Between Ranui and Aussie

Team Infinity Captains Report (Thomas Hayward)

Team members: Tom Hayward, Hannah Devery, James Armitage, Bob Johnstone.

With just under a month before the New Zealand Teams jet across the Tasman to represent the Angus breeders of New Zealand we travelled to Ranui Angus for one last group training  weekend. This weekend was jam-packed – emulating what we will soon face during the youth competition in Australia. For team Infinity, this was a great opportunity to all meet in person again and build on our experiences from the Gore training weekend and further our development.  

It was amazing to listen and learn more about: EBV selection, genomics, animal cuts and cooking methods, stock judging, show clipping, and debating. 

After the Rauni training weekend team Infinity cannot wait to put our knowledge and lessons into action. This trip is going to be jam packed which will test us all. Even though it is a challenge, there are many things we are looking forward to most:  

– James is looking forward to the stockman’s challenge where he can showcase his horse riding ability from working at the North Range Partnership.  

– Hannah is looking forward to applying her knowledge in the modules but also looking forward to learning more from the variety of industry leaders who are speaking throughout the trip. 

– Lindsay is looking forward to being able to showcase his skills within the young farmers style modules.  

– Thomas is looking forward to the Angus Expo and the modules that come with it to use his cattle assessment knowledge but also to see the hundreds of cattle representing the Angus breed in Australia.  

Most of all however, we all are looking forward to the social aspect of this trip. This is a once in a lifetime experience and opportunity where we get to meet like-minded youth from all over the world that share the same passion of Angus cattle. Learning about their systems and making these connections is going to be one of the most rewarding parts of the trip.  

Between Rauni and Aussie, team Infinity is flat out scrubbing up on our skills to ensure we do our very best to represent Generation Angus NZ and the Angus Breeder of New Zealand as well as we can. 

Thank you to all those that have supported us so far in our journey. Thank you to Lindsay and Maria Johnstone of Ranui Angus for hosting us. Also thank you to Roger and Susan Hayward of Twin Oaks, Callum Stewart (PGG), Dean Fitness (Chefs Choice), and Michelle Dalziell of Atahua Angus for sharing their knowledge over the Ranui weekend. Finally, a massive thank you to Dan Gardener of Bohringer Inglehiem for their support as our naming sponsor. 

Team Legacy Captains Report (Caitlin Rhodes)

Team members: Caitlin Rhodes, Nicolas Verry, Dougal Gibson, Kate Campbell.

Ranui was our final training weekend before the World Angus Forum. The weekend was great, preparing us in many ways. First, we worked out how to tie a neck scarf, which took far too many attempts, but we eventually succeeded. We also practised our skills, such as clipping and different stock judging examples. It was great having a range of stock to challenge us on our terminology. 

A highlight for me was all of the public speaking practice we did. It was great seeing both teams start to feel confident in this area and have a bit of fun with speaking. Lindsay spoke so convincingly at one point, I thought he could play the bagpipes! 

The butchery activity I found interesting, looking at the different names of cuts, particularly because there are so many different names for the same cuts. Additionally, it was an interesting learning how to cook the different cuts based on their structure and fit content. 

Doing all of these different tasks helped us all to get to know the team way better, pushing us to lean on our teammates when we needed it. With the World Forum coming closer, I think the weekend has set us up well, particularly knowing our strengths and weaknesses of our team. We can make sure we are putting each other in the best spot for our skill set, so we go into each part of the competition with our best foot forward.