University of Queensland (UQ) Gatton student Rachael Webb has been selected to represent Australia at the North American Intercollegiate Meat Judging titles in Denver next month.
After being shortlisted for the Australian team at the national titles in Wagga Wagga in September, Ms Webb was one of only five students to win a place on the team after a further round of training and competition last week.
Just as she will in the USA, Ms Webb had to rank a selection of beef, sheep and pork carcases and various cuts of meat using indicators such as meat colour, fat colour, eye muscle area, muscle and fat definition. The same assessments are used commercially to match meat supplies to market requirements and gauge eating quality.
The talented young judge from Coonabarabran in New South Wales now has just a few weeks to organise a passport and pack her bags before the team departs for the USA on January 3.
“I still can’t believe it,” Ms Webb said.
“Last week’s training and competition was really intense but really exciting and now to be selected on the Australian team is just amazing.
“The anticipation of visiting the States, learning from some leading meat scientists and taking on some pretty serious competition is an awesome experience that I can’t wait for.”
The Australian team will arrive in Chicago and undertake two and a half weeks of further training in some of the world’s largest abattoirs and feedlots, as well as the Universities of Illinois and Kansas, before competing against the Americans in Denver in mid-January.
It will be a busy start to 2005 for Ms Webb, who will also commence the final year of her studies towards a dual degree in Agribusiness and Animal Production at UQ Gatton.
Ms Webb’s selection on the Australian team is bound to further inspire her colleagues from the UQ Gatton Cattleman’s Club, in which students pursue their interest in the beef industry at competitions and other events in conjunction with their studies.
The Club and UQ Gatton have been a good training ground for the industry with another UQ Gatton student, Michael Pitt of Capella, selected on last year’s Australian Intercollegiate Meat Judging team.
For more information, contact Brad Henderson, Marketing Coordinator, Faculty of NRAVS, on (07) 5460 1229 or 0409.265.587
