Next generation of world meat go head to head at Wagga conference

"There is so many lambs and cattle, and I was so surprised, it's different from Japan," she said.

Ms Sato is in town for the 35th Australian Intercollegiate Meat Judging (ICMJ) conference, the annual five-day event bringing students from around the world to experience what the meat industry is like Down Under.

"We visited Teys and Gundagai Lamb, I saw the lamb carcass for the first time so that's so interesting," Ms Sato said.

This year's competition sees 12 teams descend on Wagga - 10 representing Australia and two international teams, one from America and one from Japan.

President of the Australian ICMJ association Peter McGilchrist was thrilled to have the Japanese team back in Wagga for the first time since 2019.

"They're one of our best trading partners for red meat, we export either our largest quantity or second-largest quantity to Japan," Mr McGilchrist said.

"To bring them to our own country and show them how we produce beef, how we process it and the care and quality of it is really important for us."

Team captain and head coach for the CSU judging team Jasmine Wholton is a fourth year student of veterinary science and wants to go into feedlot medicine in the future.

Originally from Kingaroy, Ms Wholton believes competitions like this and collaboration with other nations can only benefit their learning at the early stages of their careers.

"This competition really opens you up to being able to expose to areas that you're unsure of, and then be able to talk to professionals that are then industry leaders in their area," Ms Wholton said.

"It's definitely extremely important in the industry to understand from a consumers perspective, what they're wanting, so it's great from a veterinary perspective for animal health and welfare."

Over the five days, all 12 teams will attend conferences and lectures from university professors and people in the meat industry while also attending workshops and judging sessions.

Small stock judging of lamb and pork carcasses was held on July 4, while the beef judging contest will be held on July 6.

But Mr McGilchrist said the purpose of the five-day event is not just to judge the quality of meat in Australia, but to share innovation with the next generation of the world's meat industry.

"We're trying to really inspire and develop the future leaders for the red meat industry," Mr McGilchrist said.

"We're trying to showcase the tech an the development and the opportunities and also the challenges that exist in the red meat industry."