Back to back wins for Australian ICMJ team in the US!

17 Jan Back to back wins for Australian ICMJ team in the US!

It has been 17 years since the Australian national ICMJ team won a competition in the US but this year they’ve broken a new record and taken out back to back Championships during their tour of the USA in January! The 2018 Australian ICMJ team competed in the Southwest Invitational and National Western meat judging competitions this year, wining both in the A-Division category.

The competitions are part of a month-long annual tour of the US industry sponsored by Meat and Livestock (MLA) and the Australian Meat Processors Corporation (AMPC). The program builds industry leadership capacity across the supply chain by exposing students to US production systems and supply chains. The team of five students, selected from the Australian competition, includes Emily Webb Ware (University of Melbourne), Lachlan Woods (Charles Sturt University), Jake Bourlet (Charles Sturt University), Bridie Luers (Murdoch University) and Harriet Moss (Murdoch University). The team is coached by Tim Ryan (market analyst), Nick van den Berg (project manager) and Sarah Stewart (meat science).

Students are required to judge beef, lamb and pork carcasses and primals as well as USDA grade beef carcasses.

In addition to champion honours at the first competition, the Southwest Invitational, hosted by Texas Tech University, the team dominated most judging categories, winning beef judging, overall questions and was reserve champion for pork judging. The Australians also beat the US teams at their own game, taking out USDA beef yield and quality grading. In the individual categories, Emily Webb Ware took out overall beef champion and scored highest placed individual, smashing the local competition by almost 30 points, while Lachlan Woods took out champion in pork judging.

Agricultural Science student Emily Webb Ware found the competition a fantastic networking and learning experience. “The Southwest Invitational has been a highlight of the trip so far. The competition was challenging, and learning about USDA grading and how it compares to our systems in Australia has been really interesting”.

At the second competition, the National Western held in Denver, Colorado, the team once again claimed victory as the Champion team. Along with top honours, the team will also return home with trophies for highest team in placings, questions, pork judging and – well timed for Australia day – lamb judging.

It has been an amazing result for the team and is a testament to the hard work they have put in training for the competitions. “This team achieved an outstanding result against the locals, through mastering the USDA grading system over the past week and training extremely hard in the chillers” said head coach, Tim Ryan. “They are a talented group of students who have a real passion for the industry. It will be exciting to see them continue to develop as they enter the workplace”.

The National Western Stock Show culminates the training and competitive component of a month long US industry tour. The team will now focus on continuing to visit a broad cross section of some of the biggest players in the US meat industry, which includes visits to JBS, Tyson and Cargill beef processing facilities, 44-Farms and Gardiners Angus studs, Five Rivers Feedlot, Smithfield Creek pork, Mountain State Rosen lamb plant and a range of universities, including Texas Tech and Texas A&M.

You can follow the team’s adventures on our Facebook page

Full results:

Southwest Invitational Competition

CHAMPION TEAM- A Division
TOP PLACED INDIVIDUAL- Emily Webb-Ware

Beef Judging
Champion Team
Overall Beef Champion- Emily Webb Ware
Champion Team- USDA Beef Yield & Quality grading

Pork Judging
Reserve Champion Team
Champion Individual- Lachlan Woods

Questions
Champion Team

National Western Competition

CHAMPION HIGH TEAM – A division
CHAMPION HIGH INDIVIDUAL – Bridie Luers