Texas Tech Claims 15th Intercollegiate Meat Judging Championship

Jaynie Norman • Jan 12, 2021

GEORGE WATSON NOVEMBER 3, 2020

The abbreviated judging season concluded Sunday at the High Plains Intercollegiate Meat Judging Contest in Hereford, which served as the 2020 national championship meet.

Normally, Texas Tech University's Meat Judging Team in the Department of Animal & Food Sciences has to travel three states away to compete for – and claim – a national championship.

This year, in the age of COVID-19, Texas Tech claimed its second straight and 15th overall national crown in its home state by winning the High Plains Intercollegiate Meat Judging Contest hosted by Caviness Beef Packers.

The national championships are typically held every year in mid-November in Dakota City, Nebraska. But since the coronavirus pandemic began in March, many of the American Meat Science Association (AMSA) judging events held throughout the fall were canceled as colleges and universities experienced travel restrictions.

This fall, only three contests were held, the South Plains Intercollegiate Meat Judging Contest hosted by Texas Tech on Oct. 4, the American Royal Intercollegiate Meat Judging Contest in Omaha, Nebraska, on Oct. 18 and the High Plains contest on Sunday (Nov. 1). Only three teams competed at the South Plains meet – Texas Tech, Oklahoma State University and Kansas State University – while those three were joined by Texas A&M University and South Dakota State University for the last two events.

Prior to the start of the competition on Sunday, the AMSA held a vote among the participating coaches, who agreed to count this competition as the 2020 national championship.

"I am so proud of the team and coaches who humbled themselves in the pursuit of excellence," said Mark Miller, coach of the Meat Judging Team and the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo Distinguished Chair in Meat Sciences. "They became a close family and unselfishly loved one another which gave them the faith and confidence to win the National Championship. God gave this team the victory. They dedicated themselves and worked so hard to achieve this."

After a second-place finish at the American Royal, Texas Tech's performance at the High Plains contest outdistanced Big 12 Conference rival Oklahoma State at the national championships by 30 points, 4,237 to 4,207. Texas A&M finished third with 4,177 points, with Kansas State in fourth with 4,156 points and South Dakota State in fifth with 3,928 points.

For the High Plains national championship event, each team designated four individual competitors for the team title competition, while the other members of each team competed in the alternate division. Leading the charge for Texas Tech was Plainview native Katie Mahagan, who totaled 1,079 points, just seven points ahead of teammate Kamlynn Thomas from Jacksboro with 1,072 points.

Tatum Whitewood of Sanger rounded out Texas Tech's top 10 individual finishers, coming in eighth with 1,056 points.

Mahagan dominated the individual judging competition, taking top honors in six of the eight categories. She claimed the title in beef grading, beef judging, overall beef, lamb judging, specifications and total/placing, while finishing seventh in reasons/questions and 10th in pork judging.

Thomas was right on her heels the whole competition, finishing second in beef grading, lamb judging, overall beef and specifications. She was fifth in beef judging and sixth in total placing and reasons/questions.

Whitewood finished second in total placing, third in beef judging and fourth in pork judging while taking fifth in reasons/questions, sixth in specifications and eighth in overall beef.

Texas Tech's fourth competitor, Hondo native Devin Gonzales, finished third in lamb judging while also taking fifth in total placing, sixth in pork judging, seventh in specifications and eighth in beef judging and reasons/questions.

In the alternate division, Texas Tech placed three teams in the top four, including first and second, while sweeping the top seven individual spots. Brecklyn LeCompte from Perryton led the alternate individual competitors, finishing first with 1,077 points, just two points ahead of Shaelynn Suttle from Idalou and Alli Morgan from Howe in third with 1,072 points.

Other members of the Meat Judging Team are:

Kara Belt from Houston
Caleb Blackwell from Van Alstyne
Megan Burgess from Marion
Sierra Forlano from Eldorado
Emily Franko from Valley Center , California
Jayna Grove from Corpus Christi
Blake Medders from Quinlan
Alex Moore from Socorro, New Mexico
McKenzie Owen from Morris, Oklahoma
Alex Norwood from Katy
Ashley Richardson from Corpus Christi
Lauren Ritchie from Nipomo, California
Sheridan Shallene from Bridgeport
Adrian Sinclair from Bosque, New Mexico
Riley Sloan from Haskell
Darbi Williams from Lubbock

Along with Miller, coaches for this year's team are graduate students Ben Mills from Shallowater and Kyle Mahagan from Plainview.

