Harvey Beef Gate 2 Plate Challenge: cattle teams making performance gains

The ninth annual Harvey Beef Gate 2 Plate Challenge feedlot competition is nearing completion with cattle to be processed late April for final results to find out who the major prize winners will be this year.

The challenge was designed to represent commercial reality with cattle assessed on their objective traits and measured in terms of their profitability and efficiency throughout the supply chain.

At the conclusion of the competition, participants are awarded on their cattle team’s measured data results in terms of feeding performance, processing performance and Meat and Livestock Australia grading.

This year’s overall and category winners will be announced at an awards presentation at the Centennial Stadium in Albany on May 26.

At the challenge field day held at Willyung Farms in Albany on March 24, visitors were able to inspect the cattle, with many viewing their cattle entries for the first time since the January 21 induction day at Mt Barker.

At Willyung Farms, feedlot co-ordinator Sandy Lyon said the 54 teams — consisting of two steers and one heifer — were putting on good weights from a relatively mild season.

“The steers have been putting on 1.8kg/day and the heifers are gaining 1.7kg/day with noticeable increases in the last two weeks to finish on,” he said.

Mr Lyon said the producer entrants’ team selections would make for an even competition in weight gains.

The rules are simple — each participant enters a team of cattle that are fed the same diet for about three months at the Willyung Farms’ feedlot.

This year, heifers would be on feed for 79 days and steers for 87 days, before being processed.

The competition scores each animal individually, with 50 points for feedlot performance, 50 points for processing and 25 points for MSA grading, with overall team points based on cumulative totals.

Last year, the winning team of Angus cross Charolais, entered by the WA College of Agriculture — Harvey, scored a total of 235 team points out of a possible 375, just three points ahead of the runner-up team from Mountain Valley Livestock.

It was the first time an agricultural college took out the winning prize.

In this year’s competition, 162 head of cattle were inducted into the feedlot on January 30 with all 54 teams averaging a liveweight of 336kg/head (heifers averaged 331kg and steers 339kg).

Weights taken on March 21, or after 51 days on feed, consisted of team averages weighing 433kg/head (heifers averaged 424kg and steers 437kg).

The mid-term weighing had the 54 teams average a gain of 97kg/head, or an average 1.86kg daily gain, with heifers having another 28 days to finish in the feedlot and steers having another 36 days to go.

The heifers will finish their 79-day feedlot competition on April 17 and the steers will complete their 87 day feedlot component on April 25.

The mid-term weighing had the Angus cross Limousin team of entrant Ravenhill Pastoral performing the best so far in the feedlot sector, gaining the most team weight of 120kg, with a team average induction weight of 346 and a March 21 weight of 466kg.

The Ravenhill Pastoral team daily weight gains were out in front with the heifer at 2.36/kg and the steers at 2.17 and 2.25/kg.

Several new entrants included The Hunter family, of Mt Barker Pastoral, with their team of Sussex cross Droughtmasters that gained 110kg for the mid-term weighing.

One of the Hunter’s steers had the top performing daily weight gain of 2.47/kg, the highest of any other steer or heifer.

Sean Hunter attended the field day with his wife Sarah and their children Oliver, 1, Eadie, 3, and Anna, 5.

Waroona first time entrant Bruno Italiano and his son Patrick, who entered a team of Angus cross Limousins also visited to have a look.

All the cattle will be processed at Harvey Beef and will be Meat Standards Australia graded.

Gate 2 Plate co-ordinator Narelle Lyon said the cattle would receive points for objective measurable performance traits which were important for profitability across the supply chain.

“The overall winning team is the one which is most profitable through the supply chain,” she said.