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.

Defining Quality Beef

Quality beef consistently satisfies customer expectations for eating and preparation characteristics. Expectations may include tenderness, flavor, juiciness, color, leanness, packaging, ease of preparation and price.

Quality beef products are harvested and processed under strict government inspection systems that ensure it is safe, wholesome, and correctly labeled and packaged. The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is charged with the ultimate responsibility for protecting the U.S. meat supply.

Quality beef can also be identified subjectively through USDA’s official beef quality grading system. A Quality Grade (Prime Choice, Select, etc.) is a composite evaluation of factors that affect palatability of meat (tenderness, juiciness, and flavor). These factors include carcass maturity, firmness, texture, and color of lean, and the amount and distribution of marbling within the lean.

The Code of Cattle Care

Beef cattle producers take pride in their responsibility to provide proper care to cattle. This code provides general recommendations for care & handling of cattle.

• Provide necessary food, water and care to protect the health and well–being of animals.
• Provide disease prevention practices to protect herd health, including access to veterinary care.
• Provide facilities that allow safe, humane, and efficient movement and/or restraint of cattle.
• Use appropriate methods to humanely euthanize terminally sick or injured livestock and dispose of them properly.
• Provide personnel with training to properly handle and care for cattle.
• Make timely observations of cattle to ensure basic needs are being met.
• Minimize stress when transporting cattle.
• Keep updated on advancements and changes in the industry to make decisions based upon sound production practices and consideration for animal well–being.
• Persons who willfully mistreat animals will not be tolerated.

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Copyright © 2006, Montana Beef Quality Assurance