Royal Steers Competition 2024
The commercial cattle competitions at the 2024 Royal Agricultural Exhibition begin with the steers competition on Friday 24 May, made possible with the generous sponsorship of the Red Meat Producers Organisation (RPO) and ADM Animal Nutrition.
This competition of A-grade slaughter animals will be judged on the hoof by Clark Rattray and Rob Ortlepp, both senior judges of the South African Fat-stock Judges Association (SAFJA), according to the association’s stringent standards for productivity. They will be assisted by Neil White from Bergville.
The purpose of such stringent assessments in a competition like this is to provide feedback that can maximise the efficiency and profitability of livestock farmers. Comparisons with top breeders can show farmers how well their production methods work, and where they can make improvements.
Entries have been received from Owen Sithole College of Agriculture, Cedara Agricultural College, and Weston Agricultural College, and from a number of commercial farmers. Among them are Nelius Ferreria of Ferrero Bonsmaras, Rustin Shawe of Grassfields Beef Droughtmasters, Chippy Watson of Vova Genetics, Tim Hempson and Andrew Adams. Entries are ongoing.
Unhalter-trained and halter-trained animals will be judged separately, and then the champions of both those competitions will be judged against each other to ascertain the overall champion of the yard for 2024.
Last year’s Champion and Reserve Champion of the Yard were both bred by Ferrero Bonsmaras, who will be returning this year.
As part of the steers competition, SAFJA will judge the groups of four halter-trained animals entered by Owen Sithole College of Agriculture, Cedara Agricultural College, and Weston Agricultural College for the 2024 Student Cup. The winner of the Student Cup will have bragging rights for the year. The winner of the 2023 Student Cup was Weston Agricultural College.
After judging on the hoof, all steers will be sent for slaughter to Halaal Fresh Meats Abattoir in Thornville, owned by Mr Junaid Mulani. This will be the third time that Halaal Fresh Meats will be assisting the Royal in slaughtering the steers and presenting their carcasses for judging on the hook and for auction. The carcasses will be judged on the hook by Mr Paul Marais and Mr Jan Horn, two highly experienced SAFJA carcass judges from Vryburg.
The winners will be announced at the Royal Carcass Auction at 4pm on Monday 27 May.
We are looking forward to another exceptional steers entry this year. Those still wishing to finalise entries can visit https://www.royalshow.co.za/cattle for details.
The Royal Agricultural Exhibition will take place at the Royal Showgrounds in Pietermaritzburg from Thursday 23 May to Tuesday 28 May 2024, and is proudly sponsored by RPO, Standard Bank and Nashua.
