ENTRIES are open for one of the state's premier benchmarking opportunities for beef producers, the 2019 Merriwa Show Feedlot Trial.
The feedlot trial and hoof and hook competition allows producers to analyse their production and use the extensive amount of data to improve breeding and farm management decisions.
What began as a small regional competition has become a trial that involves beef producers from a wide area, with cattle entered from Orange in the Central West, to Guyra, in the New England.
The 200 steers, weighing from 240 kilograms to 340kg at the point of feedlot entry, will be fed at the local Alexander Downs feedlot for approximately 100 days and processed by Woolworths at its Tamworth facility, where the carcases will be assessed by Jason Siddell under the Meat Standards Australia grading system.
The cattle will be assessed on both feedlot performance and carcase quality, with average daily gain, feed intake and conversion, carcase value, profitability, as well as market specifications (weight, sex, dentition, rump fat, fat colour and texture), saleable meat yield (muscle score, rib eye area and rib fat depth), and eating quality (pH, meat colour, weight for maturity, Bos Indicus percentage, marbling and fat distribution) recorded.
Data collected from this trial shows an improvement in both feedlot and carcase performance since the competition began five years ago.
In last year's trial, daily weight gain averaged 1.87 kilograms per head per day, with the steers consuming an average of 10.1kg/head/day of feed for a feed conversion of 5.04kg of feed per kilogram of weight gain.
Merriwa Show vice president Pat Ryan said producers would be awarded for highest weight gain, highest dressing percentage and highest profitability, with the overall winner being announced following the carcase assessment.
Last year's overall winners were local brother and sister Jacob and Alicia Medd, whose Limousin/Shorthorn-cross cattle were the best on the hoof (Alicia) and the hook (Jacob). Mr Medd took out overall champion, with his pen's profitability and carcase assessment adding up to 448.5 points out of a possible 600.
Cattle will be purchased on a cents per kilogram basis, at a premium above market value, delivered to Alexander Downs by Wednesday June 12. All cattle will be on display at the Merriwa Springtime Show for the hoof judging, before returning to the feedlot for approximately 10 days before being processed by Woolworths and having the carcases assessed.
Results will be published in The Land later this year.
To enter, please contact Tony Inder on 0427 485 100.
The feedlot trial is sponsored by Woolworths, Alexander Downs and The Land.
