Any Way You Slice It: NMSU Meat Judging Team Represents New Mexico Well at Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo

Students from New Mexico State University’s meat judging team wrapped up the spring portion of their competitive season with a strong showing in Houston, Texas, competing at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo meat judging contest.

According to the team, the competition marked their final contest of the semester and the halfway point of the season before the program resumes competition in the fall.

The team posted several top finishes, including 5th High Team Overall in the contest and 2nd High Team Beef Grading, while also placing 4th High Team Overall Beef, 5th High Team Lamb Judging, and 5th High Team Pork Judging.

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Individual Results

Several NMSU competitors earned high individual placements during the event.

Trenten Bishop led the team with a standout performance, finishing 4th High Individual Overall and earning High Point Individual Beef Judging honors. Bishop also placed 2nd High Individual Total Placings, 3rd High Individual Overall Beef, 6th High Individual Pork Judging, and 10th High Individual Lamb Judging.

Additional individual results included:

• Jose Laguera – 2nd High Individual Beef Grading
• Izabel Stock – 10th High Individual Beef Grading; 10th High Individual Overall Beef
• Anika Tafoya – 4th High Individual Beef Grading; 8th High Individual Pork Judging
• Lillie Jaramillo – 3rd High Individual Beef Grading

The NMSU team is coached by Jacob Painter and Makenzie Webster.

A Competitive Training Ground

The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo hosts a wide range of agricultural judging contests designed to help students develop technical knowledge and decision-making skills tied to livestock and agricultural industries.

Competitions are offered for both youth and collegiate teams, including events in livestock judging, meat judging, wool judging, dairy judging, poultry judging, and other agricultural disciplines.

For many university programs, these contests provide valuable experience as students evaluate livestock and meat products while presenting rankings and reasoning to judges — skills closely tied to careers in animal science, food production, and agricultural quality assessment.

For the NMSU team, the Houston contest marked a solid performance heading into the next phase of their competitive season.

The Aggie meat judging team will return to competition in the fall semester, where they will continue building on the results posted in Houston.