GIVEN the costs of running cattle today, the ability to gain extra fat coverage faster and cheaper will help keep producers in business, according to experienced Qld cattleman Paul Forman.
With that in mind, he presented grand champion bull honours to the 1210 kilogram Aruma Mr Magic, who measures 132 square centimetres in the eye muscle area and 39 and 18mm in the rump and rib fat.
The bull, from Phoebe Eckermann's Two Wells stud Aruma, demonstrated the Limousin's ability to lay down fat, Mr Forman said.
"Over the years the turnover of animals has shortened up. We're selling bulls younger and trying to get steers off earlier," he said.
Mr Foreman praised the bull's "sheer length, strength through the spine, performance up above and the way he carries the muscle."
"This is the finished product, the age when a bull is out with cows doing work so to keep him in show preparation is a real skill," he said.
Aruma, a family affair with Ms Eckermann's brother Isaac and father Peter helping to both run the stud and show cattle, also collected the grand champion cow via Warrawindi Krystal Gem K15, paraded with bull calf Aruma Quartz.
The cow's daughter was grand champion at Adelaide last year, while Krystal Gem was busy in the donor pen.
She now has eight calves on the ground now and they are all thick and true to her type - very similar to Quartz, Mr Eckermann said.
Krystal Gem had a beautiful temperament, he said. She holds one of the highest docility scores in the Limousin book.
She is from a Warrawindi dam the Eckermanns purchased with the aim of having a strong foundation cow for their small six-year-old stud.
Mr Foreman said it was the cow's overall length of body that got her up over an impressive heifer, Birubu Pretty Pert P198, from the Van der Drift family's Black Diamond Speckle Park at Macorna in Victoria.
The heifer was bought as a calf-at-foot at a dispersal sale last year and was standout on account of being very feminine but with a lot of topline, Murray van der Drift said.
"We're aiming to breed muscle into our females," he said.
"Our bulls are sold to crossbreeders for the veal job who are looking for early turn-off."
Mr Van der Drift bought a team of four to compete at Adelaide this year.
The junior bull honours went to Lorren Hampton's Bluegum Hill Poseidon, a 12-month-old 540kg exhibit with an eye muscle area of 105 square centimetres.
The Echunga breeders had returned to Adelaide after a year off and will now take this bull to next year's Sydney Royal.
They have been using their bulls mostly in their own commercial operation at Keith producing vealers but are in the process of building up the stud, targeting an easy doing animal with plenty of muscle and soundness of structure.
Limousins
Judge: Paul Forman
Exhibitors: 8
Exhibits: 42
Junior heifer: Birubu Pretty Pert P198, Black Diamond Speckle Park, Macorna, Vic
Res: Birubu Pollyanna P57, Rothe Bros Syndicate, Padthaway
Grand and senior champion cow: Warrawindi Krystal Gem K15, Phoebe Eckermann, Two Wells
Junior bull: Bluegum Hill Poseidon, Lorren Hampton, Echunga
Res: Brentvale Premonition P6, Jason Foote, Echunga
Grand and senior bull: Aruma Mr Magic, Phoebe Eckermann
Shan Goodwin
Shan Goodwin steers ACM’s national coverage of the beef industry. Shan has worked as a journalist for 30 years, the majority of that with agricultural publications. She spent many years as The Land’s North Coast reporter and has visited beef properties and stations throughout the country and overseas. She treats all breeds equally. Contact 0427686187. E: s.goodwin@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Shan Goodwin steers ACM’s national coverage of the beef industry. Shan has worked as a journalist for 30 years, the majority of that with agricultural publications. She spent many years as The Land’s North Coast reporter and has visited beef properties and stations throughout the country and overseas. She treats all breeds equally. Contact 0427686187. E: s.goodwin@austcommunitymedia.com.au
