Isaac Regional council representative, Lyn Jones, centre, presenting Scott, Frank, Cathy and Natalia Finger with the grand champion exhibit ribbon. Pictures by Sally Cripps
By Sally Cripps, QCL
Clermont’s reputation as one of the beef powerhouses of Queensland was underlined at the region’s annual beef expo last week when some of the state’s most respected beef producers collected their trophies.
The Finger family of Hillview made it a trifecta when they received the ribbon for the grand champion exhibit, the Sally Taylor Memorial champion beast of expo, the champion pen of prime and winners of the 100-day grain fed class, for the third year in a row.
They won with Simmental cross bullocks weighing 758kgs, later making 342c/kg to return $2592 at the sale.
They also displayed the ribbon for best pen of trade steers 100-day grain fed. Their cattle made to 334c/kg for 641kgs to return $2142.
Scott and Frank Finger said they’d had a pretty ordinary season until a week earlier, when falls of 40 to 50mm came, but they thanked Phillip and Deborah Reid of Paringa Feedlot for feeding their cattle for 100 days.
“Normally we’d fatten on crops at Capella, and our grass at Clermont, and occasionally feedlot them,” Scott said. “We also thank Simon Fraser of JBS for buying our cattle for the third year in a row – it’s a vote of thanks to us.”
Theodore’s Darren Childs was the judge and he wasted no words in his summation.
“You hear a lot about the quality of the cattle here and it was certainly there today – it’s a credit to you,” he said.
Ann and Troy Kinnon, New Corry, Clermont, and some of the Simbrah heifers they’d won store heifer championship with. Pictures by Sally Cripps
Troy and Ann Kinnon, New Corry, Clermont, won the weaner steers and store heifer classes.
The steers weighed 243kgs to make 326c/kg for $792 and their sisters made 270c/kg for 222kgs to come back at $600.
The result for their Simbrah heifers was better than expected, considering the season.
“Simbrahs keep their softness – you can sell them straight off mum, and they feed well,” Troy said. “They’re very versatile cattle – we can grow them out to bullocks, and keep the Brahman cow as a base.”
They tipped out 62mm of rain the night before the competition, giving them something to work with in the short term.