WITH one point difference over the Shorthorn breed, purebred Angus steers snared the prestigious Borthwick Trophy in the 2014 Royal Melbourne Show beef carcase competition.
The win was the 21st by Angus in the competition's 61-year history, its most recent win having been in 1999.
The trophy is judged on accumulated points – firstly on hoof and then on hook – and is awarded to the best-performing team of three purebred animals of any one breed.
The Angus team was school-dominated, made-up of exhibits shown by Longerenong College and NSW schools Gundagai High School and Yanco Agricultural High School.
The Gundagai High School exhibit was bred by Drumard Partnership, Humula, NSW, while Longerenong College's entry was bred by Claremont Blacks Angus, Woolsthorpe.
Yanco Ag's exhibit was bred by The Glen Pastoral Co, Walwa, NSW, and sired by Boonstoo Frontrunner E5 out of a The Glen commercial cow.
Over the hooks, the three Angus exhibits scored a combined total of 346.87 points, which put them out in front of the Shorthorn team in second on 345.26 points.
The Shorthorn team was made up of one exhibit from the Alberni family and Raedean Reds, Buln Buln; and two exhibits from Longernong College – bred by Eloora Shorthorns, Bulart, and Marschay Shorthorn, Ballarat.
In third place was the Hereford team, which last featured as a winner in 1997.
This team was made up of exhibits from Mawarra B Herefords, Longford, and RK&JM Pretty, Jindivick.
The Borthwick Trophy win capped off a brilliant show for Longerenong College, which had a stellar performance in the carcase competition with a school-bred Limousin-Angus-Red Angus steer.
Its exhibit, number 179, won the grand champion carcase and champion export carcase titles, the Marcus Oldham College Trophy for the champion schools carcase and the Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE trophy for the highest-scoring school-bred and prepared carcase.
The steer weighed 552 kilograms liveweight or 330kg carcase weight and dressed at 60 per cent.
Longerenong scored first in the champion heavy domestic carcase category with exhibit 172: an Angus-Poll Simmental bred by the school which scored 91.5 points for the 481kg steer with a 56pc dressing.
The college also nabbed first place in the steer bonanza with exhibit 173: a Charolais steer on 91 points bred by Vernola Charolais, weighing 480kg lwt and dressing at 59pc.
In the led judging earlier in the week, the grand champion led steer or heifer was shown by Billabong High School, Culcairn, NSW.
The school's 495kg Limousin-Angus August 2013-drop steer was bred by Margaret Pierce, Belanglo Park, Gerogery, NSW, and sired by Le Matre Black Busby.
The top steer was also the champion school and college steer or heifer, as well as the champion heavy domestic steer or heifer.
It was the first time Mrs Pierce had given an animal to the school and she said it was a wonderful opportunity to be involved in a program that encouraged young people in agriculture.
Judge Ben Davies, national livestock manager of the recently established Australian Meat Group, said the winning steer had a fantastic top-line, thickness from its shoulder to its hindquarter, and better fat coverage than the other cattle shown.
Mr Davies congratulated the schools on the high calibre of cattle their students showed.
Among those were the reserve champion school and college steer or heifer, a Maine Anjou-Shorthorn steer shown by Finley High School, NSW.
Bred by B&K Morham, Morham Maines, Finley, NSW, the steer was born in June 2013 and weighed 584kg.
