By Jeremy Cook
A Granite Belt cattle producer has debuted big at this year’s Ekka, taking home two first place prizes in the prestigious RNA Paddock to Palate competition.
Glen Aplin commercial stud breeders Glenisa Angus were named overall winners in class 40 of the Paddock to Palate contest while also claiming first and second prize in class 37C of the MSA eating quality competition.
A second place overall finish in class 37 and a third place finish in class 40C of the MSA eating quality phase capped off a spectacularly fruitful evening for the Glen Aplin cattle farmers last Thursday.
The annual Paddock to Palate competition consists of three phases including the weight gain, carcass judging and MSA eating quality. The elite supply chain competition attracted a total number of 798 head across all classes with $55,000 worth of prize money up for grabs in 2024.
Glenisa Angus co-owner Ced Wise, who attended an awards ceremony alongside Aline Teixeira and Ben and Sam Lobegeiger in Brisbane, said it was the first time the company had ever entered their steers in a competition.
“We didn’t really know what we were doing but we thought we’d give it a crack and turns out we did know what we were doing,” Mr Wise said.
“Everybody says it’s surreal, but it just felt unbelievable,” he said.
To claim overall victory, exhibitors must achieve the highest aggregate score across the three competition phases.
With a total of five prizes going their way, Mr Wise said his team were excited about being called up on stage just once at the awards night let alone on several more occasions.
“We were just so thrilled to get up on the stage at all,” he said.
“It was just exciting. I honestly didn’t sleep that night.”
The 16,000 hectare cattle breeding operation will join good company alongside heavily decorated past winners like Palgrove, G Morgan & Co and Russell Pastoral Company.
“We’re not really trying to breed high yielding, heavy muscle cattle. We’re trying to breed cattle that are commercially oriented,” Mr Wise said.
“We’re just trying to be middle of the road and as good as we can in that space.
“For us, angus cattle is all about putting good steak on the table and we’ve proved we can do it as good as anybody.”
