Youth News

New stud breeder Cooper Rafton from Mount Marshall has been named the 2017 Queensland Limousin Youth Ambassador. The announcement was made at the annual Limousin Youth Camp, which was held in Pittsworth on September 23-25. Cooper started showing cattle four years ago with the Scott’s College in Warwick. He regularly participated in the junior judges and paraders competitions around the show circuit, and his passion for the stud sector continued to grow from there. After helping his neighbour show some of their Limousin cattle, Cooper decided to get more involved with the breed by registering his own stud, Calinda Cattle Co. He has participated at the Limousin Youth Camp for the past three years, and he said he didn’t expect to be named the new youth ambassador for the breed. “It was definitely a shock, but I’m looking forward to getting out and about and meeting new people and learning new things,” Cooper said. “The society will help us get to the national Limousin show and other various events. It will be a good opportunity for me to get more involved with the breed.” To be eligible for the youth ambassador title, participants had to compete in the junior judges, junior paraders, and young auctioneer’s competition at the three day camp. They were also judged on their presentation, enthusiasm and sportsmanship over the weekend. Next year the Limousin Youth Camp will move to the South Burnett district. A final location is yet to be decided, but it’s likely to be held at either Kingaroy or Nanango. The Limousin Youth Camp has been running for ten years now, and has been held previously at Wondai in the South Burnett region. – COULTON’S COUNTRY.

The Qld Limousin Youth Camp was a hive of activity at the Pittsworth Showgrounds last weekend. With 108 kids in attendance with many of them travelling some distance including participants from afar a field as Alice Springs in the Northern Territory to Muswellbrook NSW. Friday kicked off with a tutorial on judging, followed by the young judges competition with the over-judge Graeme Wicks keeping a watchful eye on the proceedings. Everyone was then divided up into their groups to compete in some good old fashioned games such as the sack race, egg and spoon race and the tug-of-war (which also provided a good workout for some of the fathers). Saturday saw everyone up early to attend to their animals before splitting into their groups and then rotating around the various activities with each group having an animal allocated to them that followed their group around to assist with any demonstrations. All the activities were very hands on and included washing and blowing, showmanship, clipping (with 8 clipping chutes on the go with all the kids having a go), hoof trimming, semen collection (with everyone also getting a look under the microscope), temperament scoring, tattooing and getting right up to their armpits with Brad Frohloff and Breeding Betsy (the artificial cow) doing pregnancy testing and AI. The auction Saturday night not only gave some of the participants a chance to try their hand at auctioneering but also raised approximately $9,500 to assist with the running of next year’s Youth Camp. A big thank you to all who donated items for the auction. Sunday saw everyone up early again preparing their animals for show day. A good selection of led steers started off the day with Travis Luscombe as judge, followed by the other breed heifers. Limousin judging was also undertaken by Travis Luscombe with the bulls leading the way. Trav was put to the test when the first class of heifers consisted of an impressive line up of 26 head and the second class of 23 head. He also remarked that if anyone ever had any doubts about the temperament of Limousin cattle, that they only had to see this number of novice handlers out in the ring (with many of the cattle also being novices) without any problems. Eliza Borchardt and Corey Evans had the unenviable task of judging the Parader’s Competition. They had previously provided some instruction to the kids during the stud cattle judging. Sarah Coulton was the official photographer taking hundreds of photos throughout the day, culminating in a huge group photo of all the kids and their animals. Sarah can be contacted on her Facebook Page Coulton’s Country or www.coultonscountry.com.au to view and order photos. Results: Youth Ambassador Award – Cooper Rafton Champion Parader – Mitch Franz Reserve Champion Parader – Emma Costello Herdsman – Jean Plaisted Memorial Award – Destiny Perrett Champion Young Judge – Brooke Pieper Reserve Champion Young Judge – Alissa Cann Auctioneering (16yrs & over) – Cooper Rafton Auctioneering (under 16yrs) – Billy Goetsch Grand Champion Led Steer – Billy owned by Mitch Franz Reserve Champion Led Steer – Turbo owned by Callum McNichol Grand Champion Bull – AT Lewis Reserve Champion Bull – Ruby Park Lieutenant Grand Champion Female – Maryvale Luscious Reserve Champion Female – Oakwood Native Cut A huge thank you to everyone involved for making this a very enjoyable camp. The baton for the next Youth Camp has now been handed over to long time Limousin breeder Alan Eagleson with a venue to be announced in the South Burnett area.

