Cattle Show Team

MR BRUCE RUTHERFORD cattle show team

The year started out early with a trip to Warwick to pick up two steers from the Bassingthwaighte Family at Waco Stud. The next trip was up to Nanango to pick up a black Limo steer all broken in and, going by a very young lad with a passion for breeding cattle, an ideal steer for the Year 7 boys who showed an interest in being involved from the first meeting of the year.

The big boys took over and twice weekly came with me out to Bob’s and worked the steers and dropped feed into their feeder. Many of these boys are in Year 12 Ag Science and we attended Beef Week in Rockhampton where they competed in the Young Farmers Challenges and Cattle Judging, doing well in both areas. We also visited the ART Centre near Yeppoon where they were shown IVF and Embryo Transfer.

Boonah was the first show with a few experienced boys attending and getting the job done, which is always a relief when over with no major incidences, and the cattle going well. The next outing was the Ekka. Sunday morning waas a very early start, with not enough time to run to the border and get the all clear and tick spray which exempts from scrutinous inspection on site. I dropped boys and cattle, then returned to the Coast unhooked the trailer and, driving back, I received a call that one steer had a live tick crawling on him. No way… yes all cattle on that permit must be removed, so back to TSS pick up trailer, up to Ekka pick up steers, return to TSS, then back to Ekka for all activities but showing the steers and trucking them for slaughter. Boys competed in the Stud and Steer Judging and helped out around the cattle shed. One highlight was the Year 7 boys turning up for a day out, and some educational demonstrations by Howie Bassingthwaighte on preparing cattle for show, what to look for when judging cattle, and work involved in keeping cattle at shows. This was good information and we had nicely prepared very large steers for the next shows. At The Gold Coast Show, a couple of the Year 7 boys, Michael Russell and Nick Cuffe, put their hands up and did a tremendous job with heavy weight steers, showing parading and judging, a very successful adventure.

Next was Beaudesert Show and this is a country show second to none; eight Year 7 boys put their hands up for this, and mother nature decided to throw down some good rain just to up the degree of difficulty, huge steers little boys, judging parading and getting the job done really well, fantastic experience. Thanks to my wife for helping out at these shows.

Last show of the year saw a return of Year 12 boys and out to Moreton Saleyards Show and Sale; the steers were judged and auctioned, then empty we returned home to plan for the next year. Now the majority of the team will be Year 8 boys and I look forward to 2019 and the excitement it brings. Our stud Limo cows calved in August and they are now at the Numinbah Correctional Centre where they are caught and brushed, tied up and fed every day, so we will have a couple ready to go, and are now looking to buy one or two more to get around the after Ekka shows. Big thanks to Parents who supported us this year and a special thanks to David and Suzanne Bassingthwaighte for the quality cattle and letting the boys help out at the Ekka.