By Chase DeCoite, Director of Beef Quality Assurance, National Cattlemen's Beef Association, a contractor to the beef checkoff
The checkoff-funded Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) program recently launched a
training and certification program for cattle transportation. The program,
known as Beef Quality Assurance Transportation (BQAT),
provides cattle producers and haulers with comprehensive training based on
their roles in the cattle industry. Online training launched in November 2017
and has quickly amassed over 700 enrollments by producers and cattle haulers
from across the country. Additionally, Cargill is supporting in-person
training programs through the network of BQA state coordinators.
With
consumers demanding more transparency from the beef industry and animal welfare
becoming an increasingly important priority of consumers it is vital that the
beef industry share the honest and responsible story of BQA. BQAT
training helps to ensure that cattle are handled and raised under BQA standards
from pasture to plate, without any lapses. Earlier this year, Tyson made
a commitment to require BQA certification at the feedyard level of their supply
chain by January 1, 2019 and BQAT certification of all haulers and transporters
by January 1, 2020. Commitments like this show the beef supply chain’s
commitment to science based, industry supported cattle management and quality
assurance programs.
“The
BQA Transportation training and certification program has been a long time
coming,” said Josh White, executive director of Producer Education for the
National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), a contractor to the beef
checkoff. “By educating cattle haulers and producers on the best practices in
cattle transportation, BQA is helping make improvements in cattle care and beef
quality. Participating in the BQA Transportation program is an indicator that
the beef and dairy industries are committed to responsible animal care during
transportation and makes both the BQA and dairy FARM animal care programs more
complete.”
The
BQA program was first funded by the beef checkoff in the early 1990s and
developed its first guidance on transportation in 2006. Today, the program
offers training and certification programs for all sectors of the industry:
cow-calf, stocker and feedyard. This is the first time a nationally recognized
certification has been offered for the transportation segment of the industry.
“While there have been solid transportation training resources around cattle
transportation in the past, the new program allows participants to get a
nationally recognized certification for doing the right thing”, says White.
Just
how important is the transportation aspect of the beef industry? The 2016
National Beef Quality Audit found that market cows and bulls traveled an
average of 6.7 hours and over 280 miles to harvest facilities and fed steers
and heifers traveled nearly 3 hours and 135 miles to harvest. The findings of
the 2016 NBQA also suggest that handling and other transportation factors such
as comingling of horned or different sex cattle and space per animal play a
role in carcass bruising resulting in a net loss of weight and production
yield. BQAT training addresses these concerns and has the potential to
help the industry improve cattle well-being, beef quality and yields.
Online
training for BQAT is offered in two different modules: Farmer/Rancher and
Professional; in-person trainings are tailored to the audience for the best
learning experience possible. Farmer/Rancher modules focus on fitness for
transport decision making, the use of stock trailers, and smaller loads of
cattle that beef and dairy producers might typically haul themselves. The
Professional modules focus on the use of tractor-trailers and larger loads that
are typically hauled further distances.
“With
the new transportation training modules the BQA program is taking another step
in being the leader when it comes to educating producers and the cattle
industry on the right thing to do,” said Dan Kniffen, past chair of the BQA
Advisory Board, Assistant Professor of Animal Science at Pennsylvania State
University and a cow-calf producer, “We have known for a long time that
transportation plays a critical role in our industry. Now we are fully able to
train and show our commitment to beef quality and cattle care from pasture to
plate.”
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