When you're 1500 kilometres away from the closest Royal Show, opportunities to compete are few and far between, but Atherton stud Barronessa have proven, once again, that location is no barrier to success.
The Strazzeri family were awarded runner-up in this year's ACM Sire Shootout with their 22-month-old Brangus bull, Barronessa Munster S19.
Barronessa's Jeff Strazzeri said they were "pretty damn happy" with the result.
"We're really happy to come away with runner-up, it was pretty amazing," he said.
"We focus on breeding cattle like that, with that balance, so to get those judges to come in and say I think these guys are doing something right, it's so great to hear."
Much like his namesake, Maroons legend Cameron Munster, the homozygous polled bull dominated the field from the outset, being placed at the top of the Bos Indicus class by judge Rob Sinnamon, RL Pastoral Company, before impressing the entire panel in the interbreed final.
"I loved the completeness and balance of that bull," Mr Sinnamon said.
"He was an animal that had that wow factor that set him apart from the other bulls in the class. What made him so complete was that balance, that structural correctness."
"He was reproductively very correct and had the carcase attributes and the commercial relevance that made him a really top, outstanding sire."
Having entered the competition for a number of years now, Mr Strazzeri said it was a great marketing oppoortunity and encouraged other breeders to get involved.
"It's a fantastic competition," he said.
"You might have only have a small stud, or you might have a quite large one, but when you're putting all those animals on display, taking the time the effort to do that, you're actually getting a greater audience to market and sell your bulls.
"The quality of those judges as well, you're getting the best in the industry to critique your bulls.
"It's a great concept and a great competition to be a part of, and we're just extremely lucky that we've been successful."
No strangers to the winners circle, Barronessa previously won the 2021 competition with Barronessa Holloway, brother to Munster's dam, Barronessa International 541Q5.
Mr Strazzeri said the Holloway line had made a big impact on their herd, as had Munster's sire, the home-bred Barronessa Mr Blockbuster 236.
Munster, along with another nine Barronessa bulls, will be up for grabs at the 2023 Rockhampton Brangus Sale on October 9.
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