AFTER a day of educational development and then having their beef knowledge tested, it was the WA College of Agriculture, Denmark, that took home this year's Harvey Beef Gate 2 Plate schools challenge held at the Willyung Feedlot in Albany last week.
Eight schools participated this year, which was one more than last year, with the Kojonup District High School making its debut in the challenge.
Once again the event was heavily supported by the Harvey Beef team and Coles Group.
The challenge, which takes place on day two of the Harvey Beef Gate 2 Plate midway inspection and field day, aims to build beef industry skills into the students at agricultural colleges and schools.
A large emphasis on this year's challenge was promoting the beef industry and agriculture in general as an exciting and rewarding career path.
The 76 students who took part in the challenge heard from a wide range of speakers on the day, who covered topics from stock handling and pregnancy testing to animal welfare, transport of cattle and biosecurity, right through to some of the latest technology available in the agricultural sector.
A part of the day was also devoted to providing advice and tips on how to gain experience and apply for positions when students leave school and are looking to enter the job market.
In terms of the actual challenge, during the day eight students from each school were quizzed on their understanding on the topics of pregnancy testing, carcase attributes, animal transport, disease outbreak and stock handling, with first, second and third place in each of these categories awarded.
Points from each of these categories from each school representative were then combined to provide the top school on the day, which was Denmark.
Finishing only four points behind was the team from the WA College of Agriculture, Harvey.
Summing up the competition and the school challenge was Harvey Beef general manager livestock Kim McDougall who said Harvey Beef was proud to be a sponsor of the challenge.
"(Harvey Beef owners) Andrew and Nicola Forrest are really passionate supporters of WA youth in agriculture and we are delighted to be involved in this event," Mr McDougall said.
"You are the next generation of the WA agricultural industry and I urge you to challenge yourself, dare to be different and have a crack and thank you for your participation in this year's school challenge."
