Not all shows are full of glitz and glamour. A staple at the annual National Junior Angus Show (NJAS), the carcass contest gives youth the opportunity to learn about the real world of feeding and harvesting cattle. Owen Austrino, a 17-year-old National Junior Angus Association (NJAA) member from Dade City, Fla., seems to have learned those lessons well. He earned honors for the Grand Champion Carcass for the third year in a row.

“It is exciting to see the hard work pay off,” said Austrino, reflecting moments after learning of his win during the 2025 awards ceremony July 4.

The NJAS Carcass Contest is designed to help young cattle producers understand the basics of feeding out a steer in a cost-efficient way to yield the best-quality carcass possible and, in turn, the best possible eating experience for the consumer. Juniors entered in the contest either raise or purchase a steer, paying close attention to the genetic potential of the steer’s carcass traits. After feeding the steers to market weight at home, they are brought to the NJAS, where they are weighed and tagged before being shipped to a regional processor. There the carcasses are graded on industry standards.

Along with the hands-on experience of taking a steer from start to finish, Owen and the rest of the 22 NJAA members who participated in this year’s contest had the opportunity to attend a clinic led by Gretchen Mafi, Oklahoma State University professor of animal and food sciences.

“I hope the youth who attended this clinic walked away with a better understanding of quality, how we determine quality beef, where the highest-value cuts are, and what value [the] Certified Angus Beef^® (CAB^®) brand brings to the table — how those premiums are rewarded not only as a carcass, but also once those cuts get to a retail store or restaurant,” said Mafi who brought in several primal cuts of meat to demonstrate how the carcass is broken down.

Out of the 24 steers entered in the contest, 17 met the specifications to qualify for the CAB brand. Six of those graded CAB Prime; all carcasses graded Choice or better and received at minimum a premium of $18 per hundredweight (cwt.) grid premium. The highest premium paid was $40 per cwt.

“It has really opened my eyes to a side of the industry outside the show ring — to making profits and trying to make your money back,” said Penelope Soto of Luling, Texas, who participated in the contest with her brother. “I want to be a ranch manager, so it is really important for me and my future that I understand things like average daily gain.”

Soto participated in both the individual and state group contests. Along with her brother, Benjamin, and Luke Summers, she came in fourth among state groups. Juniors from Kansas won the group contest with a trio of steers. Missouri juniors took home second and third with two separate groups of steers. Full contest results are provided in Tables 1 and 2.

Contestants received cash premiums on top of the market price paid by the processor thanks to the Angus Foundation’s Briarwood Angus Farms/Curtis and Ann Long NJAS Carcass Contest Endowment Fund. The Longs were firm believers in the value of carcass information. As part of the contest results, contestants also receive carcass data on their animals to make improvements to future selection and management decisions.