Battling the odds of continuing drought and the pull of Beef Australia 2018, the Longreach Show cattle section organisers were very happy with the 45 head penned for judging on Saturday.
For the first time, there were no led cattle at the show, but commercial entries in steer and heifer classes helped make up for the deficit.
Dean and Julie Allen’s Western Reds Droughtmaster stud at Longreach were back in the show arena for the first time since the feature show at Winton in 2007, and were rewarded with the supreme exhibit ribbon, for one of their young heifers.
She was from a different pen to the one that was judged the champion pen of stud heifers.
Dean said it was fortunate that all their exhibits had been born in the wet winter of 2016 and had an upward plane of nutrition at the start of last year.
“We’re trying to breed something with a sleek coat for western Queensland, that suits the environment of clients from Alice Springs, Wanaaring and Quilpie,” he said.
As far as returning to the show ring went, Dean said they were trying to rejuvenate the cattle section and wanted to encourage other studs to take part.
Central western NSW Shorthorn stud, Royalla, was the other seedstock operation showing on the day, receiving the champion stud bull ribbon.
On the commercial side, Cam and Sharon Tindall, Darr River Downs, showed the champion pen of steers, with their three black cattle, while Warwick and Rosemary Champion’s Santa Gertrudis females from Longway won the ribbon for champion pen of heifers.
Cattle steward, Bill Seeney, said Beef Australia had taken a lot of their stud exhibits away.
“We used to have a prime competition too but we’re targeting the weaner/feeder cattle now because that’s the premium market in the west at the moment,” he said.
Two of the Longreach Pastoral College’s northern beef industry program students, Bronte Cook and Tia Killen, were first and second in junior cattle judging.
Both started showing cattle at school, Bronte at Noosa District State High School and Tia at Riverside Christian College at Maryborough.