Vale John McConnel

We advise all members of the passing of Droughtmaster Australia Life Member John McConnel, Mt Brisbane Stud, Esk.

John passed away peacefully on Tuesday, 9th July, aged 74 years.

John’s wife Carli together with their children Rob, Susie, Don, Ian & Bruce invite all friends and family to John’s funeral service to be held in Esk on Wednesday, 17th July at St Agnes Anglican Church commencing at 1pm.

John & Carli contributed much to the Droughtmaster society after forming their stud in the mid 1970’s as a way of breeding bulls for their own commercial operation.  The family were regular exhibitors of Prime Cattle at competitions throughout South East Queensland later exhibiting purebred and crossbred Droughtmasters with much success in Carcase and Led Steer competitions.

John was a Classifier for the breed and served on the Board of Directors as the elected representative for the Southern Zone.  John & Carli wrote the newsletter for many years which proved a valuable means of communication to all our members. John’s proudest achievement in the breed was his contribution to the running of Droughtmaster Beef Week in 1995, a week long celebration of all things Droughmaster held in Nanango which included a feature show and a feedlot trial and carcase competition.  John is pictured with his pen of three trade steers that won the trade weight section of the carcase competition.

John always actively encouraged the commercial promotion of the breed, he oversaw the implementation of an annual award for the most successful Droughtmaster commercial producer that was awarded annually at the RNA.

A full obituary will appear in the next Droughtmaster Digest.