About 220 students from nearly 20 schools have attended the Northern Schools Steer Competition 2022 at Manilla showgrounds, preparing, parading, and, ultimately, evaluating about 70 steers and heifers on the hook.
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Tamworth High School's Martin McCabe and Peel High School's Ben Bowman have been part of the organising team for the event and were delighted with the rollout of schools and students.
Mr Bowman said this year, parading classes for junior, intermediate, and senior students were added to the agenda along with unled cattle judging.
Most of the students camped on the showgrounds with their livestock, and the day started the process of preparing for the show ring and the three levels of parading competitions - junior, intermediate and senior.
The parader competition judge was Dominique Wyse, who said her criteria began with selecting those students exhibiting confidence and attention to their stock.
"Then when I start to narrow down the field, it's about skill and technique and softness of hands," she said.
"We don't want to see the parader pulling too hard on the nose ring."
Judging the led beef classes was McCulloch Agencies stock agent Alec Clydsdale who was also overseeing the unled steers. These classes were judged late in the evening.
- A full report of the Northern Schools Steer Competition will appear in The Land.