"The opportunities and experiences that I have had in the US are invaluable."

I cannot thank Angus Youth and sponsors enough for allowing me to experience the University of Illinois scholarship. This was an amazing trip that was very enlightening.

My first introduction to the American Beef Industry was at the National Stock Show in Denver. Here I was blown away that the foundation heifer sold for US$75000 which went towards youth programs. I was able to attend several Angus shows, sales and dinners which enabled me to meet several Angus breeders, youth ambassadors and staff from the American Angus Association.

Once over flight and luggage delemers, I was found myself arriving at the 4-H girls sorority house at midnight. Not knowing where I was and thinking everyone could be asleep, I was met at the door by a girl who was about to go running!!
I was so lucky to have been able to stay at 4-H. Here I was included in all house areas and social events. Several girls gave me the opportunity to visit their homes as well as show me the sights and restaurants of Champaign/Urbana which included Texas Roadhouse where I had to sit on a saddle and eat ice cream for my twenty-third birthday while I got some American "Yeh-Hahs" because you can't sing Happy Birthday in public places due to copy right!!

I consider myself very lucky to have been able to be taught by Dr. Parrett, Dr. Shike and most of all Dr. Tom Carr in Meat Evaluation as this is his last year of teaching.
He is an amazing man with much dedication and inspiration, basically he is a legend and those who have met him would agree.

I gained bundles of knowledge being part of the University of Illinois' Animal Evaluation team as well as their Animal Judging team. This allowed me to train at several beef, swine and sheep producers ranches. Once I was able to convert my measurements and see a tenth of an inch I was right until I saw a ewe that I really needed millimetres for (0.05in).

Being part of the judging team I was able to travel to many Beef Expos to compete, these included Sioux Falls, Madison, Springfield and many more. I can now relate to the way that Erica Halliday has been trying to teach us in formatting our junior judging remarks. Most judging competitions started early in the morning and orals and questions were later in the afternoon, you would have to give eight sets of reasons
in a row so I had to take plenty of notes on each class especially the swine!!

I would advise all young beef enthusiasts not to think that you don't want to go to University in Australia so why would you want to do University in Illinois. Their classes are completely different but very interesting classes with so many classes that are hands on. I was able to evaluate livestock live and then on the rail. It was a great advantage by the University having their own meat lab for slaughtering and assessing.
This also allowed the dressing percentages to be reasonably high on all species. I was able to take part in classes that involved genetics, the US beef industry, Biological Sciences (Meat) as well as Livestock Judging and Evaluation.

It was great to be able to see the university's breeding stock and evaluate their Angus progeny. Unfortunately they were hit with AM and NH so they only had a small percentage sale bulls but it was still great to see their steers and heifers.
Biological Sciences is a class that I was studying in Australia so it was worth while taking part in lectures and practicals. Practicals included meat tasting, muscle structure, slaughtering animals and determining fat and protein contents of food.

The National Meat Animal Evaluation Judging contest held in Stillwater, Oklahoma was a great experience and a lot of rewarding pressure after judging over 40 classes which included feeder cattle, market cattle, breeding stock and carcases of all species.
Once the team left me, I was set to explore Oklahoma and the lower parts of the US down into Texas and back across to LA to end my trip at Disneyland.
I can say now that I have been to many of the world's LARGEST places including The World's Largest Stocker & Feeder cattle market, largest stadium being the Cowboy's and the world's largest truck stop.

The opportunities and experiences that I have had in the US are invaluable.

Eliza Newcombe - 2009