THERE are some things that transcend international datelines, and for Texan teen Molly Smith, the Brahman breed is it.
The 19-year-old from Central Texas, out of Austin, travelled half the globe to attend Brahman Week in Rockhampton, after being selected as the winner of the American Junior Brahman Association Australian Student Exchange Scholarship for 2018.
Molly, who started showing Charolais when she was eight-years-old, asked her father to add some Brahmans to their herd about seven years ago, and has not looked back.
The determined youngster loves the breed and hopes to continue to forge a career in the cattle industry.
“I like how they're so durable and versatile, they're good for our climate at home and they're great for your climate here,” Molly said.
“But a bull that we're using right now, he's out of Canada and it gets very cold there so a completely different enthronement. They're just an amazing breed and they're very intelligent they just have a little something extra over other cattle.”
Molly and her Dad run a property with about 80 head of cattle, with a combination of Brahman, Charolais and Charbray.
She said in Texas, showing cattle was a major part of the industry.
“A lot of what we do, just about everything we do on the property now had been on the halter at least once.
“Some of them were a little salty when they were born, but they are pretty quiet and pretty much anyone we can run out there slip the halter on and bring them in if we need to. “
Molly said they breed cattle for private treaty, and also for junior members of the American associations to show.
“I actually helped a couple of little girls this year, they really wanted to show, we're sponsoring them with a couple of different heifers and they'll show them for two years and get them all good and calmed down and then they'll return them at the end of the season.”
”Showing is a big, big deal in Texas, it’s where a lot of people market their cattle.”
Molly, who was staying with the Kirk family at Hazleton, Middlemount said RBWS was a completely different experience for her.
“I'm pretty sure we don't have anything this big at home, it's been amazing being here a completely different experience.
“I’ve had a blast, the Kirk’s brought up 32 head of cattle and we sold nine on day one and the rest on day two, so we’ve had two very early and very big days.”
Molly said Anastasia Fanning had helped to organise her trip, and she would travel to other stations throughout Queensland and possibly the Northern Territory in the next two months.
It is her first trip to Australia and so far, she’s been impressed with what she’s seen.
”I'm just so excited, I did have to take a semester off university, but I will make it up. This is a once in a lifetime thing.”
