 A 468kg live weight purebred black polled Limousin Steer bred by 18 year old Brenden and Gemma Lydford, 15 of Universal Limousins based at Dubbo, NSW was awarded the overall Grand Champion carcass of the lead steer judging at last week’s Brisbane Royal Show (Ekka) with a very impressive 94 points.
The “Ekka” is considered the largest led steer show in the country with over 380 entries. The steer achieved maximum points for rib and rump fat, fat colour, marbling, meat yield and had a 104sq cm Eye Muscle Area (EMA). The steer was a long term project for the St Johns College Dubbo students. The journey to victory for the Limousin Youth Group Members, started when Brenden became involved in the showing of steers with the school. The establishment of their small herd then began in 2014 when Brenden saved money up by working night shifts after school three times a week at Fletcher’s International Abattoir in Dubbo. Brenden and Gemma then became involved in the Limousin Breed and purchased two heifers to commence their stud herd. The champion carcase steer was born on 31st of August 2015. He was named Universal L-factor and affectionately known as Leroy. Leroy was then prepared at St John’s College with the Schools Show Steer team to head to this year’s Brisbane Royal Show. Brenden has also been selected as this year’s Australian Limousin Breeders Society Youth Ambassador and will travel to Canada and the US in November and December later this year to visit commercial and stud Limousin operations to further his knowledge of the breed. The Champion Lightweight Carcase was a Limousin X exhibited by Billy Goetsch scoring 90 points. This steer scored maximum points for fat depth ribs, fat colour, meat yield and EMA, with a dressing percentage of 59.5%. Reserve Champion Lightweight Carcase was a Limousin X exhibited by St Joseph’s High School, Aberdeen with a score of 89 points, scoring maximum points for fat depth ribs, fat colour, marbling, meat yield and EMA and dressed at 61.6%. The Champion Heavyweight Carcase was a Limousin X exhibited by West Moreton Anglican College and G Muckett with a score of 92 points. It scored maximum points for fat depth, fat colour, meat colour, marbling and EMA, with a dressing percentage of 63.8%. A heifer bred by Peter & Pauline Grant and exhibited by Stanthorpe State High School won the Junior Led Heifer Carcase scoring 92 points. The heifer scored maximum points for fat depth p8, fat colour, marbling, meat yield and EMA and dressed at 62.2%. The Junior Led Steer Carcase was bred by the Lydford family and went on to be awarded Grand Champion Led Steer Carcase. |
