The Qld Limousin Youth Camp was a hive of activity at the Pittsworth Showgrounds last weekend. With 108 kids in attendance with many of them travelling some distance including participants from afar a field as Alice Springs in the Northern Territory to Muswellbrook NSW.

Friday kicked off with a tutorial on judging, followed by the young judges competition with the over-judge Graeme Wicks keeping a watchful eye on the proceedings. Everyone was then divided up into their groups to compete in some good old fashioned games such as the sack race, egg and spoon race and the tug-of-war (which also provided a good workout for some of the fathers).

Saturday saw everyone up early to attend to their animals before splitting into their groups and then rotating around the various activities with each group having an animal allocated to them that followed their group around to assist with any demonstrations. All the activities were very hands on and included washing and blowing, showmanship, clipping (with 8 clipping chutes on the go with all the kids having a go), hoof trimming, semen collection (with everyone also getting a look under the microscope), temperament scoring, tattooing and getting right up to their armpits with Brad Frohloff and Breeding Betsy (the artificial cow) doing pregnancy testing and AI.

The auction Saturday night not only gave some of the participants a chance to try their hand at auctioneering but also raised approximately $9,500 to assist with the running of next year’s Youth Camp. A big thank you to all who donated items for the auction.

Sunday saw everyone up early again preparing their animals for show day. A good selection of led steers started off the day with Travis Luscombe as judge, followed by the other breed heifers. Limousin judging was also undertaken by Travis Luscombe with the bulls leading the way. Trav was put to the test when the first class of heifers consisted of an impressive line up of 26 head and the second class of 23 head. He also remarked that if anyone ever had any doubts about the temperament of Limousin cattle, that they only had to see this number of novice handlers out in the ring (with many of the cattle also being novices) without any problems.

Eliza Borchardt and Corey Evans had the unenviable task of judging the Parader’s Competition. They had previously provided some instruction to the kids during the stud cattle judging. Sarah Coulton was the official photographer taking hundreds of photos throughout the day, culminating in a huge group photo of all the kids and their animals. Sarah can be contacted on her Facebook Page Coulton’s Country or www.coultonscountry.com.au to view and order photos.

Results:
Youth Ambassador Award – Cooper Rafton
Champion Parader – Mitch Franz
Reserve Champion Parader – Emma Costello
Herdsman – Jean Plaisted Memorial Award – Destiny Perrett
Champion Young Judge – Brooke Pieper
Reserve Champion Young Judge – Alissa Cann
Auctioneering (16yrs & over) – Cooper Rafton
Auctioneering (under 16yrs) – Billy Goetsch
Grand Champion Led Steer – Billy owned by Mitch Franz
Reserve Champion Led Steer – Turbo owned by Callum McNichol
Grand Champion Bull – AT Lewis
Reserve Champion Bull – Ruby Park Lieutenant
Grand Champion Female – Maryvale Luscious
Reserve Champion Female – Oakwood Native Cut

A huge thank you to everyone involved for making this a very enjoyable camp. The baton for the next Youth Camp has now been handed over to long time Limousin breeder Alan Eagleson with a venue to be announced in the South Burnett area.