BQA Certified

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rrlund

Well-known Member

• Sep 20, 2018

• #1

How many of you cattle guys,beef or dairy,are BQA certified? As of January 1 2019 Cargil,Tyson and Wendy's won't buy from anybody who isn't certified,that includes cull cows.

I went and took the class and test this afternoon and got certified. Not a big ordeal,took two hours and fifteen minutes from the start of the class until they handed me the certificate. No charge. It was just the bother of having to take an afternoon to go do it. They said nobody who took the test would leave there without their certificate. If you failed,stay after and they'd help you pass. There was a list of every sale barn in Michigan on the bottom of the test form and they'd send a copy of your certificate to every one that you wanted to have it,so you wouldn't have to do anything yourself,just check the boxes. There were just 15 questions on the test. Dickens of it is,it's like pesticide certification and you have to renew it every three years.


They said this wasn't mandatory as far as the law goes,but with things being what they are in the food business,the market itself would make it mandatory and probably sooner rather than later.

 

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Lazy WP

Well-known Member

• Sep 20, 2018

• #1

I was BQA certified back in the late 90s. Got away from cattle and never renewed it. My wife has been a brand inspector in both Nebraska and South Dakota as well as ran a processing crew She has her?s so I guess we are covered

 

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Adirondack case guy

Well-known Member

• Sep 20, 2018

• #1

Sound like more Gov. BS. Did you decide to totally revolutionize your farming program to meet their criteria.???
Loren

 

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Charlie M

Well-known Member

• Sep 20, 2018

• #1

For us people not into cattle - what is BQA?

 

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rrlund

Well-known Member

• Sep 20, 2018

• #1

Beef Quality Assurance.

 

Crazy Horse

Well-known Member

• Sep 20, 2018

• #1

Now don't tell me the ad is on the back page of a comic book. Remember those degrees, certifications, diplomas, etc that used to show up there? Well, hopefully my doctor has not used that route for his degree.

 

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rrlund

Well-known Member

• Sep 20, 2018

• #1

Supposedly it's to keep the gubmint out of our business by policing ourselves. I wish now that I'd have taken the wife along. She gives all the shots,she's got that right OK,but they covered cattle handling and she could have used that part of the class.

They went over correct injection sites,proper injection of intermuscular,sub Q and IV,record keeping,needle size,storage and handling of vaccines and antibiotics,veterinary/client relationships,residue and contamination,extra label use,feed additives,high risk feeds,drug withdrawl. Then there was stress free handling,cattle instinct and behavior,cull cattle and bulls. It was interesting. Unlike a state test,this one was written to pass,not to trick you and trip you up. The whole thing was put on by Michigan Cattlemen's Association and Michigan State University.

 

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IaGary

Well-known Member

• Sep 20, 2018

• #1

Cattle producers are going thru this training here in Iowa as well.

Most classes are held at sale barns but you can do the training on line as well.

The way I understand it when your cattle go thru the sale ring it will be announced weather your you are certified or not.

That way the buyers can buy accordingly.

Gary

 

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SVcummins

Well-known Member

• Sep 20, 2018

• #1

Did they give you a bqa aproved rattle paddle for working cattle 😂😂😂?

 

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Leroy

Well-known Member

• Sep 20, 2018

• #1

Never heard of it here in Ohio

 

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rrlund

Well-known Member

• Sep 21, 2018

• #1

It's a national program. It's been around since the 80s. There's just never been much incentive to get it before. Looks like all this food fad stuff will soon change all that.

 

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rrlund

Well-known Member

• Sep 21, 2018

• #1

Ya,that's the way it works here too. I went to the sale barn and took it. There are meetings scheduled all over the state through late fall. It has to be signed by a vet,so if you do it online,you have to go over it with a vet to get it signed,so might as well just go to the meeting and have it all signed on site so you can walk out the door with it.

 

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rrlund

Well-known Member

• Sep 21, 2018

• #1

No,they said if you're good at it,you can move cattle by standing with your hands in your pockets.

 

OP

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rrlund

Well-known Member

• Sep 21, 2018

• #1

Naw,it was the centerfold in Plowboy magazine.

 

544hydro

Member

• Sep 21, 2018

• #1

Here's the notice I got from our local livestock sales barn.

NOTICE >>> We have been notified by two of our largest buyers that effective January 1, 2019 for one and January 1, 2020 for the other, that they will only purchase cattle from suppliers who have been certified in a BQA (Beef Quality Assurance) or FARM program. This requirement is to be implemented in all markets (including non-Equity markets) and all private treaty transactions.

 

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rrlund

Well-known Member

• Sep 21, 2018

• #1

Yep,that's what they're saying here. They said if you have that FARM certification,you're BQA certified. The instructor said "You don't have to be certified...(long pause)...but you have to be certified.". Message received.

 

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SVcummins

Well-known Member

• Sep 21, 2018

• #1

Sometimes you can .

 

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rrlund

Well-known Member

• Sep 21, 2018

• #1

Even the instructor had to laugh. He said there's always one. He said he was watching a video where somebody was demonstrating it and one of the steers broke away. He said the camera quickly came around and followed the guy and the rest of the cattle and never showed the one that got away again.

 

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SVcummins

Well-known Member

• Sep 22, 2018

• #1

Yes one will always give you fits the rest will go right where you want just like they know what you want . The ones that give fits get sold I don?t have time for em . Made the mistake of keeping a heifer one time becuse I couldn?t get her on the semi worst mistake of my life but sometimes they?ll settle down she didn?t