IT was the shy smile from the unasuming central Queensland cattleman, Stewart Nobbs that said it all, at the Elders Commercial cattle show and sale at the CQLX on Wednesday morning.
The show and sale formed part of the 18th World Brahman Congress, held in Rockhampton this week, and it was Stewart Nobb’s pen of Yoman Cattle Co’s crop/pasture fed steers that were sashed the grand champion pen.
And while the Nobbs family are no strangers to winning prime cattle competitions, it was this very award that was claimed by Stewart’s father, the late Eric Nobbs, Lyndhurst, Biloela, at the inaugural World Brahman Congress in 1983, held at the CQLX located at, Gracemere, near Rockhampton.
Stewart selected a line of steers from his Yoman herd about six months ago, and finished them on a Leuceana crop.
“These steers had a good early season, but then the country started to dry off,” he said.
The grand champion pen of 10 two-tooth steers weighed 578kg, and sold for the top price of 330c/kg to return $1857/head. They had earlier been judged the champion pen of crop/pasture fed steers.
The Nobb’s Yoman Cattle Co also claimed the reserve champoion crop/pasture pen award for a line of 10 heifers with a weight of 531kg, selling for 283c/kg to return $1439/head.
All the Yoman Cattle Co exhibits were sired by home-bred sires.
Rodger and Loreena Jefferis, Elrose, Cloncurry were delighted when their pen of steers were awarded the champion grainfed pen.
Weighing 664kg, these steers has been part of a consignment the family has consigned to the Bruce Hutchison and family’s Melbig Feedlot in the Mundubbera district to be fed for 110 days.
Rodger only sighted the steers last Saturday, and it was then he made his selection for this competition.
These steers, with a weight of 664kg, sold for 322c/kg to return $2106/head.
For Tim Olive, winning the reserve grainfed champion at the Elders Commercial Cattle Show and Sale was more than just a trophy.
At their property, Apis Creek, Marlborough, the family run about 5000 head on 25,000 hectares.
“We picked up first and second (class one), in class three we got third, class five we got first and second again. And then reserve champion,” Mr Olive said.
“They’ve been fed at home in our own feedlot, and were fed for a minimum of 122 days. Their weight gain was 2kg per day.
“They were bred on the place and fed on the place, I think we’re the only ones here that do that.”
Mr Olive said the family has been battling a tough drought which meant the recognition was a lovely surprise.
“We went through a hell of a drought this year, and so this does mean a lot because we’re on them every day, feed them every day, monitor them every day,” he said.
“It goes right back to the genetics, we breed from American genetics and select the temperaments and if we hit it all the way through… we get it.
With their own feedlot now up-and-running on the property, Mr Olive said he was looking forward to exhancing that part of the business.
“We’re just doing our own cattle at the moment, but we will be looking for other people’s cattle because we’ve got to keep it full all the time to keep it going,” he said.
“We might have another drought, so we might have to fill it again (ourselves), that’s why we did so well in last year and this year - because we fed the cattle.”
The family run primarily grey brahmans, but Mr Olive said they have “splashed” the herd with reds, and do crossbreeding as well.
These steers with a weight of 614kg sold for 318c/kg to return $1914/head.
The job of judging the tremendous line-up of 656 Brahman cattle, penned into 65 lots was carried out by three judges.
The judges were Richard Sheriff, livestock manager for Stanbroke, who judged the grainfed classes, Robert Barnard, livestock manager for JBS, Rockhampton, who judged the crop/pasture feed classes, and Roger Nobbs, Garwin Brahman Stud, Bauhinia Downs, who judged the PTIC heifer class.
