Planning key to led steer success at show

Speaking at a panel at the 2023 Royal Adelaide Show about preparing led steers, breeder and university lecturer Darren Koopman said planning for the next year's event began almost as soon as the last one wrapped up.

"This event culminates the work, but conversations for 2024 begin the day after," he said.

The panel was held the day before the led steers competition, at the suggestion of Naracoorte High School agricultural teacher Emma Phillips and convened by Angus Australian extension officer Jake Phillips.

It featured a range of carcase experts, nutritionists, and some successful led steer exhibitors imparting wisdom to school students and their teachers.

On the topic of school steers, Mr Koopman has experience on each side of the equation, having supplied steers to schools as well as working directly with the students.

He said the relationship between breeders and schools is an important one with communication key.

He said breeders needed to understand the facilities available at the school to know if the animal selected was suitable, while schools could provide value to breeders by providing feedback on how the steer performed.

Mr Koopman said decisions would have started being made late last year.

"December is weaning time for us - we start to work out what animals are going, do some handling and wellness checks," he said.

He said depending on if they were for the export or trade category, the steers would likely be delivered to the school in March or April.

Nutrition specialist Anthony Pearce, Hills Farm Supplies, said feeding steers came down to attention to detail.

He said this could include understanding the breed in order to know what to feed it.

"If you're new to the competition, give yourself extra time," he said.

"You want to get them there with no setbacks and if you allow yourself enough time, you have time to recover (from setbacks)."

Mr Pearce said it was important to understand feed and water quality.

Regular led steer competition winner Jono Spence, Keith, said an important part of the preparation was having a plan in place.

"There are a lot of steers here but the one that stands up at the end, I'm pretty sure it won't be a fluke," he said.

He recommended "doing the work early", starting with getting to know the animal, seeing if there were any potential temperament or shy feeding issues, and resolving those ahead of time.

"This is my hobby, my holiday, I don't want to be stressed (at the show)," he said.

He said selecting which steers to focus on should involve a set of scales, a calculator, and a calendar.

Mr Spence also recommended having a "trusted panel of advisors".

"Don't be afraid to talk to your peers," he said.

He also repeated Mr Pearce's recommendation about attention to detail.

"There is absolutely no substitute for observation and dedication," he said.

"You've got to live with them - show day is one day, it's the other 150 days that matter."

When it came to selecting and identifying good steers, Mr Spence said he knew of a teacher who had photographs of award-winning steers from competitions Australia-wide on display in their classroom.

"How do the kids know what we're trying to achieve when they come in the first week?" he said.

Paul Bruggemann, Mallala, who exhibited the 2023 grand champion steer on-hoof, said identifying good steers did get easier with practice.

He said he would look through hundreds of steers to find a few to exhibit at the Royal Adelaide Show.