THE winners from this year's Northern Beef Producers Expo's Junior Schools Judging competition have gone on to show that you don't need to select in the same order as the judges to claim the winning sash.
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Fletcher Acton, Charters Towers School of Distance Education and Charlotte Coggan, Columba Catholic College Charters Towers, were awarded the 13 years and under and 14 years and over titles at the eighth annual expo, respectively.
Fletcher, 11, took home his first judging win in his second year in the circuit.
"This is my second year [judging cattle]. I live on a big station [Apis Creek, near Marlborough] and I like being around cattle, judging and getting the experience of cattle," he said.
For his number one selection, Fletcher said he singled out traits of a nice temperament, good width, strong leg bones, nice depth and a big rump in the Brahman.
"It's fun reading your speech in front of lots of people, even though it's a bit scary it feels good once you're up there and reading it out," he said.
Fletcher he he hoped to one day became a veterinarian for cattle and horses, and in the mean time focus on his judging career, with aspirations to compete at future young judging events including those at Beef Australia.
He said he had learned his skills from teachers at his school, including Ben Purdie.
"I just play close attention to people who are more experienced and I follow every detail," he said.
"[My advice for other kids] is to never hold back and give it a go. You never know, you might be really good at it."
Dad Robert Acton said he was really proud of his son's efforts.
"He puts in a lot of time and effort into his work and it always pays off," he said.
The Acton family run Euro cross steers and heifers and a backgrounding outfit, with a few Brahman from the north.
"We mainly just background Euro cross cattle. We market them into the bigger feed lots, Condor Drive and ACC."
Fifty-five northern region students from ages 7-18 assessed a pen of cattle from within the expo's Commercial Cattle Competition.
They heard from judge Kenneth on traits that are of commercial importance and relevance, before being asked to rate and place the individual cattle within the pen.
The competition included an individual appraisal and then the opportunity to perform a verbal overview of why the student placed the cattle in that order.
Charlotte, 16, had been judging for four years, getting her start when she transitioned from her hometown of Moranbah to Columba and entered the school's Cattle Club program.
"The first thing I look for, is I look from top to bottom; how they walk, that usually give good indication of their overall soundness of structure," she said.
"Then I look at their reproduction system, how low their sheath hangs, their testes, whether they have that flab of skin in front of the sheath. If they've got good structure and reproductive soundness they're obviously a huge highlight for me and they're going to be number one if it's all the qualities I look for.
"If that's not the case, sometimes I'll look for the muscle definition, how thick and wide and the length they have across. For the first pick, he was very structurally sound and his reproduction system is something I'd put my money on. I'd like him out in my field."
Charlotte said she hoped to continue judging, especially in future expos, this year's Charters Towers show and local shows where she could help other junior judges and give her opinion to the next generation.
"I think that'd be really fun to go into," she said.
"This is my first individual judging win. I came first with some other kids down at the Clermont Show...two years ago.
"I was very proud, knowing that especially since I didn't come from the background a lot of the other kids came from. It's very encouraging to know even though I'm not from [a cattle] background, I was able to take out [the win] and I knew what I was doing."
Charlotte said she had received mentorship from teachers including Sonia Wood and advised other young aspiring judges to "give it a shot".
"You don't have to have the same choices as the judges. You can still take out the win. Just give it a go...once you know what you're talking about, it's extremely fun," she said.
Charlotte said she hoped to work on station as a jillaroo following her schooling.
Northern Beef Producers Expo head steward Kelsey Jones said she was extremely impressed with the quality of the competition, and in particular how well the younger students spoke.
"It's pretty good that parents and teachers are teaching kids to speak confidently and justify their choices. There's a lot of potential coming through," she said.
"It's a really good confidence builder and it helps you pay attention to what's going on in the beef industry...[and what] everyone likes."
Judge Kenneth Coleman was also impressed with the winners.
"Neither of the winners judged the cattle in the same [order that] I did," he said.
However, their speeches and trait selections were on par with the judge's assessments.
