BOMIKAZI MDIYA
Moo-ve over, beauty queens! A cow from just outside East London was crowned 2024’s winner at the online Simbra Champion of the World competition in December.
Joshlin Quartz the cow was crowned the Simbra Miss World gold medallist, while bull, Joshlin Diesel, strutted to third place.
The Simbras are owned by the Joel Lutge Family Trust from Blue Waters, between East London and Komga, and were selected to represent SA for both World Champion male (bull) and Miss World female (cow) in November.
The Champion of the World Competition was founded in 2012 to promote awareness, goodwill, and trade worldwide.
Annually, national champion and high sellers from 16 breeds representing 75 to 95 countries compete for the breed titles of Champion of the World and Miss World. Four judges from four different continents are selected on a rotational basis to evaluate the cattle entered.
Joel Lutge, Shaun Staffen, and Linley Jones have been breeding Simbra livestock for more than four decades.
Their love for livestock has landed them their hard-earned recognition in several stages.
“It is our first time winning a world championship. “The SA local show champions are selected after winning the Bloem show and Royal Show 2024,” Linley said.
“You had to be SA champions first, then your photos are submitted to the international world champion committee, after which they choose finalist entries from there.
“There were over 2,000 entries in the world championship in 2024.”
Jones said walking away victorious at the competition was a reflection of her family’s unwavering commitment to cattle farming.
“What it means to us is priceless, we are proud of our cattle and the Simbra breed, and winning this on the world stage means putting SA in the medals and getting the well-deserved recognition for SA Simbra breeders in general.
“Every animal entered from a country was its country’s national breed champion, which means the competition was extremely tough.
“The judging process takes up to 21 days,” Jones said. She said after winning gold for Simbra Miss World, all gold medallists for all 16 breeds went through to World Champion Supreme, where out of 32 gold medallists, one supreme winner was announced.
Joshlin Quartz made it to the top eight in this competition, which the family were also extremely proud of. — DispatchLive
