NSW stud wins pen of three bulls; International judges praise Aus genetics

A NSW stud has claimed the pen of three bulls at the World Angus Expo at Tamworth, with international judges praising the quality of bulls and noting the genetic opportunity for international breeders.

Judging the competition was Tamworth's Roger Evans, Nagol Park, professor Dan Shike, University of Illinois, USA, and renowned international judge PB Budler, Fort Worth, Texas, USA.

Pen of three bulls champions

Pictures by Rebecca Nadge

The competition assessed the bulls on both dataset and phenotype.

A range of studs from NSW, SA, Victoria and Queensland took part, but it was the Ben Nevis, Walcha, team that rose through the junior component to claim grand champion.

Mr Budler said it was obvious the stud had clear breeding objectives.

"What we really liked about them was how much natural muscle shape and tone they had," he said.

"They had beautiful masculinity, good heads on them, good muzzles and jaws, genuine skeletal width all the way through, natural rib shapes - they were full-bodied bulls.

"And just the type and kind maturity pattern matched really, really well."

The group was comprised of Ben Nevis Vortex V32, by Dunoon Sunstone, Ben Nevis Virtuoso V432, by Moogenilla Quinella Q33, and Ben Nevis V446, by Ben Nevis Rambo R230.

Erica Halliday, Ben Nevis, Walcha, said she selected bulls to represent the three main sire lines at the stud.

There had been particular interest in the Dunoon Sunstone progeny, she said.

She noted the bulls were not broken in, and it had been especially pleasing to see how well they handled the atmosphere and activity.

"They're straight out of a contemporary group, they're going straight back into a contemporary group of 120 bulls," she said.

"It's very humbling, actually - the quality of the heifers and the bulls here has just been extraordinary.

"It goes to show we're not chasing extremes here in Australia, we're trying to find that balance between phenotype, and cattle that do well in Australian environments, as well as extra carcase under the hide.

"Looking at the feet and leg structure of all of these bulls here, I think it was really strong competition."

Reserve went to Summit Livestock, Roslyn, NSW, who was also awarded the champion senior pen.

The team was made up of Summit Heritage U418 and Summit Paradigm U429, both by Mill Brae Benchmark 9016, and Summit Legacy U440, by Knowla So Right S48.

Mr Budler said it was a hard decision between the two champion groups.

"That was tough because there were two bulls there that suited our objectives really, really well, and they were very similar to the junior champion and the grand champion," he said.

"One bull was just a little bit different. He was a big volume bull, not quite the masculinity, not quite the true muscle shape and tone.

"What I loved about those senior bulls is their structure, beautiful feet and legs, and good bone on them, nice clean joints. And also genuine dimension."

Coming in reserve in the junior component was Nampara Angus, Lucindale, SA, while Booragul Angus, Piallaway, NSW, claimed reserve in the senior competition.

Mr Budler praised the quality of bulls entered, and said it was good to see the diversity in the breed that reflected the different objectives of each program.

"By the end of that bull show, a lot of the international guys were watching," he said.

"There's some amazing genetic opportunities for the international Angus market.

"I think it's maybe time, especially for North America, to start looking down at Australia and New Zealand for some genetic diversity to take back to them.

"The quality is here as we've seen, and there's big opportunity for them to get some outcross genetics that are not just different, but good."