The finals of the state young judges and paraders competition was held at the Proston show over the weekend, after being moved postponed twice due to COVID related issues.
Young paraders and judges, as well as family members and support crew, headed to the South Burnett to compete for the chance to represent Queensland at the national finals next month at the Sydney Royal Easter Show.
The Queensland Chamber of Agricultural Societies made the trip out to Proston to conduct the competition, with President Trevor Beckingham saying it was great to finally hold the finals after a very disrupted few years for shows.
Burnett local Chloe Plowman took out first place in the young paraders final, amidst a busy schedule which also included the prime young judges final and showing her own cattle.
Ms Plowman said winning the competition has long been a goal of hers, having been in the show cattle arena since she was in primary school.
"I'm pretty psyched, it's always been one of my dreams to compete at Sydney," she said.
"I've been showing cattle for seven years, so I started back when I was in grade six.
"I'm excited for Sydney, everyone says that it's so big and it's an experience like no other. It's so different to what Queensland does as well, so it will be great to be there."
Ms Plowman will have her extended family as a cheer squad at the national final, with cousin Corey Evans also competing, but in the young auctioneers competition.
With just one hour to prepare before the parading, Ms Plowman said her tactic was to connect as much as possible with the heifer that she drew for the competition.
"I got her all ready beforehand and made sure I had enough time to work with her," she said.
"I gave her some water and just stood under the tree with her in the shade for a while, getting used to how she stands, what she likes, what she doesn't like.
I also tried to move her around a bit without the stick as some judges will take the stick off you, so I was just playing with her feet and trying to keep her cool and calm.
"And then I just had to show her off to the best of her ability."
Hayden Beattie, Glamorgan Vale, was runner-up in a very tightly-contested paraders final.
Mackenzie Leeson came out on top in the young stud judges final, something that she has been working towards for many years.
"I'm really happy with it, I did not think that was going to happen," Ms Leeson said.
"I had a different order to the judge so I wasn't sure, it was very interesting.
"I haven't been to the Sydney Royal show before so I'm really excited for that.
"I started going to junior beef when I was about eight-years-old, so I've been judging for about 12 years and finally got somewhere."
Ms Leeson, whose family runs a commercial cattle operation near Moura, said she was very passionate about all aspects of the beef industry.
"I do parading as well, I used to prefer that but then got more into judging," she said.
"It's just interesting seeing different cattle and seeing what people prefer in their breeding.
"Some people focus on carcass traits and others focus on looks, so it's interesting seeing what different people do."
Runner-up in the stud judging was Hayden Hanson, finishing close behind his Moura mate, with the two Central Queenslander's celebrating in a fist pump after the announcement.
In one of the best moments of the day, Jack Williamson brought home the win in the prime young judges final and was quickly surrounded by hugs from his family.
Mr Williamson said he was very keen to compete in Sydney but was still trying to wrap his head around his achievement.
"We'll just see how we go down there," he said.
"I'm really stoked with how it went today, I think Mum and Dad are pretty happy too."
Mr Williamson works on his parents commercial cattle property at Mount Stanley and started judging after helping his Dad with cattle judging at smaller shows.
Runner-up in the prime judging was Charleigh Tucker, Jandowae, who also competed in the stud judging earlier in the day.
Stud cattle major awardees
The Speckle Park feature show was a highlight of the show program, with AAA Speckle Park stud and the Sowden family taking home majority of the ribbons.
Sowdens Save Me A Spot won both Junior and Grand Champion bull, while Sowdens Eva The Diva was Junior Champion Heifer.
Both Senior and Grand Champion cow went to AAA Photo Finisher, and AAA R08 Haselhoff was Senior Champion Bull.
The Stud Beef Supreme Exhibit of the show went to Bowenfels Stainless Steel of Glenrae Pastoral, Kingaroy, owned by Glen Perrett and shown by Kaitlyn Smith.
Whitaker Brahmans, Mundubbera, took out the most successful exhibitor of the show, winning the champion interbreed bull with Whitaker Mr Cruiser.
The Evans family, Kingaroy, of Jen-Daview Limousins won the champion led steer section with Jen-Daview Red Dots.
All results will be available in this week's Queensland Country Life.
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