Meknes — The cow competition at the 18th The International Agriculture Fair (SIAM) in Meknes brought dairy breeding to the forefront this week, with winners announced across several Holstein and Montbéliarde categories.
The contest formed part of the fair’s broader focus on animal production and food sovereignty.
“The best young cow that I’ve seen in four years was here,” Larry Allan Schirm, a US dairy cattle genetics specialist who judged the competition, told Morocco World News (MWN) during the event.
Schirm said the recent drought had clearly affected the quality of some young stock, but he also stressed that improved rainfall and greener conditions had lifted spirits, giving this year’s competition a more hopeful tone.
Among the category winners, the Holstein virgin heifer class was led by Latliouii Abderrahman of “Coopérative Mabrouka” from Chaouia, while the Holstein pregnant heifer class was topped by Al Khairou Ossi Ahmed of “Hlib Blad” from Rabat-Sale-Kenitra.
In the Montbéliarde virgin heifer class, El Amrani Said of “Alt Plus” from Chaouia took the top spot. The Montbéliarde pregnant heifer class was led by El Mouslih Belaziz of “Ferme Tarmast” from Beni Mellal-Khenifra.
The mature cow categories also confirmed the strong presence of central Moroccan breeders. In the Holstein multiparous class, Abdellah Ladidi of “Agroplus” from Beni Mellal-Khenifra ranked first.
The Holstein primiparous class was topped by Benabdelkbir of “Hlib Blad” from Rabat-Sale-Kenitra. Across the rankings, “Agroplus,” “Coopérative Mabrouka,” and “Ferme Tarmast” appeared repeatedly, showing their weight in this year’s competition.
The two top overall standouts came from Beni Mellal-Khenifra under “Agroplus,” one in Holstein and one in Montbéliarde, placing the operator at the center of the contest’s strongest final distinction.
