THE 2022 NSW Beef Spectacular Feedback Trial came to an end last week, with steers exiting the feedlot and being processed for the final stage of the competition.
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Although run under difficult circumstances in its 13th year due to COVID-19, the trial attracted 39 individual vendors with 375 head, across 20 breeds and crosses, with a total of nine new vendors this year and five return vendors that have come back after several years.
On feed for 112-days at the Teys Jindalee Feedlot, which won the Australian Feedlot of the Year 2021 award for the above 15,000 head category, the steers had an average daily gain (ADG) of 1.7 kilograms per head per day.
Teys Jindalee Feedlot manager Shane Bullock said the trial was again conducted as a hormone growth promotant-free (HGP-free) trial and the steers looked good, but the variation at the start could still be seen at the end.
RELATED READING: 2021 NSW Beef Spectacular Feedback Trial results and trends
One pen of steers finished up with an average liveweight of 618 kilograms while the other was 620kg.
"Those weight gains are better than what has been going out in our normal cattle over the last couple of weeks," he said.
"The heaviest steers were well into the 700kg liveweight range, while there were others on the lighter side of 500kg.
"There certainly were some well-finished steers going out."
The steers entered the trial weighing between 260kg and 514kg at induction, resulting in an average weight of 430kg which was on par with the 2022 trial average of 432kg.
This was the second year the trial ran HGP-free, with weight gains very similar to 2021 where the ADG was 1.67kg/hd/day.
"Everything was the same as last year including the ration, however the steers had a tougher start with how wet it was - we've had nearly 900 millimetres of rain (at Jindalee feedlot) over the last 12 months," Mr Bullock said.
Cattle in this year's trial came from as far away as Yeppoon in central Queensland with a Droughtmaster Angus cross team that saw its own challenges in getting five steers 1500 kilometres to the feedlot.
NSW Beef Spectacular Trial coordinator Brett Tindal, Wagga Wagga, said there were two teams of Galloway cross cattle this year and the return of some Shorthorn cattle, along with the regular breeds of which the Angus breed again made up 45 per cent of the total cattle this year.
Heavily involved in the trial since it began in 2009, Teys Australia and Jindalee Feedlot continue to see the competition as a means for producers to gain valuable data which can help them improve their production system and understand how cattle perform against the end point specifications which are in place to meet the needs of consumers.
"Running this trial and what we see as its purpose was recognised by the judges in the Feedlot of the Year competition," Mr Bullock said.
"The entire team at Teys and the Jindalee Feedlot were extremely proud to be awarded the coveted Feedlot of The Year Award for 2021 which is judged across two stages.
"The award is judged across two stages covering QA culture, product integrity, environmental stewardship, animal welfare responsibility and business planning including staff attraction and retention, community amenity and social accountability, innovation and supply chain management."
The 2022 NSW Beef Spectacular Feedback Trial presentation and awards dinner will be held February 4, 2022 in Wagga Wagga.
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