Well the 2016 National Limousin Junior Show was another massive success. We had 118 competitors from right across Australia attend the 3-day event in Parkes, NSW. Although we started the weekend sopping wet, the competitors were in high spirits and were as enthusiastic as ever! The education program kicked off Friday morning and was chock-a-block full of fantastic presentations from some great experts in our industry. Competitors were able to attend the following sessions: Meat Cuts with Tim Bayliss Beef Cattle Nutrition with Tony Starr Sullivan’s Product information with Darryl Holder Clipping and Show Preparation with Ash Morris and Hayden Green Visual Assessment and Markets with Jeff House Paraders and Showing Lessons with Nigel and Casey Wieck Paddock to Plate Supply Chain with Bede McAlpin

On the 28th of April 2016 we saw 17 students attend the Limousin Youth Educational Conference in Dubbo. Students travelled all the way from Port Macquarie, Parkes, Gilgandra, Narromine and Dubbo. The day kicked off at the Troy Saleyards in Dubbo with a talk and tour of the saleyards by Ross McCarthy and Peter Brain. Dubbo Regional Livestock Markets is the largest saleyards facility in the nation in terms of combined sheep and cattle throughput with more than 1.3 million sheep and 200,000 cattle sold each year. It has been operating for more than 65 years. Mr McCarthy and Mr Brain went through the Effluent Treatment processes. Students then had a short break for morning tea. After morning tea Mr Brett Littler from the Local Land services at Mudgee gave a talk about visual assessment in the yards of commercial cattle. His talk included muscle scoring, fat scoring, welfare scoring and cattle markets. After Mr Littler’s talk a coach pick the collective group up and travelled to the Dubbo Meat and Seafood Centre. On arrival at the Meat Centre students were introduced to the owner/operator Mr Mark Knaggs and students were given a run down on the businesses production system and the processing of beef cattle at the centre. Afterwards students were visually shown some of the processes being undertaken on the day. Mr Littler also talked and showed his expertise in the judging of the beef cattle carcases in the chillers, going through; measurement of P8 and rib fat, measuring the eye muscle area, meat colour, fat colour, muscle score, ossification and intra muscular fat. Students were able to see the visual experience of how to visually assess a carcass. The Coach then picked up and transferred students to St Johns College Agriculture Farm. Upon arrival we were greeted by Mr Ben Toll the Agriculture Coordinator of St Johns College Dubbo. Mr Toll and Mr Littler went through a steer assessment program comparing muscularity and the degree of finish. This segment was split in to a theoretical section going through the science behind muscle scoring and fat scoring followed by a practical assessment with two exhibition steers being fat scanned. This educational program was followed by a BBQ lunch cooked by St Johns College parents Kylie Lydford, Ivette Labib and David Knaggs. After lunch Mr Littler went through Beef Cattle Markets such as light butcher, domestic, heavy domestic, EU and grass fed markets and the projects that he has been a part of. One project he was a part of was the beef spec calculator, this calculator is used to project what market cattle will fit into. The beef spec calculator estimates which market a producer or feedlot wishes to end up fitting into to maximise their profits. Mr Littler shared his expertise in the cattle industry with the Limousin Youth Educational Conference. This knowledge and experience is invaluable in teaching future beef leaders. The Limousin Youth Association greatly appreciate the contribution and time given to students of the Educational Conference by Mr McCarthy, Mr Brain, Mr Littler and Mr Ben Toll. They would also thank Mr Mark Knaggs of the Dubbo Meat and Seafood Centre for allowing students to visit his business and see a working butcher shop in action. They also extended a thank you to St Johns College for the use of their Agriculture facilities during the conference.

