Clarabelle was a popular name given to cows but has fallen out of fashion in recent times.
“Clarabelle is a girl’s name of Latin origin meaning ‘bright and beautiful’ and the name given to Walt Disney’s cartoon cow character who was Minnie Mouse’s best friend,” she said.
“It’s also one of several names used for cows years ago that ended with ‘bell’, possibly referring to the bells once worn around their necks to keep track of them.”
Speaking about the win, Ciele said she hopes the lucky cow loves her name.
“I'm so excited to have won this competition and can't wait to meet the gorgeous Clarabelle,” she said.
Southern Rural Water Manager Water Supply Matt Cook said they’ve been heartened by the response to the competition designed to give rural communities a laugh and another reason to be proud of the ‘girls’ who make Gippsland great.
“We had some great name suggestions that made judging a bit tricky for the panellists, but we agreed Ciele’s name was a winning name because it’s been well-researched and taught us something new,” he said.
Southern Rural Water manages the water that’s the lifeblood of Gippsland’s agricultural economy and powers Victorian dairy hub the Macalister Irrigation District.
Matt said the winning name will now be given to one of local dairy farmer James Clyne’s cows to test research that suggests cows with names produce more milk.
“James Clyne is one of the many farmers in Macalister Irrigation District whose businesses have benefitted from Southern Rural Water’s multi-million-dollar investment modernising irrigation infrastructure in the region,” he said.
“We’ll work with James to track the winning cow’s performance over 12 months and report on the results on National Cow Appreciation Day next year,” he said.
James Clyne said he’s already chosen the lucky heifer, currently known as cow 8876, to be called Clarabelle and she’ll join one other cow in the herd with the winning name.
“Some may think I’m pulling the udder one, but we’ve already got a Clarabelle on the farm,” he said.
“Our new Clarabelle did well last year so I’m interested to see if a personal touch of a name gives her an edge and helps her produce more milk this year.”