STEVE Hayward and Kelly Smith from Allora, Queensland, have won Sydney Royal Show’s coveted Urquhart and Hordern trophies with an Angus cow.
It was a landmark win for the hardworking couple, who tended many of the competitors doing rounds of the rings at the show.
“It was a very strong competition and this is a hard one to win,” Mr Hayward said, exhausted after the penultimate judging of beef cattle at the show. Of the breed’s domination of major prizes at the show, Mr Hayward said there was a large Angus gene pool and a lot of breeders and that led to the breed kicking a lot of goals in the marketplace.
Asked about the future of the Australian beef industry at the moment, Mr Hayward said with good rain right across Australia, the market would become very strong.
The three Urquhart Trophy judges were unanimous in their decision.
One judge, Anne Starr, said it was a really tough decision, but all were really pleased with the Angus cow.