The old saying ‘behind every great man there’s a great women’ held firm during this year’s Gympie Carcass Classic.
A home-bred Blonde D’Aquitaine steer entered by the Aisthorpe family, Monal Grazing, Monto won top honours during the competition.
“My wife chose the winning steer and she keeps reminding me of that!,” Peter Aisthorpe said laughingly.
It’s the fourth year the Aisthorpe family has entered cattle in the Gympie carcase competition with their champion steer winning Most Suitable Carcase for the Domestic Market and The Charlie Cotter Allrounder award sponsored by Sullivan Livestock & Rural Services.
“We picked out two very special looking calves in our cattle herd and all our hard work has paid off,” Mr Aisthorpe said.
The three-quarter Blond D’Aquitaine and one-quarter Charbray steer entered the backgrounding phase of the competition at 236 kilogram and had an initial feedlot entry weight of 248kg.
“In addition to our Blonde D’Aquitaine cattle we have a Brahman herd that we also cover with Charolais bulls,” Mr Aisthorpe said.
A standout feature of the Aisthorpe’s steer was an almost 66 per cent carcase yield dressing percentage with the carcase also being awarded the Gympie carcase competition’s Highest Dressing Percentage award.
“The first year we entered the Gympie carcase classic we bombed out because we really didn’t know what we were doing or the right type of cattle to look for in entering the competition,” Mr Aisthorpe said.
“This year we really tried to select suitable types for this competition and just hoped to progress forward in the carcase classic rankings.
“It was a big surprise and a big shock to us because we were only hoping to just win one section, but not the overall top two carcase classic awards.”
“Our steer achieved a 65.96pc carcase yield and it’s really great to know our cattle can produce good dressing percentages because that’s a profitable trait when running a cattle business,” Mr Aisthorpe said.
The steer recorded a weight of 356kg at 82 days in the competition with an average daily weight gain of 1.317kg per day plus a dress weight of 234.8kg.
“I thought the steers was good, but honestly during the final live assessments I liked the look of our Blond D’Aquitaine heifer better in the yards,” Mr Aisthorpe said.
Their heifer placed 13th in the competition with a weight of 412kg at 82 days on feed, an average daily weight gain of 1.415kg per day, a carcase dress weight of 249.4kg and a dressing percentage of 60.53pc.
Gympie Carcass Classic winners
A total of 161 head of commercial steers and heifers were entered in this year’s Gympie Carcass Classic.
The Aisthorpe family, Monal Grazing, Monto won the top two prizes plus Highest Dressing Percentage award sponsored by Allflex, while Neil McDonald, Rockdale Pastoral Company took home the Most Suitable Heifer Carcase for the Domestic Market, sponsored by Queensland Country Life, the first and second places in the Most Profitable Animal section, sponsored by Virbac Animal Health, and The Dyland Dalton Cattleman's Choice award sponsored by Gympie Vet Services.
Mr McDonald’s Blond D’Aquitaine-cross steer also came runner-up in the overall carcase competition and placed third in the Most Suitable Carcase for the Domestic Market.
The Carcase with the Largest Eye Muscle Area, sponsored by Warrego Livestock Transport, went to the Mercer family’s Charolais steer with an EMA of 107cm sqaure. Overall the steers placed 15th in the competition.
Best Weight Gain in Feedlot award, sponsored by Goldmix Stockfeeds, went to Gyranda Pastoral Co with their Santa Gertrudis heifer who achieved an averaged daily weight gain on feed of 1.854 kilograms per day.
Highest Index Score, sponsored by Nolan Meats, was awarded to the Fitgerald family’s Charolais/Droughtmaster-cross steer.
The Encouragement Award, sponsored by Speckle Park International, went to Lachlan Pratt.
Most Successful First Time Exhibitor, sponsored by Ag Solutions, went to Butcher Pastoral Company.
Best Aggregate of Carcases, sponsored by Tom Grady CRT, was awarded to the Pratt family, Goomeri.
Other competition results
ASSESSMENT OF BEST 6 CARCASSES AT THE START OF CLASSIC SPONSORED BY GYMPIE REGIONAL COUNCIL
1st – Sean Wicks
2nd – Luke Aisthorpe
3rd – Emily Gorton
ASSESSMENT OF BEST 6 CARCASSES AT THE FINISH OF CLASSIC
1st – Luke Aisthorpe
2nd – Brent Evans
3rd – Coster Jeffries
ALLROUNDER ASSESSMENT (6 HIGHEST SCORING) AT START OF CLASSIC
1st – Peter Aisthorpe
2nd – Sean Wicks
3rd – Leon Franz
ALLROUNDER ASSESSMENT (6 HIGHEST SCORING) AT FINISH OF CLASSIC
1st – Brent Evans
2nd – Abby Nowland
3rd – Jan Cotter
BEST JUNIOR (UNDER 18 YEARS) LIVE CATTLE ASSESSOR OF SELECTED 8 HEAD SPONSORED BY ZOETIS
1st – Bronte Cramb
2nd – Chloe Plowman
3rd – Nateesha Taylor
MOST ACCURATE LIVE CATTLE ASSESSOR OF SELECTED 8 HEAD SPONSORED BY CONNOLLY DORE LAWYERS
1st – Bernie Duncombe
2nd – Sean Wicks
3rd – Leon Franz
CHAMPION JUNIOR LIVE CATTLE ASSESSOR (UNDER 18 YEARS) SPONSORED BY BEST ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGIES
1st – Chloe Andresassen
2nd – Tamika Schultz
CHAMPION LIVE CATTLE ASSESSOR SPONSORED BY N & N CHESHIRE
1st – Sean Wicks
2nd – Leon Franz
CHAMPION INTERSCHOOL COMPETITION SPONSORED BY DOUG PRATT LIVESTOCK TRANSPORT
Gympie State High School
HIGH POINT LIMOUSIN SPONSORED BY TALANA LIMOUSINS
D & H Pratt – 273 Points
HIGH POINT CHAROLAIS SPONSORED BY ELRIDGE CHAROLAIS
J & R Mercer – 244 Points
HIGH POINT BAZADAIS SPONSORED BY THE AUSTRALIAN BAZADAIS CATTLE SOCIETY
Butcher Pastoral Co – 254 Points
HIGH POINT DROUGHTMASTER SPONSORED BY TOPLINE DROUGHTMASTERS
R J Orphant – 205 Points
