The feature breed of this year’s Royal Melbourne Show, Charolais, has topped two of the four classes in the beef cattle interbreed competition on Monday.
Central Victorian stud, Waterford Charolais, Mount Macedon, won junior champion heifer, with a one year-old heifer that they sold at the Charolais sale on Saturday.
The heifer, Waterford Lady Gina L33E (P) topped the sale at $14,000. After spirited bidding, it was eventually knocked down to Ron Johnstone, Milford Charolais, Beaudesert, Queensland.
It was the first time a stud beef cattle sale had been held at the Royal Melbourne Show in more than 30 years, and with probably the biggest crowd of the beef program and a full clearance, with the one passed in lot being sold directly after the sale, it has been heralded as a success.
Making their Melbourne debut in style were Glen Waldron and Kim Groner, Elite Cattle Co, Murwollock, Meandarra, Queensland.
The couple made the 20-hour drive down to take part in the feature show and their 23 month-old Elite Kustom Made won senior interbreed bull.
The 988-kilogram bull scanned 9mm rump and 5mm rib fat, and 130 square centimetres eye muscle area (EMA).
The interbreed junior champion bull was awarded to the Limousin entry – Flemington Legend. The May 2015-drop bull was shown by Ian and Donna Robson, who manage the stud owned by Mount View Orchards, Batlow, NSW. The bull was reserve junior champion at the Royal Easter Show, Sydney, when it was only 10 months old.
Roughly six months later it went one better and weighed 756kg, and scanned 12mm rump, 8mm rib and 125sqcm EMA.
Although, it was a solid red Simmental cow with a handy bull calf at-foot that won the supreme beef breed exhibit, of the 534 beef cattle entries, which was up 80 on last year.
The four year-old Woonallee Charo H140 was exhibited by Tom and Lizzy Baker, Woonallee Simmentals, Furner, South Australia, and was from an imported embryo from Canada’s Lewis Farms.
The Bakers won all breeds champion bull at the Royal Adelaide Show earlier this month with Woonallee Ladykiller L15, which won reserve junior champion interbreed bull at Melbourne.
Peter Collins, Merridale Angus, Tennyson, spoke on behalf of the three judges and said it was an unanimous decision to award supreme exhibit to the cow.
Another big beef winner was the Shorthorn team, whose consistent carcase measurements over the three steers entered, saw the breed take out the coveted Borthwick trophy for the first time since 2003.
