Yarrawonga exhibits showcase breeding direction

Their pen of three Santa Gertrudis heifers scored the purple ribbon for the pen of three steers or heifers class, before going on to be awarded the grand champion broad ribbon and the Syd Vellnagel memorial trophy.

Andrew Bassingthwaighte said they were very excited.

"It's been a long time since we've won the pen competition so it's really good," he said.

"The pen of heifers, we always thought were pretty exceptional at home and always thought they might do well in their class, but to take out the whole thing was really exciting."

Mr Bassingthwaighte put the success of the pen down to their evenness.

"We scanned some of these cattle because we were maybe going to put them in a led competition and these heifers are actually better than our steers with muscle, they had 125 EMAs (eye muscle area), and fat cover was perfect," he said.

"All three of them coming through, they've been pretty exciting and being purebred Santas, it's great to see with the muscle, with the fat cover, with the character as well.

"All round, just a complete package on all three of them."

Weighing an average of 533kg, the grain-fed heifers sold for 490 cents a kilogram to Woolworths, showcasing the breeding direction at Yarrawonga, Mr Bassingthwaighte said.

"We're mainly selling into the Woolworths market now, so this is mainly what we're breeding for and it's just really good to show why we're going to Woolworths with what we're doing," he said.

The Santa Gertrudis breed had a strong showing throughout the competition, claiming a haul of ribbons.

"For us, it's to show people that we do have these cattle, and you can breed this type of carcase and your grass-fed type cattle, breeders that will survive on grass and will compete," Mr Bassingthwaighte said.

"It's a chance to change people's mentality that Santas are out there and not only do we have good weight gains in a feedlot, we can carcase as well."