Australian Intercollegiate Meat Judging competition and conference kicks off in Wagga Wagga

Three Victorian tertiary institutions have sent teams to the competition and, after months of training and preparation, they are keen for the opportunities that come from this event.

William Sylvester, Erin Gaff and John Gooden are final year students of the Bachelor of Business (Agribusiness) degree at Marcus Oldham and are also the co-coaches of their 15-strong team that has travelled to Wagga Wagga.

Mr Sylvester said there had once again been terrific interest from the students of Marcus Oldham in participating in ICMJ this year, with 60 students engaging in training for the competition.

The maximum allowed to compete from each team at the competition is 15.

"It has all been pretty popular over the past few years and it was pretty difficult to cut the team down to 15," he said.

Patrick Sullivan is leading the team of agriculture students from La Trobe University.

He said his team were unfortunately unable to attend last year's event at Wagga Wagga due to COVID, and the team of four final-year students were very much looking forward to this year's event.

The University of Melbourne has also sent a team into NSW under the direction of final-year student Clare Jensen.

Ms Jensen said the University of Melbourne team of six included people from a wide variety of backgrounds and agricultural knowledge.

"This year's team is made up of students from Sri Lanka, Thailand, Melbourne, Wangaratta and Camperdown, with a combination of people who have grown up in major cities and family farms," she said.

The coaches of all three teams are currently studying themselves and volunteer to lead team training outside of university class time - which often includes early morning trips to Victorian abattoirs, weekly evening training sessions in classrooms and zoom/online presentations.

Mr Sylvester said the team from Marcus Oldham was fortunate to have a good relationship with JBS abattoir at Brooklyn which had been built over time.

"We have been really lucky to build on a decade-long relationship with JBS," he said.

"Marcus Oldham has been going into the JBS Brooklyn plant to learn and train with beef and lamb for about eleven years now.

"It is a bit of a tradition."

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Ms Jensen said The University of Melbourne team had been training since March this year and were very keen for the exposure to the red meat industry that ICMJ provided.

A number of Australia's leading companies from the red meat industry attend the five-day conference and competition which includes a number of presentations from leading researchers and companies, as well as a careers expo.

Mr Sullivan and Mr Sylvester echoed Ms Jensen's thoughts, with all agreeing that the development opportunities, industry exposure, and career opportunities that come out of this conference are vital for all students attending.

"I am really looking forward to the networking opportunities and the engagement with some of Australia's biggest red meat companies," Mr Sullivan said.

ICMJ also hold an annual northern Australia competition at Rockhampton, Qld, in May which was also attended by the Marcus Oldham team.

Mr Sylvester said given the large number of students aiming to represent Marcus Oldham this year, they were able to tailor the northern Australia competition to students from Queensland.

"The Marcus team did well at Rocky, with Gerard Lefebvre winning the individual beef carcase judging section and the Marcus Oldham team taking out the top university team award for the overall placings section," he said.

"A lot of that comes down to observation skills and a bit of an eye for red meat."

It will be a fresh start for the Marcus students at Wagga Wagga however, with a new team having been selected to represent Marcus Oldham.

"It was a hard decision, but to maximize exposure for the team, we are taking a whole new group to the Wagga competition," Mr Sylvester said.

"It gives people the opportunity to meet and greet and find job opportunities for the following years."