UP TO 3500 head of cattle will be trucked into Tamworth for the nine-day Landmark Classic Campdraft and Sale from Saturday, but demand for so many livestock at the region’s major horse sporting events has forced the relocation of a headline competition.
With up to 500 competitors and more than 1600 horses set to descend on Tamworth’s Australian Equine Livestock Events Centre (AELEC) this week, sourcing cattle during a drought-stricken year posed the toughest task for Landmark agents.
The National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA) National Finals will move to Toowoomba this year due to a lack of cattle available in the area.
An NCHA spokesperson said they hoped to secure livestock much easier from more feedlots in the Darling Downs region.
Preparations for the Landmark Classic cattle donations began from September with numbers only finalised last weekend.
Landmark national livestock marketing specialist Mark Barton said one of the biggest challenges for the popularity of the sport and the sustainability of the AELEC arena was being able to continually source cattle suitable for the events.
“If you look at the four major events (ABCRA finals, Landmark Classic, NCHA National Finals and Futurity) that are traditionally held at AELEC it puts a need of in excess of 10,000 cattle basically between January and May,” he said.
“That’s just for those top four competitions, not to mention the normal weekend programs that happen all around the same region.”
This year’s seasonal conditions forced Landmark agents to draw on their vast client base for support.
“The key message for us is we are so lucky we have got the industry we are in and we have been able to draw on a lot of relationships,” Mr Barton said.
“It was really extraordinary the amount of people that have said, ‘If you need help we have got cattle for you, it’s an important industry event’.”
About two thirds of the cattle were sourced from within 100 kilometres while the remaining came will come from outside the area, as far as the Dubbo region.
Lucy Kinbacher
Raised on a cattle property at Biggenden, Lucy Kinbacher has spent 10 years working across metropolitan, regional and rural publications in both Queensland and NSW. Lucy has been the editor of the Queensland Country Life and North Queensland Register since 2021.
Raised on a cattle property at Biggenden, Lucy Kinbacher has spent 10 years working across metropolitan, regional and rural publications in both Queensland and NSW. Lucy has been the editor of the Queensland Country Life and North Queensland Register since 2021.
