Angus bull wins top award

Press, 8 November 1984, Page 26

Angus bull wins top award

A three-year-old Angus bull won this year’s Meat and Wool Cup, at the Canterbury Show, breaking the domination Herefords have held over the event in recent years. Valiant of the Downs, owned by Greg and Wayne Chisnall, of Hawarden, convincingly won the premier event with 32 points. A Charolais cow, owned by B. T. Fisher, of Greepark, was second with 17 points and a Simmental bull, from the Levels Farming Company, Timaru, was a close third with 16 points. Herefords have dominated this event in recent years, but the nomination from this breed only managed sixth equal placing yesterday. An Angus bull won the cup’ at the 1982 Royal Show but Herefords have won it 15 times in the last 17 years. The Meat and Wool Cup is awarded to the best registered purebred beef animal each year. Each of the eight beef breed judges selected one animal from his breed to contest the cup and then the judges named their choice of top four beasts over all. The first four judges called to vote yesterday chose the Angus bull first, but the bull received only two second placings from the remaining four judges. The Simmental bull was placed first by two judges. The Chisnail’s Angus bull was runner-up in the Meat and Wool Cup last year, and won the all breeds championship at the Hawarden, Amuri and Mayfield shows last season as a two-year-old. He was also chosen the supreme champion Angus beast yesterday. Judges comments:— Angus The supreme champion Angus, a three-year-old bull shown by G. and W. Chisnall, of Hawarden, displayed all the wellknown Angus attributes, said the judge, Mr Dennis Pattullo. of Reporoa. The

bull was upstanding, wellbalanced and muscled, had fine shoulders and was of a good temperament. Mr Pattullo said the champion bull showed that it had a good food conversion ratio and was effective at turning grass into red meat without excess fat. The champion Angus cow, shown by C. S. Stringer and Son, was fine in the shoulder, well balanced and muscled, of good temperament and feminine looking, said Mr Pattullo. The over-all standard of the Angus cattle was very pleasing, said Mr Pattullo, who farms 70 registered Angus cows. This year is the first time he has judged at the Canterbury show, although he exhibited Angus cattle at the 1982 Royal show. Mr Pattullo’s cattle were successful at the recent Hamilton show, taking the champion and reserve champion senior female awards as well as the supreme champion Angus. Simmental Simmental cattle were of a good standard and there was a pleasing number of entries in the yearling classes, said the judge, Mr Alan Perry, of Feilding. The supreme champion, a three-year-old bull bred by John Absalom and shown by Levels Farming Company, Ltd, Timaru, was a good striding animal and well muscled, said Mr Perry. The champion female shown by C. J. Patterson, Lakeside, was a good specimen of the Simmental breed and had twin calves which were doing well. The yearling heifer and yearling bull sections contained some good quality animals and it was hard to choose the top few, said Mr Perry. Mr Perry has been breeding Simmentals for about 10 years, and runs 40 purebred cows. He has not judged Simmentals at Christchurch before, but has officiated in the Hampshire sheep section.

Hereford The Hereford section included several magnificent yearling bulls both senior and junior, said the judge, Mr Charles Lee, Ward. The line-up showed there had been a lot of forward-look-ing thinking by breeders in working on growth and size of their cattle. The yearling bull section included at least six potential top stud sires. The supreme champion was a two-year-old bull, well grown and of good size. The female section did not quite have the depth in quality as the bulls did, but the class winners were still very good Herefords, said Mr Lee. Mr Lee said it was heartening to see that trend towards bigger, longer Herefords with less fat. Mr Lee runs 60 breeding cows and is usually an exhibitor at the Canterbury show, but decided not to enter this year because he had been busy with the World Hereford Conference. Limousin The future of the Limousin breed of cattle in New Zealand was good judging by the quality of the young bulls at the show, said the Limousin judge, Mr Jean-Luc Kresse, of France. The young bulls tended to. be of better quality than the older bulls, which highlighted the improvement that has occurred in New Zealand in recent years. The champion and reserve champion bulls were both young. The show contained some good cows which had size and length and generally had good legs, feet and udders. Mr Kresse said new bloodlines, particularly females, were needed in New Zealand to continue the improvement. The breed had made tremendous progress in breeding in France during the last 10 years and in the last five years Limousin had been the most exported breed in Europe.

Red Poll The Tasmanian judge, Mr Peter Chilcott, had heard that Red Polls in New Zealand were a little fine in the bone, but thought that those he saw yesterday were of a good standard and had a good bone/fat/muscle ratio. “With selective breeding, and the use of bulls with a good muscle/fat ratio Red Polls could be successfully made a strong breed in New Zealand,” he said. “There is good stock here to build on.” Mr Chilcott did have some criticisms to make and said he would like New Zealand breeders to present their cattle with a bit more condition and be more selective on the under-shot jaw. Charolais This breed has not been at the Canterbury A. and P. Show for a number of years and Mr P. H. Sibley said those on show yesterday were good examples of the breed. He was pleased with this year’s entries, but would like there to have been more competition in the cow and calf class. He was looking for cattle with size and the, ability to produce the sort of meat wanted today. B. T. Fisher’s cow in calf that he chose as champion was an “outstanding” animal and would be at home in any herd of any breed, he said. Murray Grey The judge, Mr P. D. Vavasour, of Blenheim, was disappointed with the number of entries in this section, but was full of praise for the supreme champion. Tenterden Bess, owned by W. D. and A. C. Power, Hawarden, was an excellent example of the Murray Grey breed and would compare well with any competing breed, he said. The champion junior yearling bull, Tenterden Fernando, also owned by W. D. and A. C. Power, was well grown and should grow

to be a good sire, with size, said Mr Vavasour. He believed the younger animals were in excellent condition considering the time of year. Beef Shorthorn Although he would have liked a bigger entry in this section, Mr K. M. Dysart, of Seddon, said be was pleased with the over-all quality of the animals presented. He was looking for cattle with a “bit of scope,” with good, clean fleshing, and he said that he found these qualities among the prize winners. The supreme champion, Opahi Impulse, owned by W. A. and J. A. Austin, was an exceptionally good yearling bull, he said. Mr Dysart said it was a well-fleshed, lengthy bull which paraded extremely well, and he predicted it would have a good future. South Devon Mr Dysart said he had been looking for big, cleanly-fleshed cattle in this section — and he found them. They were good, upstanding commercial cattle — “the sort of beef we are looking for today,” he said. He thought the winning two-year-old heifer, Burtergill Crusanders Marga, owned by A. E. van Asch, should develop into a firstclass aged cow. The winning aged-bull, Pyramid Trinity, owned by K. Earl, was a well-fleshed, big upstanding bull, he said. Maine Anjou Again there were only two entries in this section, but Mr Dysart said the three-year-old cow, Ahuriri Rochelle, owned by D. P. and P. J. Graham, was a big, clean cut animal ... “the type of beast the meat trade is looking for today.”