Another successful Annual Limousin National Show & Sale Youth Dinner Auction has ended with huge results! We have raised $6515 from 14 lots! Thank you to the purchasers and under bidders for this great outcome. The money raised will be put towards our upcoming National Limousin Junior Youth Show which is running from the 8-10 of July at Parkes Showgrounds. We would like to thank our sponsors of the 2016 National Limousin Show & Sale Youth Dinner Auction: • Meriden Limousins • Wilworril Limousins • Flemington Limousins • Birubi Limousins • Red Oak Farms • Unico Zelo Wines • Semex • O’Connor Family Without our sponsors and their support we wouldn’t be able to have the clinics for young cattle enthusiasts. We look forward to seeing you all at the next Limousin event.

For those who attended the QLD Limousin Youth Camp, there are images up online at www.coultonscountry.com.au from the weekend that are available for purchase.

Once again the auction at the youth camp proved to be very successful. In total the camp raised $9766.00. We are very thankful to all the sponsors who donated products and items for the auction to raise valuable funds for us to promote and advance our Limousin youth. An ongoing and what has become an annual event is our very successful Semen Auction. We would like to thank the following sponsors and purchasers for their support:

Young Kingaroy cattleman Corey Evans has been named the 2015 Queensland Limousin Youth Ambassador, following the three-day Queensland Limousin Youth Camp on September 25-27 at Pittsworth. The youth ambassador is calculated on points earned from the junior judges and paraders competition, the herdsperson competition and the young auctioneers. Entrants are to be between 16 and 25 years of age, and they must be a youth member of the Australian Limousin Breeders Society. Although he won’t say much about it, Corey has had plenty of wins on the show circuit over the years personally and with his cattle. He did however admit taking out the youth ambassador title was ‘pretty good’. “Within the next 12 months I hope to keep promoting the Limousin breed, and really encourage the younger generation to get involved,” Corey said.

In just his second year of showing cattle, 16-year-old Jase Lamborn has been awarded the highly regarded Jean Plaisted Memorial for the Limousin Society’s herdsperson competition. The competition was run over the three days of the Queensland Limousin Youth Camp held in Pittsworth on September 25-27, which attracted over 100 participants from five states. Competitors in the herdsperson competition are not only scored on their parading and judging ability, but their overall conduct in and around the sheds and show ring, their participation, involvement and sportsmanship. Originally from Mt Isa, Jase moved to Toowoomba several years ago and started school at Downlands College. Having worked on stations up north before the move, Jase took an interest in the school’s agricultural department and from there picked up the show leads for the first time.

Over 100 competitors from five different states made the journey to Pittsworth on September 25-27 for the hands-on Queensland Limousin Youth Camp. There were plenty of participants from all areas of South East Queensland in attendance, as well as from Dubbo and Muswellbrook in New South Wales, Victoria, and one person from both Western Australia and South Australia. Coordinator Paul Foreman, Little Rock Limousins, Pittsworth, said what makes the Queensland Limousin Youth Camp so attractive is the hands on and educational approach. “We do a rotational program so everyone gets the opportunity to learn a variety of skills. This year we had a number of industry identities on hand to help out,” Mr Foreman said.

Carmen Sowden, aged 13, of Five Star Limousins, Kingaroy won Champion School Parader. Reserve Champion School Parader was Lauren Moody, aged 15, of Mandalay Limousins. Champion School Steer Judge was Bill Cornish, Whylandra Limousins. Champion Open Parader was awarded to Chloe Janic. Champion Herdsperson was awarded to Zac Cameron

2015 MARYVALE JUNIOR LIMOUSIN SHOW REPORT