Inaugural Tasmanian Junior Beef Expo to take off in 2017

The inaugural Tasmanian Junior Beef Expo is being organised by a committee of dedicated young people, with the event expected to be held in February 2017.

The event will be the first of its kind for Tasmania and is being organised by a dedicated group of beef breeders.

It is expected the expo will feature workshops and demonstrations on both the industry and show aspects of beef cattle, and animal judging classes. Classes will include parader and junior judging.

Tasmanian Junior Beef Expo committee member Sheree Lawrence said the idea of a junior show had been in the works for about two years.

“We tried to get it going a few years ago but it didn’t really work, but this time it seems like it’s really taking off,” Miss Lawrence said.

The Tasmanian Junior Beef Expo will be aimed at people aged between 9 and 25 and will aim to introduce people to the industry but also educate them on showmanship.

The purpose of the event will be two-fold.

The event will be aimed at giving young people the opportunity to improve their showmanship.

It will also give them a leg up in the industry if they become more familiar with the needs of beef cattle.

Miss Lawrence said in Tasmania young people had two options if they wanted to show beef cattle, they either entered the state’s agricultural shows or they travelled to junior shows on the mainland.

“If you go into the show circuit they have the junior judging but if you want to show you’re competing with everybody, adults that have been doing it for years,” Miss Lawrence said.

She said she hoped the Tasmanian Junior Beef Expo would become an annual event, with the aim at developing the skills of the younger generation.

“I’ve been to the junior shows on the mainland nine times and it’s amazing, you learn so much and the contacts you meet are great but we just think wouldn’t it be great if we could have that in Tasmania,” she said.

Travelling to the mainland for shows can be costly and Miss Lawrence said she hoped the experienced beef handlers of the state would get behind the show to assist more young people into the industry.

“We want more people to come through, then hopefully we’d have more beef farmers,” she said.

The Tasmanian Junior Beef Expo will be held on February 24 at the Deloraine showgrounds.