William's RYAG Report - 2010

RYAG BEEF 2010 - Educational Week

On the first day we arrived I had to collect my bag that RYAG donated to all the students with the sponsors names and advertisement on. Then we had a quick run down on the rules and guidelines in which had to be abided by. Following on from that we had Robina Otrupcek with a “getting to know each other” section where we exchanged names and where we were from. Then came dinner prepared by many men and women in the kitchen who kept us well fed throughout the duration of the camp.

The first activity we got to do was rope halter making with Mick Cox and some Rotarians also helped out and everyone got to make a halter which we got to use to break in and show our beast with.

Day 2 came and we were up at 6.30am to feed and water the cattle who was on roster to do so, breakfast was the next thing on the list to do before the busy day started. John Temperley then gave a lecture to us all about Cattle yard and agriculture health and safety. We then were partnered off in a boy girl system and then an animal was allocated to each pair, my partner and I had a young black Brangus bull from the Elton Brangus stud, our bull was considerably quiet compared to other groups, once we had caught our beast we had to practice knot tying with Lonnie Stone and Tony Elton. After we had morning tea we had our first breaking in session of our cattle with many leaders and helpers to give us a hand with our animals when they went rank.

After all our work with breaking in our cattle we worked up an appetite for some food so we had some lunch and got straight back into it, then came time for another educational filled lecture on Pastures given by agronomist James Flemming, when we finished with that lecture we had another one from Stephen Lill from Chadwick Downs to Speak to us about Practical aspects of feeding stud and show cattle. It was then time to feed and water the cattle and have evening showers and meal, before long it was lights out for some shut eye to be ready for the adventures of the next day.

The next morning there was an excursion planned so everyone was pretty excited about that, but first we had to feed and water the cattle and ourselves, then we caught the bus out to “Maldanna”, Kevin and Wendy Baldocks commercial Santa Gertrudis property for two lectures, one on Heifer selection presented by Kevin himself and one on Chemicals and plants from Callen Thompson.

We then headed back to the showgrounds where the camp was held for some lunch and another cattle breaking in session and lecture from Mark Elliott from Bomac Chemicals about poisons – Animal health and drenches. Bomac supplies a wide range of different chemicals for your agricultural needs. We then had to feed and water the animals again and scrub up as we were heading over the bowls club for a semi formal dinner, where we met some Rotarians and enjoyed a food feed. Once the night was over we headed back to the camp and had a quick discussion on how everyone thought the night went then into the swags for some well needed sleep.

Saturday morning came and we had to do the morning duties of feeding and watering cattle then breaky, then we had the exciting breaking in, grooming and cattle clipping demonstrations from the leaders. It wasn’t long before we had another lecture ready to go again, about Exotic diseases and bio security from vet Gordon Bentley. Then lunch again before another two lectures on Animal clipping, cattle yards and breed plan. Colleen Green, Marty Lill and leaders. Once the lectures were over we had another breaking in session and fed and watered the stock. We then jumped on a bus to go to “Barina” (Chadwick Downs Cattle Co) for an action packed night including mock auction, lectures and “AI” demonstrations and we were even lucky enough to get to “AI” some vagina’s that were collected from the meatworks to give us a “life like” feel of what it is like to AI a beast, we also enjoyed a magnificent spit roast cooked by the Lills. With the mock auction we were given a scenario where we had a certain amount of land, money and the market of cattle we were producing for and we had to buy a bull with the money we had to suit our country and needs, for this activity we were split into 5 groups. That concluded the night se we travelled by bus back to the camp and had a much needed shower then sleep.

Sunday came and everyone was up and excited about the paraders competition and some more lectures but first we had to feed and water the cattle and then breakfast before we had leading practice and grooming. We had some quick morning tea then we had a lecture being on Live export of cattle to Japan from Peter Sawyer a stock and station agent. Then before we know it, it was time for some lunch and the official photo session taken by Arnold McWilliams and Proctor Morris, the grand parade was just around the corner and before long we had our animals looking nice and groomed up and clean halters on and we were in the parade’s competition with our judge Roger Evans. Kate Johnson was the winner of the parading competition and soon came all the farewells and celebrations of what was such an excellent educational camp. Overall I think the 2010 RYAG beef camp was a great camp and is a really huge opportunity to learn and develop more of your skills in the cattle industry. I would also like to thank the Braford society very much as it is an amazing opportunity to learn so much and the financial assistance in travel included in the prize of winning ambassador award.

Yours sincerely

William Toohill

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Nick's RYAG Report

As I lay in the dust just after I have been dragged by my wild charolais bull I asked myself how I got myself into this. It all started a few months ago at the Braford Educational weekend at Boonah. As we loaded up all the cattle and gear I was looking forward to a fun packed weekend with leading cattle, cattle preparation, cattle judging, games and lectures organized by the West Morton Braford Promotional Group. When it came round to teaming up to lead the animals, I was put with Jasmine Boxsell from Caboolture State High School. We selected from a wide range of brafords our beast and we paraded it around for the rest of the weekend while learning lots of things from feeding to cattle health. At the end of the weekend the awards came and to my surprise I won the herdsman award and Jasmine won the ambassador award which was a sponsored trip to the RYAG beef camp in Coonabarabran.

