Long-time competitors Cliff and Sasha Mylrea of Needmor Cattle Co, Gogango, have finally taken top honours in the Nutrien Ag Solutions Commercial Cattle Championship, with 10 of their Droughtmaster steers today awarded the title of Grand Champion Pen.
Fed at Barmount Feedlot for 127 days and weighing an average of 704 kilograms, the HGP-treated Champion Lot Fed Steers first won Class 2 – Pen of 10 Steers (640-760kg; maximum 4 teeth; minimum 100 days grain-fed; suitable for export market).
The win follows the Mylreas’ success in 2021, when they claimed the champion pen of lot-fed heifers, as well as the champion pen of crop or pasture-fed steers.
Mr Mylrea said they were “over the moon” to be taking home the grand champion rosette.
“We’ve been entering a lot of cattle competitions, but Beef in particular, for a long time and this is the first time we’ve won the champion pen, so it’s really good and we’re proud of them,” he said.
It’s a win that almost didn’t happen though.
“It was a dry year last year and we were very close to not having them here,” Mr Mylrea said.
“You’ve got to carry them from when you wean them through to that feedlot weight and there was a decision to be made about whether we sold them to make room for our cows, or hang onto them.
“Fortunately, the season has turned around and the decision has paid off.”
Fellow Droughtmaster breeders, Mac and Gayle Shann, Cantaur Park, Clermont, will also toast a successful first day of Beef2024, with their pen of 10 Droughtmaster/Charolais-cross heifers awarded Champion Lot Fed Heifers.
Weighing an average of 578kg, the HGP-treated heifers first won Class 5 – Pen of 10 Heifers (500-640kg; maximum 2 teeth; minimum 70 days grain-fed; suitable for the heavy trade market).
“We’re always very, very proud to be in this first row where the champions are,” Mr Shann said.
“A lot of time, effort and dollars go into it, but it’s a magnificent result.”
Out of Droughtmaster breeders that live on marginal country, the Shanns said the champion heifers were a credit to their cows that keep “backing up and punching out calves of this quality every year”.
“We have a line of Droughtmaster breeders that we cross with Charolais bulls and they’re a cross we particularly love,” Mrs Shann said.
“We put two pens together for this class and we’re very, very happy with these girls, but you never know until the day you get here.”
Full results of the Nutrien Ag Solutions Commercial Cattle Competition are available on the Beef Australia website here.