THE future of the Santa Gertrudis breed is in good hands, if last week's Santa Gertrudis National Junior Show is any indication.

More than 100 young people, some with their families, poured into the Morgan Park complex in Warwick for the four day camp and competition, all keen to learn and impress.

Show chairman Scott Dunlop said children had come from all over the eastern seaboard to take part in the camp.

"We've got kids her this week from Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria," he said.

"Aged between seven and 18 and all very passionate about the beef cattle industry in this country.

"The kids come to this event learn more about cattle, with tuition and lectures, as well lessons on leading, parading, preparing and judging cattle."

Mr Dunlop said the program had been run by the Santa Gertrudis Breeder's Association for more than 30 years.

"We've been coming to Warwick for quite a few years," he said.

"We've been here at the Morgan Park complex for about the last five years and were at the Warwick Showgrounds before that.

"The facilities here are first class, they're very well thought out and fairly central to a lot of our breeder families in Queensland and New South Wales."

Mr Dunlop said the program was part of the association's strong emphasis on youth development.

"All of these kids are interested in cattle and are all potential future breeders and judges.

"We're teaching them how to select and judge prime beef cattle," he said.

"What to look for, what stands a top beast apart from others.

"They're also taught how to speak about the animals and how to compare.

"In one of the exercises the kids had to judge four classes of stud animals and pass commentary on one of those classes.

"They are also shown to how to judge four classes of commercial cattle."

Mr Dunlop said half of the children at the show brought their own animals from family studs to show.

"Those other kids have had animals provided for them for the duration of the camp, from stud breeders around the country," he said.

"Throughout out the camp and across all the competitions, points for each section will be accumulated and from that, we'll be able to award the major prize for champion herdsperson of the show.

"That young person will win a stud heifer to take home.

"And that animal could be worth between $4000 and $6000, so it's a wonderful prize and a great incentive.

"A prize like that could be the start of these kids developing their own herd."

The main prize for the 2018 show was proudly donated by the Shaw family of Deepwater in New South Wales.

Mr Dunlop said his role was to co-ordinate the show.

"I make sure everything runs smoothly, and make sure everyone is looked after while they're here.

"About half the kids have come with families and they've set up camp here in the grounds and the other half are being housed in dorms.

"It's not all just about cattle though, we do have some good fun after hours, with games and challenges to keep everyone interested and having a good time."

Mr Dunlop said the bulk of kids came to the camp from breeding families.

"Most of the them will have grown up in the industry and are looking to continue in the breeding industry," he said.

"But there are city kids here as well, we've got some students from Nudgee College, who take part in the cattle club at the school."

The show ran from Wednesday, January 10 to Saturday, January 13 and cost $200 for each child to attend.

One of the main fundraisers for the week was a Santa Gertrudis semen auction held at the camp on Friday night.

"All of the semen has been donated by breeder families within the association and the funds raised go towards helping us run the camp in future years," Mr Dunlop said.

"Last year the auction raised in excess of $25,000, which goes a long way to making sure we have this program available in the years to come."