The stock, which have been prepared for the show by St Joseph’s Aberdeen’s Agriculture and Primary Industries teams are broken in, fed up and groomed ready for the prestigious Ekka event. 

The cattle will make tracks to Brisbane tomorrow, followed by the team of students varying from year 8 to year 11, and their teachers on Saturday. 

The five steers and heifer all belong to outside owners who regularly supply the school with stock to prepare and show for them. 

Last Friday, the breeders were hosted at the school for an Open Farm day where they could see their finished beast product and learn all about their progress. 

Local breeders who support the school are Peter Clydsdale, Graham Clydsdale, Jeff Clydsdale, Mark Constable and Ian and Kay Beard. 

St Joseph’s students have a solid reputation at Ekka having successfully achieved at the show throughout recent years. 

This year’s team have prepared the six head of cattle to be entered across a range of junior and open divisions. 

As there are no other local shows for the students to attend in the lead up period to the Brisbane Show, the Open Farm is a great opportunity for them to practice preparation and to allow the cattle to get used to other people and the school display.

The Brisbane Show team have been preparing this line of cattle since the conclusion of this year’s Sydney Royal Easter Show. 

St Joseph’s Aberdeen agriculture teacher Lisa Bright said they like to invite the breeders to the school to see their cattle before going to the show, and to showcase the work the students have done. 

“It’s a good activity for the students to work together, and it’s also good for the cattle to get them used to external factors and the display.

“We try to make it like a show day so we can iron out any problem solving and time management issues,” Miss Bright said. 

One of the breeders, Peter Clydsdale from Rouchel, said he believes it is a terrific option to put the cattle through the school as it allows breeders to see the finished product. 

“When we sell a calf straight from the place it goes onto the truck to the sale and we don’t get to see the finished product.

“By putting them through the school it allows the students to showcase the beast to its genetic potential,” Mr Clydsdale said. 

“This way you get the score card from the judges, so you can use the information to form decisions about what bulls to buy and the way you run your business,” he said. 

“I really love to see how much the kids get out of it, but I get just as much out of it as them.”