On Tuesday November 18th, 18 keen Agriculture students from year 7 through to year 11 travelled to Walcha for the annual Northern Schools Steer Competition.
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The first day of competition saw the students engage themselves in a variety of educational activities and presentations on parading, junior judging, oral presentations, market specifications and fat scoring of animals.
The first event was the parading section where all students were to show off their cattle skills and their ability to lead and show off their animal. All students performed exceptionally well and Madison Morgan, Tyren Butler and Cody Martin made it through to the finals of the under 13 age division and Briana Merritt made it through in the 14’s. Madison eventuated as the winner of the under 13’s and moved through to the grand champion parade where she performed extremely well and was awarded reserve champion overall.
Following that was the junior judging section where students were to judge one led class and one unled class each consisting of 4 steers. The students were then asked a range of questions aimed at assessing their ability to observe and compare animals. Hannah Williams, Abby Walls, Kelsie Youman and Madison Morgan all made it to the finals of their various age divisions where they then had to get up on the microphone and give their verdict and comparisons to the audience. Madison ended up in 3rd for the under 13’s, Kelsie 4th in the 14 age group and in the over 16’s Abby Walls placed 5th and Hannah Williams eventuated in 1st place. Hannah was also the second highest point scorer overall so she was awarded reserve champion.
Over the two days, secret judges were walking around the grounds assessing students based on their behaviour, participation, team-work, cattle handling abilities and overall presentation as part of the herdsperson’s challenge. In the junior division Guyra Central had three representatives; 1st place Madison Morgan, 2nd place Benjamin Lennon and 3rd Braydon Cameron.
On the final day the steers were judged in their respective weight classes. All three steers were in a very competitive heavy weight division and one steer was able to gain a 5th place in its class.
At the competition there were 19 other schools ranging from Kempsey to Coonamble and Tenterfield to Tamworth. The outstanding results of the students are a testament to their dedication and hard-work throughout the year to break-in and prepare the animals for competition.
By Mr Scott Miller
