Glenlands Prince and Bolton Girls Whisper-Echo were the stars of the 2012 interbreed competition. Queensland Country Life found these reports originally titled, Prince claims crown and interbreed female champ, in the archives.
IT was the day the Prince became the king. Thirty-two-month-old Glenlands Prince from the Glenlands Droughtmaster Stud was crowned interbreed grand champion bull at Beef 2012 in front of a packed crowd on Thursday afternoon. Prince was selected by a panel of three judges – US Brahman breeder John Coleman-Locke, Simbrah breeder Rhett Mobbs, and Angus, Devon and Shorthorn breeder James Laurie.
Mr Mobbs said the competition was extremely tight. He said all three judges agreed that Prince was worthy of the interbreed crown.
“We all thought he was a complete sire package – he’s an absolutely outstanding bull,” he said.
“He is structurally correct and has the muscle and the bone in all the right places.
“He has real sire outlook, a lovely temperament and is a very worthy champion.”
Weighing in at 1112kg, Prince boasted an EMA of 144sq cm and a scrotal measurement of 40cm.
Darren Childs from the Glenlands Droughtmaster Stud, Bouldercombe, said his family was overwhelmed by the result.
“His performance was there, his figures were there but you never expect anything when you go into a competition like this,” he said.
“It’s just a dream come true.”
Mr Childs said it was an exciting result for the entire Droughtmaster breed.
“It’s topped off a great week for the Droughtmaster breed – we have been celebrating our 50th anniversary this week and now to win the interbreed is fantastic,” he said.
Prince will be offered at auction at the Glenlands Droughtmaster Sale later this year, although the Childs family intends to retain a share in the bull. With a total of 31 breeds participating in the interbreed competition, the judges panel narrowed the field to a top 10 before a scoring system determined the overall winner. Included in the top 10 were the grand champion bulls from the Angus, Brahman, Brangus, Charbray, Charolais, Droughtmaster, Red Angus, Santa Gertrudis, Speckled Park and Simmental breeds. It then took the judges around 20 minutes to make their final decision.
Mr Mobbs said the new judging process was “very fair”.
“It spreads the risk across three judges which I think is a far better system and much fairer,” he said.
“It was a very tight field this year and very close between some of the bulls.”
Interbreed female champ
BIG hugs and even bigger smiles between father and daughter duo David and Aimee Bolton were the order of the day when their Red Angus cow was named interbreed champion female at Beef Australia 2012.
Always charged with anticipation and emotion, this year’s interbreed judging did not disappoint in either department when the Red Angus cow, 31-month-old Bolton Girls Whisper-Echo, exhibited with her robust eight-month-old bull calf, Bolton Girls Grenade, took out the big one in front of thousands of spectators in the main arena of Rockhampton Showgrounds.
Owned by sisters, Aimee and Olivia Bolton, Bolton Girls Red Angus Stud, Congupna, Victoria, in partnership with Tom Wilding-Davies, Holbrook, NSW, the cow was exhibited at Beef Australia 2012 by Aimee and her father, David Bolton. It was the first time the stud had shown cattle at Beef Australia.
“It’s just unreal,” David Bolton said as he led the cow from the arena, with well-wishers flocking to shake hands and congratulate the family.
“We actually brought a team of Herefords up from Tondara, Urana, and we just put our cattle, the Red Angus cow, calf and another heifer, on the truck at the end.
“Aimee and I bred the cow.
“Before coming to Rocky, she was reserve champion female at the Angus Round-Up in January in Hamilton, Victoria, and she stood third to her mother at Sydney.
“Her mother, Trevone Park Whisper C11, was part of the best beef pair which won the Hordern Trophy at this year’s Sydney Royal.”
Bolton Girls Whisper-Echo’s bull calf was sired by Bolton Girls Sakic Eclipse. David and Lisa Bolton and their three daughters have been breeding Red Angus for five years, after previously breeding Poll Herefords.
“We started in the Red Angus when a dear friend of ours told Aimee to pick out a Red Angus heifer she would like. That was five years ago and the heifer was Trevone Park Whisper C11,” Mr Bolton said.
“We would have flushed her five or six times and we really have built what we’ve got around her.”
From the field of 31 breeds which lined up for the interbreed judging, the panel of three judges whittled the entrants down to a final 10 breeds - Angus, Brahman, Brangus, Charbray, Charolais, Droughtmaster, Red Angus, Santa Gertrudis, Shorthorn and Simmental.
Judge James Laurie, Gloucester, NSW, said the Red Angus cow represented what the industry wanted.