A few weeks after the camp I was contacted by Les McDonald and was asked if I would like to accompany Jasmine to the RYAG beef camp. Then next thing I know I was getting on the bus to Coonabarabran, after 11 hours we finally arrived. When we got settled in we were all called together to play getting to know you games after all we were spending the next 5 days together whether we liked it or not. That night we started our breaking process by constructing our own halters for our beasts. The next day we got paired up and given animals I was paired up with Dominique Power from Gulgong High School. We got put with a charolais bull called Whitey from DSK. When it came round to catching him it took me next to no time to get the halter on him and tie him up but when it came to leading him he had other ideas. As soon as we got out in to the breaking yard Whitey bucked and dragged me across the yard. But I was LUCKY compared to Jasmine she got put with a bull called Wild Card, this bull had it stuck in his head that he was not going to get broken.

The next day we all piled on to another bus to ‘Maldanna’ a commercial Santa Getrudis stud owed and run by Kevin and Wendy Baldock. There we were given lectures on selection of cattle yards, temperament and structure of cattle by Kevin and then we had home made scones with jam and cream for morning tea prepared by Wendy. When we got back we had another breaking session this time Whitey was a little better but ‘The Wild Card’ still remained wild. That night was the night of the formal dinner so we all got dressed up, but not before sock wrestling. Sock wrestling is played with a big piece of black plastic two socks and a lots and lots of lube eg water crystals and shampoo. The objective is to get the sock off the other person, Jasmine and I started our own State of Origin but we were extremely out numbered because we were the only two Queenslanders who attended RYAG. After we all got cleaned up we all headed to the Acacia Motor Inn for the formal dinner and an inspirational speech from Kimbalee Morris who was named The Land Sydney Royal Showgirl for 2009.

The next day I had to get up early because I was on feed up duty a group of us had to go up and feed all the cattle before breakfast. Then another breaking session which graduated Whitey to the round yard. Then to the wash bay for his very first wash but the problem with washing a charolais is that they are very white and you have to keep them from kicking dust on them or else you’re very hard work has gone to waste. Well as soon as we finished washing him we tied him up and he did just this. We decided to wait for the next day to clean him properly. That afternoon we feed all the cattle and jumped onto the bus to ‘Barina’ (Chadwick Downs Cattle Co.). When we got there we were given a tour of the property by Steven Lill. Then a hands on lecture on artificial insemination and embryo transplant by Martin Lill. After this we split into groups and were given a scenario for a mock auction. We had to purchase a number of bulls suitable for the country that we lived on with an amount of money we had. We viewed the bulls and discussed the ones that we would buy over a spit roast dinner courtesy of the Lill family. At the sale we purchased lot 1 for $9,500 and lot 3 for $7000 then we pushed up the price on a tank of semen. When I came to end of the auction we found out that our group was one a few that purchased the bulls that we needed and kept in our price range of 18000.

When we returned to Coona show grounds we were given a concert by Denis a rotary exchange student from Turkey that could play the guitar extremely well. When it came round to lights out we persuaded the instructors to let us stay up longer to have a disco with strobe lights and music they let us stay up until 12:00 then we all hit the sack to rest for the final day. That morning we all got up as late as we possibly could but the people on feed up had to get up early. I was glad that I did my turn the day before. After breakfast we started the long process of cleaning up Whitey again. First we washed him then we blow dried him then trimmed his hair so it was even then we tied him up on some old hay ready for Grand Parade. After lunch we all changed our formal RYAG shirts and worked our way up to the cattle yards for the last time it was grand parade time.
The ring was out in the open if any bull got away it could run straight down the main street of town so Wild Card stayed tied up in the shed. It was time for all our hard work to pay off. After the parade the presentations were made and we all said our goodbyes and then it started to rain. What a good way to end a long week of hard work. That night Jasmine and I stayed at Robert and Annie Howard’s place who put us on the bus the following morning to start the 11 hour trip back home with the memories of Whitey, Wild Card, sock wrestling and all of our new friends.

If you were ever given a chance to attend RYAG beef I would say go for it because RYAG is an excellent camp full of fun packed activities. You also make lots of friends, lots of memories and get an injury somewhere from you beast

Firstly I would like to thank the West Morten Braford Promotion Group for sponsoring Jasmine and myself to go down to RYAG. Also I would like to thank the Rotary for putting on the camp. The instructors for listening to all our whining and the lecturers for giving up there time to supply us with information. Chadwick Downs Cattle Co and DSK for supplying the cattle for us to break in. Also the sponsors G & D Weatherall, Telstra, Jurox, New England Credit Union, Pursehouse Rural and Country Energy. Lastly I would like to thank Robert and Annie Howard for letting us stay at there place on the last night and putting us on the bus.

Also I would like to wish Jasmine the best in her future studies.

