A first-time entrant in the Beef Spectacular Feedback Trial from Bookham in southern NSW has won a haul of major awards.
The “Shepstone Park” team went home from the presentation dinner at Wagga Wagga with the champion carcase gong, runner up in the Riverine Premium Beef champion pen contest and sixth in the overall competition.
“Shepstone Park” is owned by Sydney-based Craig Turnbull.
“We were very pleased and surprised, given that we had never been in a (steer trial) competition before,” Mr Turnbull said.
“We were hoping we would do well in meat quality, we put a lot of (breeding) focus on that.”
He was pleased with the dressing percentage results for the “Shepstone Park” steers and had learned valuable lessons about hitting carcase size specifications. Four of the steers scored well for carcase weight.
“From an educational point of view, it’s been fantastic.”
He said they aimed to sell cattle to feedlots and had been getting good feedback from customers.
They entered the feedlot trial hoping the intensive feedback and scrutiny would sharpen their understanding of what feedlots want.
He wasn’t disappointed. “It’s been a great experience.”
Mr Turnbull bought “Shepstone Park” 22 years ago, primarily as a farm holiday destination for his family.
Now the farm and its beef enterprise, managed from the start by Claydon Butt, has become his hobby.
“I am fortunate to have had Claydon as a very good manager,” he said.
About 450 Angus cows are run on “Shepstone Park” with the older females joined to Angus bulls and the younger cows and heifers to Wagyus.
Mr Turnbull started his breeding program with Angus bulls from Tasmania’s Landfall stud.
Then for 10 years he sourced bulls from the leading Victorian studs, Te Mania and Lawsons Angus, with a focus on New Design and Future Direction bloodlines.
Twelve years ago he switched to bulls from the Harbison family’s Dunoon at Holbrook and the Corrigan family’s Rennylea at Bowna including a number of sons and grandsons of the influential sire, Tuwharetoa Regent D145.
Three of their Beef Spectacular winning pen were sired by Dunoon Jarrawood J289, a son of Regent.
Bulls for the Wagyu side of the business had been sourced from Barb Benjamin’s Goshu stud in Victoria but her herd has recently been sold to Shamrock Station in Queensland.
“We don’t know yet what we are going to do (about future Wagyu bull purchases),” Mr Turnbull said.
Vernon Graham
Former editor of The Land, former Fairfax Media Agricultural Editor
Former editor of The Land, former Fairfax Media Agricultural Editor
