Meat Judging Association (ICMJ) conference held at CSU for 11th time

ICJM brings together students and coaches from tertiary institutions and leading industry representatives for four days of events, including the National Meat Judging Competition.

From Wednesday 5 July until Saturday 8 July, the conference will provide participants opportunities to network with leading companies, learn about the latest career pathways in the red meat industry, and participate in seminars and practical workshops.

The centrepiece of ICMJ - The National Meat Judging Competition will be hotly contested by university teams from around Australia, and the world.

Casey Spencer is competing with a team from the University of Wyoming. He said it was interesting to get a sense of how the industry differed between countries.

He said meat judging is very competitive in the United States, and trains six days a week to stay on top of his game.

"We usually start between four and five in the morning, and on Saturdays, we go until noon, he said,"

"I've been involved in production agriculture for most of my life, and it's really interesting to see what we produce, where it goes, how it makes its way into the food system.

"You don't really understand it until you do it - most of my friends wonder why I wake up so early and go stand in the cooler for several hours ... but it's a blast."

This is the 11th time CSU has hosted the conference at the Wagga Wagga campus, and the 10th held there consecutively.

ICMJ President Dr Peter McGilchrist said that the goal of the conference was to attract university graduates towards the meat industry, which offers more diverse career paths than many think.

"We've got a lot of undergrads and industry participants here, and we're teaching them all about the supply chains for red meat and pork," he said.

"It's really about exposing all of the students to the opportunities that exist.

"We're really in the production of food, but that takes accountants and lawyers, and a whole heap of tech development ... people who know about cattle and genetics."