The BQA Certification Program
Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) is an educational program designed to help beef and dairy producers implement management practices on their farms and ranches that will improve the overall quality and consistency of beef and beef products. BQA recommends a series of Best Management Practices that influence the quality, safety and wholesomeness of beef. BQA is based on a risk analysis system called HACCP or Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points originally developed by Pillsbury and later adopted by NASA.
Topics covered during the certification workshop include the following:
· Prevention of injection site blemishes
· Management of Animal Health Products
· Management of Feedstuffs, Feed Additives & Medications.
· Animal Care & Husbandry Practices.
· Bio-Security/Animal Identification
· Record Keeping
Beef Quality Assurance Workshops
BQA Recertification
Recertification may be accomplished by attending another BQA meeting.
Nebraska Corn-Fed Beef
Minnesota BQA certified cow/calf producers are eligible to sell calves into the Nebraska Corn-Fed Beef Program and may qualify for other branded programs. Check with purchasers of your cattle to verify acceptance. Photocopies of Minnesota BQA certificates must accompany these calves.
Becoming a BQA Trainer
To maintain the levels of training necessary to comply with the guidelines, only specially trained individuals will be eligible to conduct BQA certification workshops. These individuals include trained BQA extension staff, approved veterinarians and Minnesota Beef Council staff. All veterinarians, extension personnel and others who wish to become BQA trainers must complete the basic BQA training and then study the additional materials for BQA trainers in order to become certified instructors. Final approval of BQA trainers will be the decision of the Minnesota Beef Council.
Putting BQA into Action
1. Identify areas in your production program where quality defects may occur. Keep in mind which professionals are available for consultation.
2. Keep in mind cull or non-performing cattle (medicated cull cows) are high residue risk situations. Organ damage may prevent normal clearance of product, so withdrawal time may have expired but drug residues remain in tissues.
3. Injection site lesions are the highest risk tissue defect for cow/calf producers as calves will either go into the breeding herd or will be sold as growing/finishing cattle.
4. Develop a plan to prevent or minimize all bacterial contamination or chemical contamination, which can lead to violative residue and physical damage from injections, bruises or broken needles in animal tissues.
Specific Quality Assurance Critical Management Points
1. Identify potential quality problems such as bacteria, chemical and physical through the use of the appropriate checklist, cow/calf or feedlot.
2. The checklist will assist in the identification of Critical Management Points where problems may occur.
3. Limits must be established for preventative measures associated with each CMP. Some limits are easy to establish and others are not. For example, giving all injections in the neck is a CMP. Any injection not given in the neck is outside the Critical Limit.
4. Establish CMP monitoring procedures. An operation’s CMP monitoring list may have items scheduled for daily, weekly, monthly or yearly classes. See the BQA checklists for examples.
5. Establish corrective actions. Reasons for establishing corrective actions include rapid correction of the problem and seriousness with which the problem is viewed.
6. Establish verification procedures. For example, liver reports from a packer are appropriate for verifying if a feedlot’s liver abscess control program is working.
7. Establish record keeping procedures. Keep records that document the management system is being monitored and is working correctly.
The BQA Certification Manual Is Available Here.