THE Royal Adelaide Show might not be going ahead, but Stock Journal is aiming to keep the show on the road, or online at least, for our livestock producers through its Steer Showdown virtual competition.
Entries are open for schools and stud breeders to take part in this once-off online judging of live steers, which had been bound for the Royal in September.
It is set to complement the Royal Agricultural & Horticultural Society of SA beef cattle committee's steer carcase competition, to be held in early September and processed through Teys Australia's Naracoorte abattoir.
The Steer Showdown will be aired across several nights in late August on the Stock Journal website and aims to give exhibitors the recognition they deserve for months of hard work and preparation.
Stock Journal livestock editor Catherine Miller was even on ABC's Country Hour on Friday to talk about this fantastic initiative.
"We saw this as an opportunity to utilise our multimedia skills and already strong online audience to be able to hold this event and promote the steers to a wider audience," she said.
"Our sister paper The Land held a similar competition called Beef Battle with stud cattle they had organised after Sydney Royal Easter Show was cancelled.
"That attracted nearly 12,000 views for the interbreed livestream alone from 38 countries!
"It will also become a great educational resource for schools to be able to replay the judging episodes to learn more about comparing steers and the attributes needed for top eating quality beef.
"We're also planning on presenting a short nutrition video with one of our sponsors Anthony Pearce from Hills Farm Supplies.
"Hopefully this year's crop of agriculture students go on to be the next generation of beef producers, stock agents, meat graders and animal nutritionists, but at the very least Steer Showdown will give them a greater understanding of Australia's beef industry and how their next steak made it to their plate.
"School students will also be able to hone their videoing skills and learn more about the power of online marketing."
This will be a must-watch event so we strongly encourage you to get in quick, with entries closing on July 24.
You can find all the entry details in this week's Stock Journal.
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