Devon Court Herefords have once again proven the do-ability of Hereford cattle in a feedlot environment with multiple pens of steers excelling in the feedlot weight gain section of the 2024 RNA Paddock to Palate Competition.
Now in its 27th year, the Paddock to Palate Competition offers almost $55,000 in prize money and the invaluable chance for producers to benchmark their cattle across three phases including best aggregate weight gain, carcase, and MSA eating quality.
The competition is split into three classes: 100-day HGP Export, 70-day HGP Trade and 100-day HGP-free Export into which producers enter pens of six steers.
Now in their fourth year of entering the Paddock to Palate Competition, Devon Court have entered three pens of Hereford steers and three pens of back blady steers across the three classes.
Devon Court Hereford steers came a very close second in the 70-day Trade feedlot weight gain phase with an average daily gain (ADG) of 2.531 kilograms per day, while the first placed pen of Santa Gertrudis steers made 2.543 kilograms per day.
A pen of black baldy steers also entered by Devon Court placed fourth in the 70-day Trade class with an ADG of 2.479 kilograms.
Three Devon Court Hereford steers made the top ten individual 70-day ADG placings, coming in at sixth with and ADG of 2.871kg/day and equal tenth, with two steers making 2.714kg/day.
Both pens of Devon Court Hereford steers entered in the 100-day HGP Export class finished in the top ten out of a class of 30 entries.
The Hereford steers finished fifth with an ADG of 2.65kg/day and tenth with an ADG of 2.535kg/day.
In the individual placings two steers made the top ten finishing at fourth and tenth with ADGs of 3.080kg/day and 3.010kg/day.
According to Devon Court stud principal Tom Nixon, all their steers entered in the competition were out of commercial cows, sired by Devon Court Hereford bulls and had been DNA tested and sire verified prior to entry.
Mr Nixon also used Black Box Co software to assist in the steer selection process and takes pride in the data collection that takes place at Devon Court, with the herd achieving a five star BREEDPLAN completeness of performance rating in July 2024.
Having Devon Court cattle perform well across all three classes in the Paddock to Palate Competition is something Mr Nixon is particularly pleased about.
“It’s good to put the steers across the three classes and have them stand up at the top in all three. It shows that we’re not just targeting one market and that we’re making our genetics suit multiple markets,” Mr Nixon said.
The final presentation of awards for the 2024 competition will be held on the eighth of August, where Mr Nixon hopes to see his cattle also excel in the carcase and eating quality phases.
“Weight gain is a big part of what we’re aiming to achieve, and hopefully we can back it up with the carcase results too!”