Nick Kliese
Teviot Hills Braford Stud

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Jasmine's RYAG Report:

RYAG BEEF 2009

The Braford Educational Weekend saw the beginning of my adventure. After being asked to attend by my teacher, myself and six other students made the trip down to the Boonah showgrounds, which was anticipated to be a great weekend and come Sunday afternoon we were not disappointed. After partaking in all the great activities I was surprised to find myself to be named the West Moreton Braford Society Youth Ambassador and was asked to attend RYAG Beef in Coonabarabran, along with Nick Kliese from the Treviot Hills Braford Stud.

Fast forward a couple of months, and a twelve hour bus trip, Nick and I had finally arrived at the Coonabarabran Showgrounds with high expectations for the week ahead. Once we had all arrived and become settled we were all faced with the ‘getting to know you games’ and the very tedious task of creating our breaking halters – this was something for me which proved to be a real tester for my patience. Yet, after much struggle and some much needed help from our instructors and fellow students I was able to sleep easy after creating what I thought was a pretty good halter, I also think it may have been from spending 12hours on the bus. Much to Nick’s amazement – no doubt he still struggles to understand how I could sleep almost the entire trip there and still be tired enough to sleep all through the night.

Come the next morning, I eagerly awoke to the task of feed duty. This was my first introduction to the animals we were going to spend the week working with, and my first reaction – they’re pretty big. After returning from feed duty we all sat down together for out first breakfast which was followed by the introduction to our partners and animal for the week. I was lucky enough to be paired with Ryan Wirth from Glenn Innes High School and not so lucky to be given a very spirited, to be putting it politely, Braford bull known as Wildcard. After spending an awful large amount of time catching what seemed to be a well mannered bull, both Ryan and I were rather unprepared for what would follow – lets just say that Wildcard, Ryan and I provided much of the entertainment for the week as wildcard proved that cattle can in fact be showjumpers and fence climbers, and that anything less then a 3m radius is just too close.

For the rest of the week we followed the schedule of breaking sessions, property tours and numerous lectures on almost any subject you could think of – from animal health to chemicals and plants. The week was proving to be both a very tiring yet fun week, as we still managed to find time for sock wrestling and relay races.

Come Saturday morning, Ryan and I found that we were still yet to graduate from the ‘naughty ring’ with our bull Wildcard despite our efforts. Seeing that we were not going to be able to graduate our beloved bull to the show arena, we were given a new bull. After initially naming him ‘Round 2’, we quickly changed it to ‘Kungfo Panda’. Much like Wildcard, Kungfo Panda had a similar belief that anything less that a 2m radius was also just too close and was therefore within kicking range. He was an improvement though, we could at least pat and groom him on his shoulder blades and back, and after much work, by the afternoon we were able to groom and pat his rump. Ryan was also able to make huge advancements with Wildcard as he continued to work with him as I worked with Kungfo Panda.

Rapt with the improvement both our animals were making, we all travelled to Barina (Chadwick Downs Cattle Co.) that afternoon. Here, owner Steven Lill gave us a tour of his incredible property and cattle breeding facilities and a lecture on preparing cattle for transport. This was followed by a very ‘hands on’ lecture on Artificial Insemination. Continuing on with our ‘hands on’ activities, we were all split into groups for a ‘mock auction’. After given the our situation, NIck, Elyse, Lauren, Annie, Katelyn and I successfully fulfilled our property scenario after purchasing Lot 1 for $9,500 and lot 3 for $7000, while keeping under our budget of $18 000. We were one of the few groups who were able to do so.

Following our late night, we all awoke to the sadness of the next day, which was the final day and after still not graduating from the ‘naughty ring’ with both our bulls, Ryan and I were faced with challenge of taking Kungfo Panda into the show ring. Yet, after washing and grooming Kungfo Panda he looked as ready as all the other bulls for the show arena. In the arena Kungfo Panda surprised both myself and Ryan with his manners, despite his nervousness his huge fear of the grand stand he paraded far beyond our expectations and even resisted from kicking the judge.

The presentations were then made. Much to our surprise, Ryan and I were given the Most Improved Animal Award for Kungfo Panda. We then reluctantly ‘released’ our bulls and all made our goodbyes. Both Nick and I then made the trip to Robert and Annie Howard’s place for the night, who put us on the bus for home the next day, ending my week long adventure.

This trip was by far the most outstanding one I have ever attended. The very informative lectures, the skills I learnt from breaking in Wildcard and Kungfo Panda and the activities from the entire week enabled me to become more confident working with cattle, broaden my knowledge and also helped me determine that this was definitely the industry I want to get into. I would like to pass on my most sincere thanks to the West Moreton Braford Promotional Group for awarding me the position of Youth Ambassador and sponsoring me for my trip to Coonabarabran. I would also like to thank the Rotary Club of Coonabarabran for hosting the event and the numerous companies who sponsored the event, Chadwick Downs Cattle Co and DSK for supplying the animals for the week and the instructors and lecturers for volunteering their time. I would also like to thank Robert and Annie Howard for opening their home to Nick and I for the Sunday night and for putting us on the bus the following morning.

Jasmine Boxsell

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