Will prepares to take on world with cattle handling practice at SA Expo

Young NSW cattleman Will van Gend from O'Connell, near Bathurst, is preparing for the Olympics of the beef industry.

His time at last week's SA Junior Heifer Expo will ensure he is in good form to compete against other young Hereford leaders from across the world at the breed's 2025 World Conference in Kansas, United States in October.

The 21-year-old is one of four individuals from Australia who will compete against teams from New Zealand, the United Kingdom, United States, Canada and others in the Young Breeders Competition at the conference.

The competition will include a fitting and showmanship competition.

The previous week, Will was at the Hereford Australia National Youth Expo in Canberra also honing his skills.

He has been to every Hereford Youth show since he was 13 years of age, including last year where he was the recipient of the Wild Bear Scholarship donated by Ben and Katelin Davies, Meadows.

His prize covered his travel and entry to the SA Expo and the loan of a heifer from the Wild Bear stud.

Will said he was keen to attend because the event had a great reputation and it lived up to it. He enjoyed every minute of the SA Expo.

"It has always been regarded as one of the more competitive heifer shows so I wanted to get out here and try my hand and meet some new people and make some new friends," he said.

"I love how inclusive it is, being from out of state I only knew one person when I came, but I have made so many great friends during the week."

Will was the winner of the senior clipping achievement award.

Will says his interest in cattle came from spending time on his grandfather's farm.

As a youngster, he started working for Lee White, Llandillo stud, The Lagoon, at local shows and has been at Llandillo full-time since leaving school.

In 2018, he started his own Poll Hereford stud Broken Arrow and is focused on getting his herd numbers up.

"I am trying to breed some quality females for my herd and if I can build that maybe start selling a few bulls in Dubbo National in coming years," he said.

Will says there are many positive traits of Herefords like their fertility and fattening ability along with their docility.

"You can stick a little kid on one of those big bred heifers and they are puppy dog quiet and go wherever you want," he said.