Simmental studs throughout Victoria have taken part in an on-farm challenge showcasing some of the best bulls, cows and calves in the breed.
The second Simmental Victorian On-Farm Challenge had 18 studs register to be apart of the competition, as about 200 head of cattle were judged.
Properties as far west as Edenhope and as far south as Bunyip in Gippsland took part in the challenge.
Simmental Victoria secretary/treasurer Garry Gillett said the idea behind the event was to take the "judge to the people".
"We want to give members a chance to meet other members and the chance to be judged on farm without going to the expense of preparing animals for a show," he said.
"We're judging them on their paddock condition so if they're a bit dirty, it doesn't matter and considering the drought around Victoria, this challenge has been extremely successful."
Cattle were judged on their age and awarded a score out of 10 in 10 different categories with winners to be announced at a special luncheon later in the year.
Simmental Victorian On-Farm Challenge judge Kathy Eden, Glen Forbes, who has previously judged cattle at Royal agricultural shows throughout Australia, said many cattle were hard to fault.
"Up through Wangaratta, Echuca and so on to me - I'm from South Gippsland - the conditions look dreadful but they are all very positive, very upbeat and just waiting on autumn which is incredible," Mrs Eden said.
"It's going to be a nightmare sorting the judging out because with the exception of 10 out of the 200 we've seen, I don't know how I'll split some of them."
Mrs Eden said "muscle and capacity" had been a theme throughout the event.
"When I first started judging the cows had a longer, flatter muscle type and were a finer type of animal - they were probably a bit harder doing than what they are now," she said.
"Simmentals are much heavier cattle now which is really good because you put vealers in the pens and that's exactly what you want but they can all still milk which is a big positive too."
Giving it a crack
Rory Templeton, 20, started his Merton Rush Simmental stud operation a year ago and said it was an "awesome opportunity" to be judged and critiqued on his cattle.
"We started the stud operation as a bit of a diversification project to supplement the milking dairy side of the business," Mr Templeton said.
Mr Templeton, along with his father, Greg, milk 170 Simmentals and supply their product to Ferraro Cheese in Tullamarine.
The stud operation consists of eight stud cows, including five with calves at foot, and a nine-month-old bull by Woonallee Jetstream.
"Money has been our biggest challenge because we source all our genetics from South Australia ... but we've been able to buy nice cows for reasonable prices," he said.
"We want to slowly build the numbers and focus on having the quality over quantity."
'Wet and slushy' at Nar Nar Goon
Up the road at Mt Ararat Simmentals, stud principal John Leek has been forced to truck cattle off his Nar Nar Goon property due to high rainfall.
He said his property, near Pakenham, had received more than 500 millimetres of rain in the four months ending October.
He started the stud operation 12 years ago with a herd of pure-bred cattle from Tom Baker at Woonalee Simmentals in SA and now has 70 breeding females.
"This challenge is a great idea because we have people like Kathy [Eden] come out and tell us where we're at with our cattle because we look at them everyday and get carried away with out own cattle sometimes," Mr Leek said.
"I'm doing my best everyday to improve them, you have to be on your ball all the time, and I'm getting my genetics from Buzzard Hollow in Texas; semen, embryos and then buying the best bulls and females we can."
Mr Leek said he was shifting his stud focus following the purchase of a $15,000 bull from Woonalee this year.
"He's homo polled ... I'm going work on breeding homo polled bulls because I think that's the future around here," he said.
"It's a genetic that you test for and if you bred him to 100 head of cattle, you'll probably get 98 with no horns."
'Level playing field' says judge
Cattle in the on-farm challenge were judged on a score sheet, removing personal opinion by a judge "to a certain extent" Mrs Eden said.
"We're looking at muscle particularly for the bulls, for example muscle type and capacity of body and the way they cover the ground and how they walk," she said.
"I'm very big on heads and eyes, other judges may place less of a focus on that, and I'm pretty big on hip-to-pin and in cows udders and udder placement is important."
Mrs Eden said the event provided a cheaper alternative for breeders to show their cattle on-farm.
"It justifies for some people some of the decisions they've made and clarifies in their minds that they are getting the result they want," she said.