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Jaynie Norman

Bill would label livestock rivals as ‘imitation’ or ‘lab-grown’ meat

By Jaynie Norman • 01 Feb, 2024

By Chuck Abbott Successful Farming With U.S. approval of cultivated chicken grown in fermentation vats, farm-state lawmakers filed companion bills in the House and Senate on Tuesday to require alternative proteins, such as plant-based foods, to carry the words “imitation” or “lab-grown” on their labels. Sponsors said they wanted to prevent confusion in the supermarket between “real farm-raised meat” and its rivals. Plant-based meats accounted for 2.5% of retail packaged meat sales in 2022, according to the Good Food Institute, a think tank and network of organizations “working to accelerate alternative protein innovation.” Only a trickle of cultivated chicken is on the U.S. market at present. Upside Foods said last September it would build a commercial-scale plant to produce cell-cultured meat products in suburban Chicago. The USDA is working on label regulations for cultivated meat. In the interim, it decided Upside Foods and Good Meat, which were cleared last summer by USDA to sell cultivated meat to consumers, would label their products as cell-cultivated chicken. “The American consumer deserves to know what they are eating and feeding their family,” said sponsor Rep. Mark Alford, Missouri Republican. “It’s only fair that all products are labeled fairly.” Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall said, “Distinguishing between a black-bean burger and an actual beef burger shouldn’t be hard.” Under the legislation, foods made with plant protein and that are sold with a name associated with products from a food-bearing animal or that are created to taste or look like them would be required to carry the word “imitation” on the label or a word to show the source of the protein. “Meatless chicken tenders” would be one possibility, according to a summary of the bill. Similarly, labels for cultivated meat would include “cell-cultured” or “lab-grown” immediately adjacent to the name of the food. The bill was backed by the largest groups speaking for cattle, hog, sheep, and chicken producers, the American Farm Bureau Federation, and the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture. Livestock producers have argued for years for restrictive labels to prevent alternative proteins from using names associated with animals. A one-page summary of the bill is available here . To read the text of the legislation, click here .

Prevention and Treatment of Tick Bites

By Jaynie Norman • 23 May, 2023

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Livestock and Animal Antibiotic Changes are Coming Soon

By Jaynie Norman • 12 Jan, 2023

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced in June 2021 that all medically important antimicrobials for food-producing animals and pets will move from over-the-counter (OTC) to prescription (Rx) effective June 2023 . A prescription is already required for most antibiotics delivered to livestock, and the remaining three categories of injectable antibiotics available over-the-counter will soon be joining the list of medically important antimicrobials that require a veterinarian’s prescription. To add to the stress of raising livestock, now things will change again which is going to influence the ag industry overall. I hope that this list of medications will give people a chance to read it and become familiar with the situation before the change comes in June of 2023. Changes Coming are as follow: In 2018, the FDA established a 5 year plan for supporting antimicrobial supervision by veterinarians. The plans purpose to address antimicrobial resistance using only medically necessary drugs as necessary to prevent, treat and control disease. It has to be determined by a licensed veterinarian if it is necessary, but you won’t have to order the prescriptions from the vet directly. You will, however, need to establish a Veterinary-Client-Patient Relationship (VCPR) if certain animals are not examined regularly. Popular Products Will Require Prescriptions Following a recent penicillin shortage, soon producers will get hit with this change that once again impacts access to antibiotic therapy for animals. When you’ve used them for so long as OTC meds to treat pneumonia or shipping fever in your livestock, Now, the change will be to establish the relationship with your veterinarian to get the prescriptions for these meds. Here is the list by active ingredients. The following are some products that will be seeing label changes to prescription-only status: Oxytetracyclines Injectables: Liquamycin LA-200, Noromycin 300 LA, Bio-Mycin 200, Agrimycin 200, etc. Boluses: Terramycin Scours Tablets, OXY 500 Calf Boluses Penicillins (Penicillin G procaine, penicillin G benzathine) Injectables: Penicillin Injectable, Dura-Pen, Pro-Pen-G, Combi-Pen 48, etc. Intramammary tubes: Masti-Clear, Go-dry, Albadry Plus Sulfa-based antibiotics (Sulfadimethoxine, sulfamethazine) Injectables: Di-Methox 40%, SulfMed 40% Boluses: Albon, Sustain III Cattle & Calf Boluses, Supra Sulfa III Cattle & Calf Boluses Tylosin Injectables: Tylan 50, Tylan 200 Cephapirin, cephapirin benzathine Intramammary tubes: ToDAY and ToMORROW Additionally, several swine medications fall under the new guidance: Lincomycin Injectables: Lincomix 100, Lincomix 300, LincoMed 100, LincoMed 300 Gentamicin Injectables: Garasol, Gentamicin Piglet Injection ToDay Mastitis Treatment for Lactating C ows