Santa Gertrudis, exhibiting genetics at the top of their game, have mixed it with the best of any breed in the recent Sydney Royal Beef Challenge held at Wilga Feedlot, Bellata.
The RAS competition was initially set-up by retiring Yulgilbar manager Rob Sinnamon who approached Michael McCue from Wilga.
The concept of the competition was from the start designed to reflect commercial excellence, and was founded on the back of the RNA Paddock to Palate program carried out by Royal Queensland Show.
The NSW producers took it a step further and included a hormone-free domestic class - something the EKKA later followed.
"This is an independent way to benchmark our cattle under commercial conditions," Mr Sinnamon said.
"It gives an unbiased comparison as to how cattle perform in the feedlot."
The Baryulgil based Yulgilbar Pastoral Company received nine gold and six silver medals, along with reserve champion pen of six in the 100-day export class with their Santa Gertrudis Hereford cross steers that scored a total of 665.9 points.
The same team of steers also won the team feedlot performance section, placed equal second in the carcase judging of the export section and were third overall for profitability.
Within the same class, Yulgilbar won champion individual export steer with a Santa Gertrudis Angus cross steer on 279.83pts. This steer won a number of accolades including; the individual feedlot performance, daily weight gain and profitability.
It belonged to the team of steers that won the eating quality team and placed second for profitability.
A group of Yulgilbar Santa Gertrudis steers won first for the team export carcases.
In the 70-day domestic class, Yulgilbar received first place in the pen of six domestic carcases with its Santa Gertrudis pen of six steers, while a steer within this team was second overall for individual feedlot performance and another received equal second place in the individual carcase section. It tied with a Santa Gertrudis Angus cross steer also from Yulgilbar.
Another Santa Gertrudis Angus steer received the second highest MSA Index score of 66.07, placing second for individual eating quality in the domestic class.
For Yulgilbar, sire selection has always come down to a balancing act between growth and intramuscular fat (IMF).
"We always select for adequate fat and focus on selecting sires with that higher IMF around 5pc to 7pc," Mr Sinnamon said.
"Of course we do realise that at the end of the day producers are paid for cents a kilogram - paid for weight - so we must get maximum expression of muscle.
"Cattle producers are a big fan of commercial relevance and can relate to them more than a led show bull.
"The proof for us was in the pudding - by winning the champion pen of six domestic carcases with our straight Santa steers... they are more than capable of holding up against any breed."
The Santa Gertudis Hereford cross will be seen more often in the station's expansive paddocks.
"With that cross and the hybrid vigour it brings we are able to take the tail-end of our genetics and increase bottom line profit," Mr Sinnamon said.
"Corrective mating has always been the hallmark of the seedstock industry and with competitions like the RAS Sydney Royal Beef Challenge we carry that thinking one step further to commercial cattle, using aligning our genetics to increase profit."
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