A Bluffton-area farmer is $3,500 richer after his shorthorn steer won the Calgary Stampede’s Quality Beef Competition.
The steer owned by Ryan Gilchrist was one of 76 carcasses were entered in this year’s quality beef competition held July 16 at Cargill Foods in High River.
“I found out I won last Thursday,” said Gilchrist who farms a cow/calf operation with his parents on the Medicine Lake Road.
Gilchrist’s steer was judged with AAA 90 marbling, a rib eye of 90 square centimetres, a Sterling Silver score of 82 and a carcass weight of 743.2 pounds.
Optimal points are scored at the Stampede’s Quality Beef Competition for a rib eye that measures between 86 and 95 square centimetres; AAA marbling; two to four millimetres of back fat; fine-grain meat texture; and a carcass weight of 700 to 800 pounds.
The Stampede’s Quality Beef Competition features entries from the annual UFA Steer Classic and is held annually as a way of identifying carcasses of superior quality.
Gilchrist was somewhat surprised to win, although he was quite confident he “had a good shot at it.”
Gilchrist has been taking cattle to the Calgary Stampede since 2001 and won reserve champion in 2008.
He said attending the Calgary Stampede is a mini vacation for him. He also attends other cattle shows and goes to Denver, Colo. for a cattle show and sale every other year.