Bonsmara, Beefmaster, and Santa Gertrudis cattle featured prominently at the Royal Show’s beef carcass competition and auction, with Ferrero Bonsmaras, Weston Agricultural College, and Tregenna Farming securing major awards across the different categories.
The competition formed part of the Royal Fat Stock Show, with cattle assessed on the hoof earlier in the week before carcasses were evaluated on the hook by the South African Meat Industry Company (SAMIC). The award-winning carcasses were subsequently put up for auction 10 October. Tom Hodgson of AAM Livestock Agents & Auctioneers served as auctioneer.
Ferrero Bonsmaras (Ferrero), near Harrismith in the Free State, claimed both the Champion Individual and Reserve Champion Individual beef carcass titles.
The stud’s champion A2 Bonsmara carcass, weighing 274,12kg, achieved a judging score of 78%. It sold for R80/kg, the highest confirmed price among the beef carcass lots up for auction. Its reserve champion carcass weighed 296,43kg, scored 77%, and sold for R72/kg.
Ferrero also secured the Reserve Champion Group of Four beef title, with the auction lot fetching R71/kg.
Weston Agricultural College in Mooi River, KwaZulu-Natal, achieved success with its Beefmaster cattle, winning the Champion Group of Four beef carcass category. The lot achieved R71/kg on auction.
It also secured the Second Reserve Champion individual beef carcass award. This carcass weighed 322,35kg, received a score of 75,25%, and sold for R71/kg.
According to the awards proceedings, the group championship was determined using the scores of the three highest-scoring carcasses in each category.
Tregenna Farming (Tregenna), near Bergville in KwaZulu-Natal, claimed two additional championship titles with its Santa Gertrudis.
The operation won the Champion Super Ox category with a carcass weighing 414,19kg. It received a judging score of 82,78% and sold for R71/kg.
Tregenna also secured the Champion Biltong Cow title. The winning carcass weighed approximately 414kg, achieved a recorded score of 95%, and fetched R63/kg at auction.
The super ox and biltong cow awards were judged in separate categories from the conventional beef carcass championships, with different judging requirements.
The competition combined live-animal judging earlier in the week with subsequent carcass evaluation by SAMIC, allowing producers to assess how their cattle performed both on the hoof and on the hook.
