25 Sep ICMJ names five students to represent Australia on tour of US meat industry
Five students from four universities have been named in the 2026 Australian ICMJ team to tour one of Australia’s key red meat export markets – the United States.
Piper Christensen and Will Lawrence from the University of Queensland will be joined by Penelope Crothers from Marcus Oldham College, Sarah Bradfield from University of New England and Murdoch University’s Zoe Skinner.
The US industry tour will allow students to build connections with key importers of Australian meat products and allow them to see first-hand how Australian beef, pork, lamb and goat reaches American consumers.
As part of the three week tour in January, the team will also compete on the highly-competitive US meat judging circuit at events in Texas and Colorado.
The Australian ICMJ team announcement was made at the completion of the ICMJ AUS-MEAT Intensive Industry Education and Development Program held in south-east Queensland this week which involved 20 agriculture and veterinary science students from universities around the country.
Australian ICMJ team coaches Aimee Bolton, Jake Bourlet and Ellie Hays had an extremely difficult task in selecting the final five after travelling with the group for the last five days.
“It’s fantastic to see the level of passion and enthusiasm in this year’s cohort,” Aimee said.
“All of them have bright futures in the red meat industry and we’re excited to see where their ICMJ journey leads them.”
AUS-MEAT General Manager of Meat Standards and Training Ben Robinson congratulated the students and said he was proud to continue the organisation’s partnership with ICMJ.
“We’re extremely keen to work with future leaders of the industry and we see ICMJ as the perfect program to support the development of those future leaders,” Mr Robinson said.
“When you look around the industry you can see the proof is in the pudding with the current MD of Meat & Livestock Australia and current CEO of Australian Meat Processor Corporation both past ICMJ participants.
“AUS-MEAT also has three employees in its auditor ranks that are former participants of the ICMJ program and already it’s shown that those staff are very valuable to our company.”
This week’s program exposed students to the operations of some of Australia’s major feedlots and processors including Mort & Co’s Grassdale feedlot, NH Foods Oakey Beef Exports, SunPork Group’s Swickers Kingaroy facility, AACo headquarters, Teys Australia’s hide processing plant at Murgon, Teys Australia head office and the Teys Australia Centralised Distribution Centre at the Port of Brisbane.
The program also included visits to retailers including Super Butcher, Peter Augustus Craft Butcher, The Phat Wag and The Norman Hotel. Students also met with industry leaders from Aus-Meat and Meat & Livestock Australia and took part in professional development sessions to equip them with the communication skills essential for future red meat industry professionals.
The ICMJ Intensive Industry Education and Development Program is supported by Aus-Meat and ICMJ’s foundational partners, Meat & Livestock Australia and Australian Meat Processor Corporation.