COLLEGE STATION – The 2017 Fightin’ Texas Aggie Meats Judging Team is honored to have been invited to attend the 2017 Australian Intercollegiate Meat Judging Contest in New South Wales, Australia. The team consists of dedicated and talented students interested in competition and excited to represent the Department of Animal Science and the United States. The selected team traveling to Australia will consist of Luke Fox, Maggie Madden, Dax Dittrich, Jenna Hunt, and Kelsey Landrum. These five students will be accompanied by the program coordinator, Dr. Leslie Frenzel, and the team’s assistant coach, Micki Gooch. They will travel to Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga from July 3-9, 2017.
“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for these students and I couldn’t be more proud of them for being selected to attend,” said Frenzel.
The competition is organized by the Australian Intercollegiate Meat Judging Association, a non-profit group whose goals are to expose and encourage students to pursue careers in the meat industry. The main objective of the AIMJA is to provide an opportunity for students to learn and to build the pool of intelligent young meat industry representatives, fired with enthusiasm who will give the Australian meat industry the expertise and drive to compete in the meat quality world of the future.
During the duration of the week, the TAMU team will participate in training programs, daily conferences and workshops, as well as the contest itself. When attending conferences and workshops, students will be able to hear from and interact with industry leaders and representatives, building professional relationships and connections on an international level.
When participating in the competition portion of the trip, students will exhibit their knowledge of evaluating beef, pork, and lamb carcasses, primal cuts, and retail cuts. In addition, students will validate their evaluations through answering written questions, as well as written reasons.
-30-
For more information regarding news from the Department of Animal Science, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Texas A&M University, please contact Maggie Tucker at maggie.tucker@tamu.edu or (979) 845-1542.