EVERYONE was a winner at the newly-named Commonwealth Bank cattle expo at last week's Make Smoking History Wagin Woolorama.
It was pleasing to see the majority of the broad ribbons being shared around evenly across the various breeds and studs but in the end the big award was won by the WA College of Agriculture Narrogin's Collegian Angus stud with their cow and calf unit being sashed as the Commonwealth Bank supreme cattle exhibit of the show.
Platinum sponsors of the cattle section this year, the Commonwealth Bank generously shelled out a hefty cash prize for the winner of the supreme exhibit (a new award in the section) and it was the specky cow Collegian Wilcoola B46 which was given the final nod by the judges.
This year's interstate judges Spencer Morgan, The Grove Shorthorn stud, Condamine, Queensland and Jason Schulz, Meningie, South Australia, couldn't go past the classic, wedge-shaped Angus cow for their ultimate accolade and there was some pretty stiff competition on the way to the business end of the day's showing.
"In the end we just couldn't fault this cow," Mr Morgan said. "She really is the ultimate representation of the Angus breed.
"She is that real classic wedge-shape and her depth of body and spring of rib is incredible.
"There is clearly plenty of milk in a very functional udder set up and the capacity of volume of this female is impressive.
"An outstanding female."
A 2006-drop cow, Collegian Wilcoola B46 was an ET bred female out of Imran Wilcoola U108 and by New Design 036.
WA College of Agriculture, Narrogin, technical officer and Collegian stud connection Ray Batt was very happy with the result and said the female was already a proven breeder in their stud with her fifth calf at foot the first calf in Australia from Scottish stud sire Rawburn Edge.
On the road to becoming the supreme exhibit, Wilcoola B46 was sashed the interbreed champion female of the show as well as the grand champion overall of the "any other" British breeds section.
Pipped at the post for the supreme exhibit award, a bull from the Bullock Hills Simmental stud, Katanning, went up against the formidable female and while he did not win the supreme exhibit award was highly decorated throughout the day.
Bullock Hills Horsham H33 will leave WA and head over to his new home of NSW in a blaze of glory after being sashed as the interbreed champion bull of the show.
The bull was recently purchased by Peter and Odette Morley, Wakefield, Molong via Orange, NSW, for $5500 at the recent Farm Weekly WALSA Supreme Bull Sale and the new owners were happy for the Patterson family, Bullock Hills, to continue to show the bull one last time prior to being trucked to his new home.
Judges Spencer Morgan and Jason Schulz were very impressed with the sire throughout the day particularly his ability to move freely around the ring.
"He was just a tremendous athletic sire with plenty of thickness and the right amount of fat cover and softness," Mr Morgan said.
"A very correct bull, he has a great sirey outlook and has just the right degree of power for a European bull without being too extreme.
"A fantastic example of the breed and a very worthy winner."
On his way to becoming the champion interbreed bull, Horsham H33 went through the "any other" breeds European section, first winning his class against five other bulls and going on to be sashed as the grand champion bull of the "any other breeds" European section.
Sired by Bullock Hills Ed and out of Bullock Hills Cadence 1053, Horsham H33 had impressive figures such as +5.5 birthweight, +1.1 EMA and +28, +47 and +50 for its 200, 400 and 600-day weights.
Any Other Breed - Euro
The Simmental, Gelbvieh, Limousin and Salers breeds were out in force in this section but at the end of the judging, the grand champion overall and champion female ribbons were awarded to the Pugh family, Summit Gelbvieh stud, Narrikup, with a lovely heifer showing a great deal of promise.
After their success last year with a 20-month-old bull being awarded the grand champion sash overall, it was a female's turn and Summit Vanity Fair J80 was every inch the classy female Queensland judge Spencer Morgan expected to see at the top.
Mr Morgan said the young heifer epitomised what the Gelbvieh breed was about and chose it as the grand champion animal of the section over the burly Simmental sire Bullock Hills Horsham H33 (who still went on to become the interbreed champion bull).
"I just kept coming back to the heifer," Mr Morgan said.
"I felt she offered more flexible breeding options and you could use almost any type of bull with this terrific female."
Vanity Fair J80 had previously been shown as a calf at foot at last year's IGA Perth Royal Show and Albany Agricultural Show and is a daughter of American sire JDPD Astro 407S.
Charolais
Continuing the streak of lady luck at this year's showing, the Charolais section saw the grand champion Charolais sash awarded to an elegant heifer from Lesley and Rob Millner's, Downunder Charolais stud, Wooroloo.
Four studs represented the breed but the Downunder stud was always going to take out the top honours after its top bull and female were awarded the major champion ribbons, facing off for the grand champion title.
The 10-month-old Charolais heifer, Downunder Juniper J16E, didn't have the size of its male counterpart, Downunder Headhunter H8E, but was a standout when it entered the ring with its near-perfect conformation and grace.
Judge Jason Schulz said both champions would make their own impressions on the cattle industry, but the female held huge potential.
"When she walks, she glides," he said.
"She's very graceful, well put together and offers the industry a complete breeding package.
"The bull expressed a lot of thickness and potential yield which impressed me.
"But essentially that heifer represents what every breeder strives to achieve with their herd."
Juniper was sired by Liberty Future Direction and out of Downunder Zenia, while the polled Headhunter H8E was a bull with a breeding combination of sire Rosedale Zebu (P) and out of Downunder Arctic Pitch.
Murray Grey
The Murray Grey breed had enough entries to warrant its own section this year and the Southend Murray Grey stud, Katanning, enjoyed a very successful day in the show ring with its bull Southend Jem taking out the grand champion Murray Grey as well as its cow Southend G Reflection being awarded grand champion Murray Grey female.
When commenting on the bull, judge Spencer Morgan said it was the bull's length of body which made him a standout.
"He was a very stylish and sappy young bull," he said.
"He has great stretch and I thought he was very strong over the topline and had all the right characteristics of being a great future carcase breeding animal."
The 13-month-old Jem was recorded as being 536kg on the weigh-in at the start of the day.
Also from the Southend stable, the 2011-drop female G Reflection G374 had a promising calf at foot and was a very tidy female.
"I liked her style and she was very tidy and feminine through the front end," Mr Morgan said.
"Great udder set up and generally just a lovely-shaped female."
Aside from the Southend stud, there were five other Murray Grey exhibitors who presented their cattle in the ring including Barker High, Wundam Park, Mighty Murray Grey, Willawa and Stockhill studs.
Any other breed - British
While the any other breed section was swept by the Collegian Angus cow which went on to be sashed as the supreme exhibit of the show, a Red Poll bull from the Red Sands stud, Quairading, came out on top in the bull section of the judging.
Red Sands Q was awarded the grand champion bull over the other breeds in the section and judge Jason Schulz said it was the bull's ability to carry its mountain of muscle in a stylish way which made him his pick.
"He has a lot of muscle but moves it around with ease and still maintains incredible softness with it," he said.
Group classes
The day's judging was rounded up with the ring bursting at the seams with teams of cattle across all breeds to be judged either as a pair or with regard to the mark of their sire.
The pair of bulls competition was won by the Southend Murray Grey stud rounding out a fantastic day of showing for the stud.
The Summit Gelbvieh stud swept the pool in the remainder of the group classes taking out the title of champion pair of females as well as the progeny group.
Both the pair of heifers and the progeny group were sired by Summit Heartbreaker (who was also shown as a senior bull during the day) and were described by the judges as peas in a pod.
