Four days of red meat talks

By Breanna Lloyd

The fourth annual Northern Intercollegiate Meat Judging Association (ICMJ) conference returned to Rockhampton from 12 to 15 April.

Over 130 university students and many young beef industry professionals attended and participated in the event over the course of four days.

The experience offered better skills associated with meat quality, carcass classification characteristics, new technologies and capabilities in the production of meat, and identifying Australia’s position in the global beef supply chain to participants.

President of the Australian ICMJ Association Peter McGilchrist said how important it was to hold the conference.

“We bring people together here to demonstrate the importance of what they do on the farm from conception through to consumption,” he said.

“We explain the impacts that has on consumers and the importance of genetics, feeding, breeding and the quality of delivering a consistent product to our consumers.

“There is a lot of young people here and we are trying to enthuse them about the opportunities and challenges that exist in the industry because these guys are going to be the ones to solve those challenges.”

The knowledge provided by the course was obtained at CQUniversities Central QLD Innovation and Research Precinct (CQIRP) and the site visit and beef judging competition at Tey’s Rockhampton.

The competitions included competitors judging several classes including retail cut identification, overall placings and questions, beef judging and commercial evaluation.

Students from the University of Queensland Harry FitzGerald, Sarah Hamblin, Holly Johnson and Amber Whibley, took the championship title after winning the beef judging competition.

Kilcoy Global Foods won the Industry category with Signature OnFarm being the runners-up.

At the Gala Awards Dinner in Rockhampton on 15 April, a series of individual awards were presented.

The champion for the individual meat judging category went to Sarah Hamblin from the University of Queensland.

The occasion attracted farming audiences countrywide and in New England as a visitor from the University of England, Tahila Morgan achieved runners-up for the individual awards.

There was a large number of professional agricultural speakers who spoke about the future of the red meat industry and trend predictions.

CEO of the Cam Agricultural Group and speaker at IMCJ, Bryce Cam said what he thinks farmers of the next generation will adapt to.

“What we know about Australian beef producers is that they are very resilient and quite effective at adapting to the challenges at the time.

“What I think we are going to see in the next 10 years is a resounding demographic shift as we see a generation hand over control.”

“The exciting thing is that we are training a room full of young inspiring leaders to take the industry forward.”

In 2019, CQUniversity and Teys Corporate Australia joined a partnership to be able to branch out to hold the conference in Rockhampton QLD and Wagga Wagga NSW.

Veterinary student Jasmine Wholton from WoogaWoonga attended the ICMJ conference and said why she thinks the event is essential.

“Being able to learn from industry professionals about producing sustainable beef for not only Australia but for the global markets is beneficial,” she said.

Deputy director of CQU Institute for Farming Systems Michael Thomson said how much the meetings have grown.

“The event has grown to just under 80 delegates in 2019 and to now at 130, so the relevance to the industry is reflected in the number of people standing,” he said.

ICMJ is now a highlight on Australian farmers’ calendars, hence, the National ICMJ Conference is scheduled to be held in Wagga Wagga from 4 to 9 July 2023.