BOONAH beef producer Tom Surawski said he fully expected a Limousin steer he had specially picked out for the Callide Dawson Beef Carcase Competition to do better than his Charbray heifer, which went on to produce the grand champion carcase.
The winning heifer, a milk tooth, entered the prestigious competition weighing 380kg, ending the 70 days on feed at 504kg, for a 1.77kg average daily gain.
"The Limousin was certainly a softer calf than the Charbray, but it was let down by its smaller eye muscle," Mr Surawski said.
"At 81 square centimetres, he was a full five points behind the winner.
"But that's the way it goes in these competitions. The only real way of knowing how an animal performs is when it is measured as a carcase."
Mr Surawski is well placed to know the intricacies of both hoof and hook competitions. He has been winning competitions at Boonah, Beaudesert, Silverdale, Moreton and the Ekka for decades.
Mr Surawski and his wife Joy sent 23 steers and heifers to "test their skills" in central Queensland's premier carcase competition.
The winning heifer was bought by the Surawskis through the Silverdale Saleyards, and was "most likely bred in the Fassifern region", Mr Surawski said.
The winning heifer was also one of the team of three which won the grain-fed trade heifer class.
The Limousin steer placed third in the grain assisted steer/heifer class and was bred by the Bell family at Pine Mountain near Ipswich. That steer produced a 297.4kg carcase with a P8 of 16mm and a rib of 10mm.
Mr Surawski said his decades of success was based on starting with the right animal.
"There are so many variables. You certainly need to have an eye to be able to pick a suitable animal," the fourth generation beef producer said.
"And it's not always a good looking animal. You have to look beyond that and try to see how the animal will develop.
"The fat depth has to be right on the rib and at the P8, there's meat colour, weight gain and the size of the eye muscle, plus everything else that has to go right."
Mr Surawski said he had another Bell family bred Limousin steer selected for the Ekka competition, which will be entered in the 100 day class.
"The difference between the two of them is a bit Mick and Mike," he said. "But 30 days longer on feed will produce a different animal."
Mr Surawski said he spent a lot of time talking to breeders and at saleyards searching for suitable cattle.
"I reckon showing cattle is a disease," he laughed.
"Once you start, you never recover. You just keep doing it."
