My 2011 Study Tour

MY 2011 STUDY TOUR:
I am a young stud Angus breeder from "Hollywood Angus Stud", Peak Hill, NSW. I was awarded the Matthew George Young Stockman Award for 2010 at the Royal Melbourne Show. In April, I will be heading to Mexico and Canada for a four month study tour to get an overview of the beef cattle industries in these countries. I will be visiting a range of enterprises, including major shows, stud and commercial operations, and feedlots. I wish to thank the Ballarat Foundation for the opportunity to live my dream, and hope to share my experiences via this blog.

"LIVE YOUR DREAM"

"LIVE YOUR DREAM": THE MATTHEW GEORGE YOUNG STOCKMAN AWARD
The Matthew George Young Stockman Award was established as a sub-fund of the Ballarat Foundation in honour of Matthew George of Stockyard Hill, who was tragically taken in a car accident in 2007 at 21 years of age. Matthew had an absolute love of animals together with a thirst for knowledge and a passion for breeding. This annual award provides a young breeder aged 18 to 25 years with the opportunity to live Matthew's dream, and travel overseas to become an ambassador for the beef industry and study other beef cattle breeding programs and developments.
APPLY NOW FOR THE MATTHEW GEORGE AWARD 2011: Applications are now open for this year's Matthew George Young Stockman Award. This is an amazing award for anyone who wants to learn more about the beef industry. If you're aged 18-25, make sure you apply - the opportunities it opens up are just incredible! For application details, go to www.ballaratfoundation.org.au click on 'sub funds' & then 'matthew george award'. Applications close 30 June.

Tuesday, 17 May 2011

Everything must come to an end…


Both the Expo Ganadera and Tepa Fiesta finished on 8 May. I think after 2 weeks of festivities everyone was well & truly partied out and ready for a week of extreme sleeping! The closing ceremony for the Expo was a parade of all the grand champions livestock,  at which I got to lead Mezquite’s champion angus heifer.
My last few days in Mexico were spent at Mezquite’s ranch and touring around the local area. I visited two tequila factories – a must to visit in this area! Tequila is VERY popular – the popularity of Bundy in Australia has nothing on it in comparison!  Jalisco is the home of tequila and only the spirits produced here in its area of origin can use the name ‘tequila’. I was also given a tour of Mexico’s National Genetic Resource Centre which has just been built in Tepa. This centre acts as a ‘bank’ for future bio security and will house genetic material from seeds, forestry, microbiology, aquatic, avian & animal sources.
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