Twenty-six St Mary's College students are beefing up cattle in the lead-up to the Weebollabolla Shorthorns, The Manildra Group & Bob Jamieson Agencies School steer challenge in May.

The cattle will need to meet the marker requirements of more than 350kg when they compete against cattle exhibited by 12 other schools.

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St Mary's agriculture teacher Lachlan James said the Years 9-12 students would be learning about steers and beef in the coming weeks.

"They learn about animal welfare, how to care for the steers, nutritional aspects, and about what they're feeding them," Mr James said.

"[They'll also learn about] physiology, so which cuts of meat come from which parts of the body, and which is more popular."

He said students would see their cattle judged at the event, and tour Wingham Abbatoirs to learn about the meat production process.

Mr James said the competition was a good opportunity for the students to socialise and schools to connect with producers.

"They get to interact with other students with similar interests. There are roughly 400 students who attend [the event] so it’s a good networking activity," he said.

"It [also] enables producers to have a connection with the schools, and the schools to have a relationship with the industries."

A small number of the agriculture students will attend the competition for Wingham Beef Week from May 13-17.

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