He might be too young to drive, or even graduate from high school, but 13 year old Cory Evans is already demonstrating an ability to judge livestock that is beyond his years.

The Kingaroy High School Student, who has run his own Limousin Stud with his older brother Brent for the past four years, served as an associate judge in the Limousin Ring at Beef 2012 on Tuesday.

He earned the right to judge at Australia’s largest stud cattle show when he won the Queensland Limousin Youth Camp’s young judging competition last year.

Before judging commenced on Tuesday, Cory took the opportunity on Monday to participate in the Beef 2012 junior cattle judging competition for 12 to 15 year olds. From a field of 90 competitors, he took first place.

A clear sign of his obvious talents came in 2010 when at the age of 11 he won the Queensland young commercial cattle judging competition. The prize included a trip south to represent his state in the national young judging competition. However, somewhat ironically, Cory was not able to compete in the national final, because he was too young – the minimum age requirement was 15 years.

Beneath a broad-brimmed Akubra on a hot Rockhampton day, what Cory lacked in height compared to his fellow judges, he more than made up for in confidence and enthusiasm as he provided detailed explanations of his selections to an absorbed crowd of onlookers.

No member of that crowd was more proud than Cory’s grandparents Allan and Val Crawford, who are renowned trade cattle finishing specialists with dozens of major prime cattle championship wins to their name.

“He’s just got an eye for a beast,” Allan said as Cory went through his paces under the guidance of Limousin section judge Stephen Branson from Banquet Angus in Victoria.

“He’s pretty good at the talking side of things, and when he gets on the microphone he’s got all the confidence in the world.”

“And he always has a smile on his face,” Val added.

Cory told Beef Central he found livestock judging “very interesting”, and enjoyed judging and breeding stud and commercial cattle.

While 13 year olds dream of many things, Cory’s has no doubts on what he wants to achieve in future.

He stated that he wants to be very successful within the industry, and would like to be a renowned and respected judge.

It’s easy to get the feeling that’s one goal he’s well on his way to achieving.