The competition was held at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga from Tuesday, July 8 until Sunday July 13.

Kayla, from Peak Hill, was one of 150 students in the competition from 10 Australian Universities and four international teams from the United States, Japan, South Korea and Indonesia.

The teams were competing for the Roy McDonald Shield sponsored by Meat and Livestock Australia.

The CSU team, a combination of the Orange and Wagga campuses, took out second place overall and first in Australia.

Kayla said the experience was great.

"I chose to enter to get more experience in the industry. I have a wool background but not much of a background in the meat industry. There is much more to learn in the meat industry than I thought," she said.

In the competition, the students are required to judge beef, lamb and pork carcasses and primals along with identifying a range of beef primals and beef, lamb and pork retail cuts.

The judging of the carcases and primals is based around yield, muscling and quality to evaluate their retail value.

Kayla said the judging was just part of the educational experience.

"It's more than judging. We learnt about paddock to plate. We learnt about live export, overseas and domestic exporting. We also learnt about our main importers and exporters," she said.

In competition Kayla came out with a first place in the lamb section while one of her team-mates took out second place.

"We judged four lambs and answered questions. We then had four different lambs and answered questions from our memory and notes," she said.

This judging is all visual as competitors were not allowed to touch, taste or smell the meat.

Kayla's first place is a great effort for someone who doesn't eat lamb.

"I don't like lamb, I don't eat lamb," she laughed.

"Lambs are judged on their trimness, I could identify with trimness better than muscle on cattle."

Outgoing ICMJ president Brad Robison said this was the point of the competition.

The objective of ICMJ is to lay strong foundations for agricultural industries by educating and injecting enthusiastic graduates into a range of diverse careers into the meat and livestock sector, he said.

"The industry has a bright future with these students entering on a professional level over the coming years," he said.

Ten Australian students were selected from the competition to undertake a five day Meat Standards Australia training course in Brisbane this year and five of these students will be selected to take part in a United States tour early next year.

Although Kayla missed out on the Brisbane trip she is thrilled with the experience.

"I would definitely recommend it, you get to know contacts and learn about the industry," she said.