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.

Cattle Processing

Identification

Positive identification of beef animals is necessary for several production related reasons. Identification is also important to deter cattle rustling and to aid in the prevention of disease outbreaks. Unidentified animals are at a much greater risk of theft. As proof of ownership, most beef producers brand their cattle with a hot iron or freeze brand.

Identification also enhances management practices. Genetic improvement and selection require both the identification of sires and dams and their progeny. Diseased animals need to be identified and removed from the herd to be properly treated. Feedlot cattle should be identified to provide management with health and feeding information.

Methods used to identify cattle include hot iron, freeze branding, ear marking, notching, tattooing, panel ear tags, electronic identification, and wattling.

Branding

Brand inspection is a requirement in some areas of the U.S. depending on the jurisdiction of the state brand laws. Branding is a permanent means of identification to establish proof of ownership. However, placement of the brand can impact the value of the hide. Brand placement is recommended (freeze brand or hot iron) high on the hip, close to the tailhead.

Visual Tags

Ear tags have many different styles and types that are commonly used for identification. Ear tags are not considered to be permanent identification because they can be removed or lost, but they are useful for management purposes. The tags are relatively easy and quick to apply and require less restraint of the animal than other forms of identification. The tags should be applied in an area of the ear that is free of blood vessels to reduce bleeding.

EID Tags

Electronic identification has some advantages over traditional identification, but it also has some disadvantages. Implanted microchips are permanent identification and may allow accumulation of information about the animal for improving meat quality and consistency or tracking animals in case of an animal or human disease outbreak. Ear tags may also contain embedded microchips or bar codes that allow the same accumulation and tracking abilities as implanted microchips.

Tattoo

Tattooing the inside of the ear is a permanent form of identification used in the Brucellosis vaccination program in many states and is also commonly used to identify individual animals in purebred herds. Tattooing also requires specialized equipment, trained personnel, and restraint of the animal.

Wattles

Wattles are used as an alternative ownership identification tool in colder climates where longer winter hair growth makes brand recognition difficult. This form of identification is made by surgically separating both layers of skin from the connective tissue a distance of 2 to 4 inches. Wattles are commonly placed on the dewlap, neck or shoulder. This practice creates a short-term stress when the procedure is performed, but may prevent repeated handling of the animal to identify the owner. It is used mainly in the cold intermountain region of the West and is not a necessary or generally utilized form of cattle identification in other regions.

Producers need to recognize there are practices that are not supported by those who buy products. Wattling, for example, is specifically discouraged by Burger King in its Animal Handling Guidelines.

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