The accolades keep on coming for Maclean High School’s champion Cattle Show Team who took home a swag of awards at the 2023 Ekka at Brisbane Showgrounds this month.

After successfully exhibiting at the premier Australian Agricultural show, the Sydney Royal, Maclean High School Cattle Show Team head teacher Chris Kirkland said entering Queensland’s Ekka from August 12 to 20 was a natural progression for the students.

“We had 17 students and 15 cattle we took to the Ekka,” he said.

“It was a natural progression; we’d done the Sydney Royal earlier in the year and because this was a lot closer, and we had the cattle to enter so we decided to go.”

Mr Kirkland said the Maclean High School Cattle Show Team MHSCST performed exceptionally well, living up to their potential.

“In the cattle section we ended up getting Grand Champion female Braford, and with another Braford we got first in a class,” he said.

“We also exhibit cattle for two Speckle Park studs, and we got a second and third in a female class.

“Georgie Lee got sixth out of 92 in junior parading, which was a massive achievement.

“Holly Nehls got fourth out of 100 students in junior cattle judging, which was amazing.

“We also got named fourth overall best school at the Ekka and we were only beaten by three private schools, so we were the highest ranked government school, which was a pretty big achievement.”

Mr Kirkland said the impressive results were due to the many months of diligence and thorough preparation by the students on the Cattle Show Team.

“Since the Sydney Royal we have done another eight local shows, so at each show the students are perfecting their skills,” he said.

“What they did at the Ekka was pretty exceptional, the way presented their stalls, how clean it was for the nine days and how they presented the animals blew my mind.”

Mr Kirkland said to see the progression and the growth of the students made him extremely proud.

“I see how much work they put in at school and how much they’ve developed in the past few years,” he said.

“We’ve gone from a pretty mediocre setup to now where we are mixing it with the best schools in Australia, so that rise has made me very proud.

“The kids deserve everything they get because they work really hard, they listen to all the right contacts that want to help us out and develop us…the kids are just exceptional on all fronts.”

The next events for the MHSCST are the Casino show, followed by the Lismore North Coast National, and their year culminates at the Northern Schools Steer Comp in November at Armidale.

Ekka results:

• Gold: Champion of Champions: Champion Braford heifer or cow – Little Valley Grazing Co‘s Bonnette.
• Gold: Champion Braford cow or heifer- Little Valley Grazing Co’s Bonnette.
• Gold: Bonnette – best cow or heifer 20 months to under 60 months.
• Gold: MCN Bradfords Fortune – 8 months to under 16 months
• Silver: Great Marlow Lightning Lady and calf Lightning Lass – cow or heifer 24 months and under 30 months.
• Bronze: Great Marlow Unique and calf Breaking News.
• Bronze: Pair of baby bulls: Great Marlow Might and Power and Most Wanted.
• Junior judging 16 to 18s: Holly Nehls – 4th Highly Commended out of 100 students.
• Nutrien School Herdsperson: Maclean High School – 4th Highly Commended.

This article appeared in the Clarence Valley Independent, 23 August 2023.