IT HAS been 15 years since Yanco cattleman Peter Kylstra entered a show ring, but in just a few weeks he has taken out two of the industry's most prestigious awards.
Fresh off the back of a Canberra Royal female interbreed win, his apricot and black duo cow and calf, Progress Perfect Storm P5 and Progress Perfect Storm R4, was awarded the Urquhart Perpetual Trophy for the supreme beef exhibit of the 2021 Sydney Royal Show.
Tears flowed when judges David Bassingthwaite, Waco Santa Gertrudis, Mungallala, Qld, Erica Halliday, Ben Nevis Angus, Walcha, and Liz Manchee, vice president of Shorthorn Beef, selected the 30-month-old as the overall winner from the 371 stud beef cattle exhibits that graced the lawns this year.
Exhibited by Mr Kylstra and his family from Progress Limousins, and H and L Livestock, Queanbeyan, the 30-month-old first calf female was by Progress Moose M2 and out of Progress Collies Magic K4.
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A female that combined "the best of the best in one pedigree" according to Mr Kylstra, she was bred from a legacy of bloodlines retained on ice for many years.
At 14 Mr Kylstra got involved in breeding Limousin cattle, starting with embryos and four cows from Collian Park Limousins, Flinders, Vic in 1988.
He worked for a number of elite Limousin breeders in Australia and overseas, and in 1996 his genetics were among those used to establish the Premier Genetics herd, where he was stud manager for 15 years until its dispersal.
He showed Progress Perfect Storm P5's great grandmother, Premier Cauliflower S3, at Sydney in 1989 where she won junior champion.
"Through the 1990s I had a cow called Cauliflower - probably one of the most famous cows in the Limousin breed and that is her grandmother," he said.
"That is when I fell in love with the pedigree."
Prior to winning the Urquhart Trophy, Mr Kylstra held Cauliflower's Melbourne Royal supreme beef exhibit win in 2002 as his highest accolade.
"It was under a panel of eight judges and she won that unanimously," he said.
Mr Kylstra sold Cauliflower for $20,000 as a five-year-old to Lochton Pastoral, Vic but bought her back at 16. He flushed her before she passed away but the embryos sat on ice for some time.
"I was in partnership with Hayden Green from Summit Livestock at the time with the old Cauliflower cow. He was able to put them in straight away and I've seen his program evolve because of this," he said.
"There was always the 'what if' in the back of my mind. What if I had of been on the boat with him? So over the years I have put a few of the embryos in and this is the result."
Last year Perfect Storm P5's mother was set up to be shown at Sydney but missed her chance when the event was cancelled due to COVID-19.
"I've come reserve in the Urquhart female twice," he said. "I made comments two days before Limo judging - I would trade all my previous cows for this one chance.
"This was, and has proven to be my best shot."
The Urquhart Trophy was only ever been won by one other Limousin cow, Myers Lady Luck, in 2014 who was a Cauliflower granddaughter.
As for what the win meant, Mr Kylstra said "it's a bit like a retired footy player - you're worried if you're going to look like a has-been when you pull the boots back on".
"To know that the genetic make-up was still competitive, to know that I was still competitive and the credibility that goes with it," he said.
Perfect Storm P5 overcame the supreme interbreed bull winner, Hillview Quigley Q18, exhibited by Danny and Debbie Hill, Bungendore (p14).
Sired by world-renowned sire LD Capitalist 316, he weighed 1188 kilograms with an eye muscle of 144 square centimetres.
Quigley Q18 was the grand bull and supreme exhibit in the Angus ring officiated by Troy Setter, Consolidated Pastoral Company (CPC), Brisbane, Qld.
He also paired up with PC J260 Miss Conversion M205 exhibited by Greg and Sharon Fuller of Pine Creek Angus, Woodstock to win the Hordern Perpetual Trophy, placing ahead of the Limousin group.
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