Have you herd? Caroline Chisholm College steers a win at Western’s UniSchools Challenge

After nearly four months of care, grooming and close personal attention to their Simmental x Poll Hereford steers, Caroline Chisholm College has won the 2019’s UniSchools Steer Challenge with a top score of 88 points.

Close behind Chisholm came Macarthur Anglican School in second place and Elizabeth Macarthur High School in third place, spanning a range of competition categories including, junior judging, herdsman, parading, steer weight gain and best presented steer.

This achievement rounds out a unique agricultural and personal learning experience for the livestock team at Chisholm, the ten other high schools and Western Sydney Universities team that have raised their steers and presented them for judging at the end of the competition. Established in 2001, the program offers students an engaging and practical look at livestock production and potential career pathways across food and agricultural industries as a partnership between the University and local high schools.

"UniSchools teams this year presented at an exceptional standard and I found the teams’ abilities to work together, present their work in speeches and presentations and deliver a beautifully-finished and well-cared for steer at the end is a real credit to our local young people”, said UniSchools Challenge Coordinator Adjunct Professor Stephen Blunden.

The schools celebrated the end of their time with UniSchools Steer Challenge 2019 at an awards ceremony at the Hawkesbury campus followed by a bush dance and dinner at the historic Memorial Hall.

The winners of each category were awarded as:

ENDS

10 September 2019

David Thompson, Research Communications & Media Officer