Australian Intercollegiate Meat Judging Association (ICMJ) | UQ and Angus Australia take top honours in ICMJ Northern Conference Beef Judging Competition

13 Apr UQ and Angus Australia take top honours in ICMJ Northern Conference Beef Judging Competition

Posted at 03:36h in Uncategorised by icmjadmin

The University of Queensland and Angus Australia have been named Champion University Team and Champion Industry Team, respectively at the 2025 ICMJ Northern Conference Beef Judging Competition in Rockhampton.

AACo’s Austin Smith was crowned Champion Meat Judging Individual with a total score of 522/595, ahead of William Thomson from the University of Queensland by just five points.

The competition, held at Teys Australia’s Lakes Creek processing plant yesterday saw more than 130 participants from both universities and industry compete across six different classes including retail cut identification and commercial evaluation.

It followed three days of intensive workshops, presentations and activities designed to inspire and develop the next generation of red meat industry professionals.

The competition winners and runners up were acknowledged at the Teys Australia ICMJ Northern Conference Gala Awards Dinner at the Great Western Hotel in Rockhampton last night.

ICMJ Northern Conference Co-Chairs James Carter and Laura Bignell congratulated the award recipients on a job well done.

“The beef judging competition is an important part of the program as it encourages participants to push themselves to learn as much as they can and then apply that knowledge in a competitive setting,” Ms Bignell said.

“We saw perfect scores from at least five competitors in some classes which shows just how strong the field was this year.”

Mr Carter acknowledged the efforts of participants on competition day and throughout the conference.

“ICMJ is about much more than just meat judging,” he said.

“Some participants will be taking home awards but more importantly they’ve gained increased knowledge of the beef industry, a range of new connections and hopefully a sense of excitement about their future careers in the red meat industry.”

The annual ICMJ Northern Conference is hosted by CQUniversity and Teys Australia and supported by a range of industry partners including Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) and Australian Meat Processor Corporation (AMPC) JBS Australia, NH Foods, Beef Australia, Mort & Co, Rockhampton Regional Council, Australian Agricultural Company, AAM Investment Group, Signature Onfarm, Regional Livestock Exchanges, Australian Brahman Breeders Association, Greenleaf, Allflex, Australian Association of Animal Sciences, Super Butcher and Lachlan and Carly Ward.

A full list of winners and runners up can be found below:

MAJOR AWARDS

2025 Northern Champion Meat Judging Team