Montana Beef Quality Assurance Certification Course

• Tutorial Main
• Introduction
  • Education Team
  • Intro to BQA
  • BQA History / Nat. Audits
  • 2005 Nat. Audit
  • Top 10 Industry Goals
  • Defining Quality Beef / Cattle Care
• Regional Curriculum
• Record Keeping
  • Effective Record Keeping
  • Information Recorded
• Care & Handling
  • Producer Attitude
  • Animal Behavior
  • Facilities & Transportation
  • Nutrition
• Feed & Additives
  • Feed
  • Additives
  • Handling / Monitoring
• Animal Health
  • Vaccines
  • Injections
  • Needles
  • Implants
  • Parasite Control
  • Antimicrobials
• Processing
  • Vaccinations
  • Dehorning & Castration
  • Identification
  • Weaning
• Carcass Quality
  • Quality Grade
  • Yield Grade
  • Other Quality Issues
• Marketing
  • Source & Age Verificiation
  • Market Timing
  • Cow Marketing
  • Feeder Calf Grades
  • Shrink
• Breeding & Genetics
  • Uniformity & Consistency
  • EPDs
  • Crossbreeding
• Biosecurity Basics
  • Disease Control
  • Learning Tough Lessons
  • Attention to Zoonotics
  • Agroterrorism
• Certification Process
• MT BQA Directives
• BQA Code
• Certification Exam

Funded, in part, by beef and veal producers and importers through their $1-per-head check off through the Cattlemen’s Beef Board and state beef councils by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.

Introduction to Beef Quality Assurance

Beef Quality Assurance is a pre–harvest supply chain management concept that ensures domestic and international beef consumers enjoy ready access to a safe, wholesome and healthy beef supply.

BQA programs provide systematic information to U.S. beef producers and beef consumers on common sense husbandry techniques that can be coupled with accepted scientific knowledge to raise cattle and produce beef under optimum management and environmental conditions.

BQA guidelines are designed to make certain all beef consumers can take pride in what they purchase — and can trust and have confidence in the entire beef industry.

Montana’s BQA program participants recognize that maintaining consumer confidence requires a commitment to quality beef production at every level — from the ranch, to the feedlot and on to the harvest and processing facility. This takes a commitment from every segment within the cattle industry.

Nearly every state in the U.S. has an active BQA program. Funding for these efforts comes from state Beef Councils and the national Beef Checkoff through the Cattlemen’s Beef Board. In Montana, BQA activities are enhanced through locally–derived private and public grants, gifts and volunteer energy.

Participation in the BQA program is totally voluntary — and it is not a "government" program. BQA links all beef producers with livestock production specialists, veterinarians, nutritionists, marketers, animal health companies and food purveyors interested in maintaining and improving the quality of cattle and the beef produced in the U.S.

While state BQA programs chart their own direction, program assistance and national leadership is provided by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA). NCBA’s Producer Education Committee continually updates recommended national BQA guidelines from which states can base their BQA programs.

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Copyright © 2006, Montana Beef Quality Assurance