A dominate competitor within many junior judging competitions across the state, 17-year-old Freya Weismantel of Kempsey High School has once again finished on top of the podium.
Demonstrating she has a skilled eye for livestock, both on the hoof and on the hook, Ms Weismantel received overall grand champion judge along with an array of ribbons in the Intercollegiate Meat Judging competition at the Wingham event.
Advertisement
Ms Weismantel said it was her first time trying her hand at meat judging but she had been building her skills working within the industry.
"It was always something Mr (Gavin) Saul promoted to us and wanted us to try," she said. "I work at the local butchery, Milly Hill Meats, and wanted to challenge what I had learnt from working there. It helped me with my primal and retail ID (identification).
"After my sister, Ruby Weismantel, had great success in the meat judging I wanted to follow in her footsteps."
Competing against over 150 students, Ms Weismantel was champion individual in retail and primal ID and champion individual overall.
She was also a member of the Kempsey High team of four which were champion for the retail and primal ID and beef appreciation sections, and runners up in the beef carcase judging, which allowed them to take out overall champion team.
"I really enjoyed the meat judging because it helped me expand my knowledge about cattle judging both live and dead," she said.
"It was a really exciting experience and something I would recommend for everyone.
"It was really interesting to judge the carcases because usually I would just the cattle with their hides on... you have a whole different perspective.
"It was also interesting to judge other things like ossification and marbling which are things you don't get to see in live judging.
"We had done a lot of preparation in the lead up to Wingham in class with our teacher (Mr Linc Urquhart) so it was great to see our hard work pay off."
Ms Weismantel topped of her Wingham Beef Week by being awarded best overall competitor of the event.
Other previous highlights for Ms Weismantel include representing her zone at the state final at the Sydney Royal Show for the past two years, including in 2021 when she won reserve champion judge, as well as success in the virtual judging competitions which as opened her up to many opportunities.
"However, my successes at Wingham Beef Week are definitely some of my biggest highlights," she said.
In the future she wants to go to university to study agricultural teaching.
"I really want to give back to the youth and teach them what I know," he said.
Advertisement
RELATED READING:
