RETURNING to the competition with a bang in 2020 was Shane and Jenny Priestly of Karinya, Gregadoo, who received reserve in the carcase section.
Running 60 breeders, mostly Angus of Reiland bloodlines, on their 141 hectare property, the Priesltys have been using an Onward Murray Grey bull over them and decided to re-enter the competition to see how the progeny was performing.
Shane Priestly said he thought the Murray Grey bull was pretty good, and had a strong chance of siring quality calves when crossed with an Angus cow.
"We thought why not give it a go," he said. "We had 10 calves to pick from, and selected the five that all looked even in weight and type and went from there.
"They were only fed pasture and some hay before entering the feedlot."
Ranking second out of the 87 teams in the trial, the Priestlys scored 431 points out of the 550 possible.
The Angus/Murray Grey cross steers all scored full points for hot standard carcase weight (HSCW), with an average HSCW of 377.7kg a head. For dressing percentage the team averaged 55.78 per cent and for lean meat yield they averaged 53.34pc.
All but one of the five steers had a marble score of two and qualified for the Riverine Premium Beef brand.
Overall the pen had an average MSA Index of 56.30 and placed 23rd in the trial.
Mr Priestly said they had previously entered the competition several years ago with a purebred Murray Grey team that also did fairly well in the carcase section.
"Previous to moving to the property three years ago, we were all Murray Greys. We had to buy back in and bought black," he said.
All black Angus females are kept as replacements, while the steers are usually sent to the saleyards at Wagga Wagga when they have hit the 450kg to 500kg mark.
After receiving the feedback from the trial, the Priestlys aim to continue doing what they are doing as they seem to be satisfying the processors.