Well-known Hereford breeder and former youth member, Oliver Jeffrey of Eathorpe Poll Herefords, Armidale, made his Royal judging debut at the Royal Queensland Show last week, saying it was an honour to have judged the breed he holds close to his heart.
The 29-year-old has been involved in the beef industry for most of his life.
Growing up he spent a lot of time working alongside his family preparing stud animals for shows, and came through the Hereford Youth program attending many junior events over the years.
When he entered his teenage years, Mr Jeffrey became more involved in the running of the youth program after being named one of the Hereford Youth Ambassadors for the 2016/2017 term.
He also served as the Herefords Northern NSW Youth Group president in 2017.
Judging livestock is something Mr Jeffreys says he is very comfortable doing, having previously judged many local shows.
He has also had success in junior judging competitions at several youth and local shows, as well as at the Sydney Royal Show where he placed fourth in the RAS/ASC beef cattle young judges state final in 2018.
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Mr Jeffreys was honoured to be given the opportunity to officiated the breed his involvement in the industry stems from.
"I judged the Hereford section of the beef cattle classes which was a great experience," Mr Jeffrey said.
"I put a lot of emphasis on commercial relevance and profitable traits.
"It is not every day you get the opportunity to do this and I really hope people could see the value in my opinion on the day.
"It was great to see such a good quality line up of Hereford cattle on display from across the country and it is a real credit to the Hereford breed to see the positive direction they are heading."
Mr Jeffries owns his own rural based earth moving company, Northern Tablelands Earthmoving, and remains heavily involved in the beef industry through running a beef trading operation and breeding stud Herefords
