AS agriculture students from across the world gathered in Wagga Wagga this week for the Intercollegiate Meat Judging competition, there was one clear theme emerging from the floor – there are plenty of jobs in agriculture.

The competition was flanked by a conference and careers expo, with companies evidently pitching graduate jobs to students, rather than students pitching themselves to companies.

There are two possible reasons the companies are having to work overtime to secure the services of young talent graduating universities.

One is a stat Charles Sturt University’s Prof Jim Pratley pointed out to the Weekly Grill podcast last year, that 14 agricultural universities in Australia produce about 1000 graduates/year who need to fill 5000-6000 jobs.

The other is that ICMJ has a reputation of producing industry leaders – including Meat & Livestock Australia managing director Michael Crowley, CPC chief executive Troy Setter, University of New England meat scientist Peter McGilchrist and many more.

It gives students deep insight into processing, an integral part of the industry does not typically draw a lot of attention. It also exposes the students to employers from across the supply chain.

Asked about the job prospects opened by ICMJ, Xavier Graham from the University of New England team jokingly told The Week in Beef: “They throw jobs at you”.

He said a lot of recruitment is helped by other graduate students who are also competing.

“They are your age so you can resonate with them a lot more than if you are talking to the boss or someone a bit older,” he said.

“That is a really good thing to have, someone your age talking and competing as well and saying ‘you should come work here or you should come work there’.

Originating mixed farming operation at Coolac in Southern NSW, Mr Graham said he was interested in a career in the meat side of the industry.

“We had a subject in at uni which was called ‘meat’ and you got to see the the insides of the carcases and everything, which is makes you understand what you need to do prior slaughter or prior going to the processors,” he said.

“That is pretty interesting industry to be in, especially after seeing how many people are so keen on it at ICMJ.

“I will probably end up at home one day, no doubt on the farm but having that previous background would be good.”

Learning the importance of the meat industry

Similar to Mr Graham, Michael Bradford from the Marcus Oldham said experiencing the processing side of the industry was very valuable.

His family run a sheep, pigs and cropping enterprise near Narrogin in Western Australia and are known for developing the Ultra White breed.

“I love the sheep in the paddock and I have had very little to do with them once they leave the farm gate,” he said.

“We went to Gundagai and that was awesome to see what they are doing there with data recording and traceability and premiums for intramuscular fat. That is where we want to get to in WA.

“It is important for producers to know how their product looks once it’s hung up on the hooks and getting that data back and communication between the processors and producers is really important.”

A different situation in Japan

While the US and Australia are more known for ICMJ, Japan joined the competition 21 years ago.

The Japanese team is put together by multiple universities, with the program headed up by Tatsuki Kamata from Japan’s National Agriculture and Food Research Organisation.

He said the situation was different in Japan where students were having to pitch themselves to potential employers.