REGINA – During a nine-hour plane trip to Calgary from London, four young Brits got to know each other and prepare for an international judging competition.
Harriet Wilson, Edwin Holliday, Matthew Wright and Jack Bowen were selected by their purebred cattle breed societies to attend Canadian Western Agribition from Nov. 21-27 and enter the Canadian National 4-H and Youth Judging Competition.
Chaperoned by longtime Agribition visitors Jim Barber and Roger Birch of the United Kingdom, they were the fourth British team to come to the event to judge classes of market hogs, horses, dairy and beef cattle.
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“We were persuaded to bring teams over. We have never been disappointed,” said Barber.
“They have the discipline to do the job. They go back a better young person,” said Birch.
Entrants are between 17 and 21 years old and are eligible for scholarships and other prizes.
The intense one-day competition showed the Brits a different style of livestock showing and judging. The differences between Canadian and British beef cattle were also obvious to them.
Limousin is the most popular breed in the United Kingdom where heavier muscling and greater definition are emphasized. While many commercial cows have a British base, the heavier muscled breeds from Europe have gained popularity because consumers want lean, red meat with less fat.
“We have more Continentals in England than British breeds,” said Holliday. “Muscle definition is much more defined in all the breeds.”
“We are looking for more growth and less waste,” said Wilson.
Most meat is marketed through supermarkets and the chains specify health and feeding regimes and have particular specifications for meat quality. The European Union grading system emphasizes lean and includes configurations such as 5H, meaning the fattest and 4L, indicating a low fat carcass.
Under their system, a 3L to 4L is most salable, said Holliday.
Their 10-day visit to Canada included ranch and feedlot tours where they were impressed with the scale of the operations as well as the efficiency achieved in feeding programs.
“It is totally different from anything back home,” said Holliday.
Handling systems for cattle were also different, with the Brits impressed by the amount of time Canadian livestock spends outdoors, even in subzero conditions.
Since it is so wet, British livestock is housed indoors for about five months of the year. On Wright’s family farm in the Midlands of England, the Jersey herd lives full time in the barn.
“We have more control over their feed intake,” he said.
The average purebred herd is 27 cows but these Brits came from farms with up to 200 head.
Besides the British team, this year’s judging competition had entries from Alberta, Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Saskatchewan.
• Lindsey Douglas of Delburne, Alta., was the grand aggregate winner of a $2,500 scholarship
• Brittany Jordet of Saskatoon won a $1,250 scholarship
• Morgan Ings of Vernon Bridge, P.E.I., won $750
• Meghan Black of Bloomfield, N.B., won $300
• Bevin Hamilton of Saskatoon won $150
Team 4-H Alberta took home the overall team award.
