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The best beef producers and their beef cattle are once again celebrated in the Agricultural Research Council’s National Beef Performer Awards again this year. Various producers and their cattle are recognised in several categories. The National Special Performance Test Class is one such category. This award is sponsored by Plaas Media’s Stockfarm brand.
More about the Special Performance Test Class
Running for over four decades, this award category aims to recognise bulls with exceptional performance traits. Bulls, which were awarded gold or silver merit certificates upon completion of a standardised growth test (Phase C) of the National Beef Recording and Improvement Scheme during 2023, are eligible to compete in this award category. Residual feed intake or RFI, a trait that describes a bull’s ability to utilise feed efficiently, is also considered.
Only one bull per breed is identified to represent the entire breed, and adjudication criteria include both performance traits and functional efficiency.
Finalists this year, in alphabetical order, are:
| Breed | Owner | Town |
| Beefmaster | Timmy Robertson | Bloemfontein, FS |
| Beef Shorthorn | Laurence and Allistair Brown | Alexandra, EC |
| Boran | Paul Brits | Naboomspruit, L |
| Brahman | Ampie and Riki Rossouw | Mokopane, L |
| Brangus | Myburgh Wessels | Reddersburg, FS |
| Braunvieh | Abie Rademeyer | Petrusville, NC |
| Charolais | Dewald van der Merwe | Lichtenburg, NW |
| Dexter | Mark Wiseman | George, WC |
| Drakensberger | Jan Dhooge | Heidelberg, GP |
| Hugenoot SA | Frikkie du Plessis | Modimolle, L |
| Limousin | Louis de Jager | Bloemfontein, FS |
| Nguni | Bertie van Zyl | Mooketsi, L |
| Pinzgauer | Bertie van Zyl | Mooketsi, L |
| PinZ2yl | Bertie van Zyl | Mooketsi, L |
| SA Angus (Black) | Seymour Currie | Melkbosstrand, WC |
| SA Angus (Red) | Seymour Currie | Melkbosstrand, WC |
| SA Braford | Gert van der Merwe and Johan de Jager | Bethal, MP |
| Santa Gertrudis | Sandra Janse van Vuuren | Sannieshof, NW |
| Sussex | CB Cillié | Bloemfontein, FS |
| Wagyu | L’Ormanns, | Franschhoek, WC |
To learn which bulls are given this sought after award, tune in to Plaas TV on 28 November @ 18:00 to find out.
Watch the video below to see what the ARC has to say about this awards category:
– Agricultural Research Council. For more information about the awards, send an email to zelda@arc.agric.za
