Despite widespread dry conditions, the RNA prime cattle section has seen a solid number of nominations this year, with the largest on-ground showing since 2013.
RNA beef cattle committee chairman, Gary Noller, said it was great to see the strong showing considering many people are struggling with the dry.
“With the dry and everything else, our numbers aren't too bad,” Mr Noller said.
“Our pens of six have increased and we're expecting pretty much the same as we might have had last year.”
Individual entries have dropped from 120 to 95, while pens of three have risen from 18 to 21 and pens of six have increased from 19 to 23.
The competition departed from tradition last year, having just a single judge in charge, rather than the usual two, and the success of this change will see the single judge continued.
Mr Noller said the change was made in the hopes of speeding things up, getting things a little more mobile and giving the competition more direction.
“If you've got one guy there with full responsibility, they'll come in with a lot more interest from the perspective of giving a comment back to the audience, so that was one of the reason,” he said.
“And I think we get a better set of commentary out of one judge.”
Judging the competition this year will be John Manchee from Narrabri in New South Wales.
Mr Manchee, alongside his wife, Liz, run Manchee Agriculture, a beef breeding operation consisting of 1400 breeding females, producing stud and commercial cattle, with a strong emphasis on paddock to plate attributes.
Manchee Agriculture is spread across three properties in north-west NSW and southern Queensland, regularly exhibiting in feedlot and carcase competitions with a string of major MSA eating quality, feedlot and carcase awards in the past 10 years.
Cattle are weighed at 5am on Thursday, August 9, and judged from 11.30am.
Young judges is at 3.30pm, and the sale of the cattle will follow the Young Auctioneers State Final on Friday morning.
The prime beef awards will be announced at 3pm on the Friday afternoon.