Millie’s U of I Experience – Read the 2025 University of Illinois Recipient Report
The 2025 Angus Foundation University of Illinois Scholarship recipient Millie Moore has concluded her time abroad, returning to Australia following a thorough American experience.
Millie has detailed her U of I adventure in a report, recapping all that happened during her time experiencing all that the United States, the university and the country’s beef industry had to offer.
Read her report here:
It was a snowy January day when I arrived in Champaign, Illinois. First on the agenda was meeting with Dr Dan Shike to select my subjects and prepare myself for the Spring semester ahead. I selected subjects across Meat Science, Animal Ethics, Food & Agribusiness Management and Meat Animal Evaluation.
In addition, I had the opportunity to join the livestock or meat judging teams on campus. With a passion for a challenge, I opted to be part of 3 different teams; Meats, Livestock & Meat Animal Evaluation (which is a combination of the two).
After moving into the 4-H sorority house, I kicked off my first judging run with the meats team, to Denver, Colorado competing at the National Western Stock Show. We travelled through Iowa, Nebraska and Wyoming, stopping for practice along the way at various processors and the University of Wyoming, plus a day exploring the stock show. These competitions were certainly a step up from what I had experienced during the ICMJ competition back home in Australia, and I was excited to develop my skills throughout the semester.
Upon our return, we commenced classes and I also decided to take on a role working in the on-campus meat lab with a number of my undergraduate friends. The meat lab slaughters, processes and sells beef, pork and lamb products, as well as utilising the facility for research projects. We had the opportunity to participate in the entire fabrication and sales process, from the kill floor, the cut room to produce retail cuts, making value-added products like bacon or even working the sales floor. It gave me a set of butchery skills I never expected to have and greatly assisted in improving my meat judging!
It wasn’t long before my first livestock judging competition, Iowa Beef. A typical livestock competition here is a 12:8; we judge 12 classes across beef, sheep, pigs and often goats, placing them and taking detailed notes on a select 8. In the afternoon, we present oral reasons to judges on these 8. This was certainly a new challenge for me, and a skill I saw improve at each competition.
Between competitions, I was also immersing myself in student life, taking part in 4-H house events, attending basketball games, assisting with 4-H and FFA competitions (both fantastic youth initiatives that I have loved learning more about), and the occasional visit to rural Illinois for some hometown visits.
Before long, it was Spring Break, and I headed to Cudlobe Angus in southern Alberta, Canada, my home away from home. Here, I assisted with calf branding and marking during some snowy spring days, before taking off down to Montana with a fellow Aussie, exploring commercial ranches, sightseeing and even finding time for a ski!
It was back to campus then, for a jam-packed judging run. We kicked off by heading 16 hours to Lubbock, Texas, to compete in the Meat Animal Evaluation competition at Texas Tech University. This is a 3-day comp and incredibly industry relevant; day 1 was market animal evaluation, making live estimations of animal composition (fat cover, muscle scoring, etc) and quality across beef, sheep and pigs. Day 2, was breeding animal evaluation, a standard livestock placing competition. Day 3, we headed into the coolers, to make the same estimations of composition and quality, on the same animals as day 1, this time on a carcass. Among this, we also had a communications challenge, where we worked as a group to address a current issue in agriculture. Overall, we had a top 10 finish and landed 6th in Communications.
From there, it was a 17-hour drive back to get to the All East competition the next day at Purdue University in Indiana. This was another 3-day comp, which was solely market animal evaluation and livestock judging. Our team came home 7th overall, 3rd in Market Cattle Evaluation and 3rd in Market Swine Evaluation.
Personally, I was awarded High Individual in Breeding Sheep Evaluation and 10th in Market Cattle Evaluation.
It was home from there for a day off, before I joined the meats team for the Southeastern Meats Competition. First stop was Certified Angus Beef in Wooster, Ohio. Here, we learned about the CAB brand, what it brings to producers, and the various aspects of their program, including producer support, marketing, meat cutting demonstrations, test kitchens and tastings. The CAB brand is a key initiative for Angus producers in the US, allowing for education, premiums and a consistent product for consumers.
From here, we headed to compete in both Ohio and Kentucky, where we placed 5th overall to end the Spring season.
These trips weren’t just about competing; we also made industry visits, new connections, explored new states and spent countless hours in the judging bus, creating friendships that I know will last long after my time in Illinois ends.
After 3 weeks on the road, I returned to finish off my semester, including a visit to Prairie View Farms, an Angus show operation, where I learned more about the differences between AUS and US show systems, including keeping show steers in coolers! At college, I helped out with research projects, meat judging demonstrations and more, culminating with watching some of my close friends graduate.
It was bittersweet leaving Illinois, knowing that there is so much I was yet to do, and so much more of the US I wanted to explore. However, I appreciate all that I was able to cram into just 5 short months. Here are some stats:
- 6 competitions attended
- 12 new states visited
- Over 18,000kms covered
- A whole new set of skills, including butchery!
- Basketball games, socials, formals & more
- Experiencing Midwest life, with plenty of delicacies (like a Midwest ‘salad’), cornfields and cattle
I cannot thank the people involved with this scholarship enough for this opportunity. I could never have dreamed of having the chance to study, compete and live in the US, creating lifelong friendships and developing new skills and networks. A heartfelt thank you goes out to Dr Dan Shike for facilitating my time at Illinois, Dr Anna Dilger and Dr Bailey Harsh for welcoming me into the meat lab family, the 4-H House girls for being the greatest roomies, and of course my team coaches, Elli Burris and Nate Brookshire, for welcoming me onto the judging teams and putting up with my constant car chats on our long drives.
A final big thank you goes to Angus Australia, for allowing me this opportunity and fostering relationships with the US industry and to Jake Phillips, for encouraging me to chase my love of the beef industry and being a constant mentor to youth in agriculture.
I have greatly enjoyed the chance to represent Australia in the US, and will continue to enjoy the rest of my summer based at Cudlobe Angus in southern Alberta, keeping busy with cattle work, the Canadian Junior Angus show, farming and field day prep, with plans to return to the US in the near future to explore the beef industry even further.
I-L-L-I-N-I!
