The Intercollegiate Meat Judging Northern Conference and Competition will go ahead in the Beef Capital of Rockhampton in 2021 following COVID-safe plans being put in place.
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Forced to cancel the 2020 event due to the pandemic, arrangements are now in place for the second running of the event to be hosted by major sponsors CQUniversity and Teys Australia from April 7 to 10 next year.
ICMJ Northern Conference event coordinator Ethan Mooney, of Teys Australia, said the cancellation this year was bitterly disappointing given the success of the inaugural 2019 event, which was attended by more than 80 people.
"There was such strong interest in the event and support for it to continue that the conference and training program will now be expanded by an extra day in 2021 to include more activities and accommodate more participants," Mr Mooney said.
"The purpose of the conference and meat judging competition is to build the pool of intelligent young meat industry representatives through a competitive learning environment.
"ICMJ has continued to support the industry through 2020 by delivering webinars and online training, which have been incredibly popular, but there is nothing like coming together face to face with your peers to learn and compete together plus build important industry networks.
"It will be hugely exciting to bring the industry together again at the 2021 ICMJ Northern Conference. It's a fantastic opportunity for agriculture students and professionals to gain new skills, as well as network with potential employers and future industry colleagues."
CQUniversity agriculture spokesman Michael Thomson said cementing ICMJ as an annual event on the calendar would enhance Rockhampton's reputation as the Beef Capital and grow its role as the northern beef industry's prime location for educating future leaders.
"Hosting ICMJ is a significant investment by CQUniversity in growing the capacity of the local meat processing sector, providing a recruitment pipeline to retain local graduates and attract skilled graduates to the region," Mr Thomson said.
As well as the training workshops and the meat judging competition, the program will feature a careers expo featuring Australia's major meat processing companies, a number of the large vertically integrated beef supply chains, and industry service providers.
