The verified beef program has been updated and simplified to encourage more interest from producers.
The on-farm food safety program started in Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta two years ago and has spread across the country as more trainers and auditors are contracted, said national program manager Terry Grajczyk.
The workshops have trained more than 3,600 producers. The program remains voluntary, even though several beef alliances have made certification part of their marketing plans.
“We are leaving it voluntary at this time, but if the market chooses to make it mandatory, that is their choice,” said Grajczyk. “We have had some of the new producer marketing alliances groups that are making it a must-do component of their program.”
Read Also
VIDEO: British company Antler Bio brings epigenetics to dairy farms
British company Antler Bio is bringing epigenetics to dairy farms using blood tests help tie how management is meeting the genetic potential of the animals.
These include Natural Valley Farms, Peace Country Premium Beef, Prairie Heritage Beef and Ontario Corn Fed Beef.
Participants need to attend a workshop that may be in a classroom or on-line. They then compile their animal care records and implement new practices.
A feedlot requires three months worth of records and a cow-calf unit needs six months of records. When they are ready an auditor is booked to visit the farm for an independent review and certification.
Follow-up requires two record assessments for review as well as five self declarations over the next seven years. A random audit could occur.
Producers must pay the auditor costs.
The program has been adjusted to reduce paperwork and make the requirements easier to understand without sacrificing Canadian Food Inspection Agency approval.
The revised program includes a number of features:
- Continued focus on meeting drug withdrawal times.
- Continued focus on reducing the potential for broken needles in live cattle.
- Fewer record keeping requirements.
- More flexibility to meet individual needs.
- Simpler requirements for mixing medicated feed.
- Improved wording.
- Removal of signed protocol requirements.
Producers are eligible for a maximum of $750 to cover equipment costs.
Items include a neck extension system on a handling chute to help immobilize cattle and make neck injections easier. Producers may buy computer software to assist in tracking procedures such as animal health treatments or reporting broken needles. Scale or calibration devices for measuring medicated feed are available. A container to dispose of outdated or unused bottles of animal health products may be purchased, as can hand held radio frequency readers to help track animal treatment records electronically.
When joining the program, producers need to remember this is a management system and not a meat certification program. However, discussions will be held in November to decide how private groups can use the program’s trademark for marketing beef.
“We have agreed producers can use it but there would have to be some sort of licensing agreement and conditions around it,” Grajczyk said.
The program would likely permit statements saying the animals came from a registered farm that met certain standards.
