A number of new faces were at this year's feedlot trial as more cattle producers recognise the value of the program as a benchmarking tool for their operations and make the leap to enter.
For Holbrook Red Angus producers, Tom and Allan Wilding-Davies, WD Cattle, the feedback trial was seen as a opportunity to be able to benchmark against other operations and breeds in the industry.
It also provided the opportunity to simply see their own cattle in the feedlot, something they otherwise didn't usually get to do.
The family have been breeding Red Angus cattle for nearly 20 years, with some of their bulls destined as far as Western Australia and northern Queensland.
"I have always watched the Beef Spec with an element of interest and we saw it was an opportunity to put a few steers in to get some feedback," Mr Wilding-Davies said.
"The idea is we try to be fairly commercially relevant in our program and focus on what we think are commercially relevant traits, so it was an opportunity to follow some cattle through.
"We just thought it was be nice to support something local, get some feedback and potentially enter some bodies in the Rockhampton competition too."
Matthew Harris, Junee, near Wagga Wagga, was also a first-time entrant, with five Poll Hereford steers.
Running a mixed farming operation on 1300 hectares, with 350 Poll Hereford and Angus breeders and first-cross ewes, Mr Harris saw the opportunity as a learning curve to able to see how the steers performed as well as other producers' cattle.
"I've been breeding cattle for quite a long time and they do okay in the saleyards, and the feedlots buy them, but you try to better your product," Mr Harris said.
After putting one team in the trial this year, Mr Harris said the plan for next year may be to put a black baldy team in, or try different types of steers.
Another new program entering the competition was Lazy S Brangus, Condamine, Qld.
Lazy S Brangus stud principal, Susan Fawcett, said the trial was an opportunity for some promotion for the stud, as well as a chance to see how the cattle performed.
She said while there were a few carcase competitions in the north, there weren't many feedlot trials.
"In my opinion the stud cattle industry is about beef, so you have to be on the other side of it, which is your steers," Ms Fawcett said.
"At the end of the day we're trying to produce a line of bulls that will produce a line of steers for the commercial man."
She said while they produced seedstock for both themselves and for other breeders, the end game was ultimately about meat.
