Long before anti-agriculture animal-rights groups began distributing clandestine videos of abusive behavior, the beef industry has actively engaged in initiatives to help assure humane care throughout the beef-production chain.
The national Beef Quality Assurance program, initiated in 1986, has from the beginning included animal-welfare components and incorporated industry guidelines for animal care and handling.
In some cases, motivation for change has come from sources further along the chain. During the 1990s, restaurant chains became involved in animal-welfare issues. They wanted to be able to assure their customers that their meat products come from a production system that treats animals humanely. Restaurant companies contracted with animal scientist and well-known authority on animal behavior Temple Grandin, of Colorado State University, to evaluate animal-handling practices at slaughter plants and to help the plants resolve problems and improve their practices.
Grandin’s efforts and a subsequent auditing process led to significant changes in the design of processing facilities, enabling crews to move cattle more easily, with less stress and less use of encouragement such as electric prods.
In spite of the success of these efforts, we need to look no further than the morning headlines to recognize that the industry must advance its commitment to animal welfare and take every opportunity to demonstrate that commitment to consumers.
Ryan Ruppert, NCBA’s director of beef quality assurance, says we need a “call to arms” to address the animal-welfare issue, similar to the industry’s past response to residue issues and injection-site lesions. At the inception of the BQA program, drug residues were a key problem for the industry, with an incidence of 4 percent in finished steers and heifers. By 1988, the industry had reduced that incidence to zero. The initial National Beef Quality Audit in 1991 found injection-site lesions in 22 percent of finished steers and heifers. By 2001, the incidence dropped to 2.5 percent. With a similar commitment toward animal welfare, Ruppert says, the industry can reassure consumers while improving productivity and protecting beef quality.
Talking Points
Each of the livestock industries has developed a set of animal-welfare guidelines, available free, online.
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Ruppert says the BQA program for 2009 will focus on three primary areas: increasing BQA certifications, animal-care and handling education, and building consumer awareness of BQA efforts.
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Earlier this year, the national BQA program, in cooperation with the Livestock Marketing Association, developed BQA guidelines for auction markets, including an instructional DVD titled “Focal Point: An Auction Market Beef Quality Assurance Guide.” Ruppert says the DVD primarily focuses on animal handling.
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This fall, the BQA program will introduce a similar video for feedyards, illustrating good animal-handling practices in processing areas, while moving cattle on horseback and while loading and unloading trailers. n Kay Johnson-Smith, executive vice president of the Animal Agriculture Alliance, says the alliance is in the process of developing a public Web site intended to educate consumers, and particularly youth, about animal welfare in the livestock industry. The site will include virtual tours of livestock operations, resources for teachers, myth-versus-fact information about animal agriculture, along with care and handling guidelines from livestock organizations.
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The checkoff-funded BQA program has completed a National Feedyard Assessment Program, a self-auditing system that will help feedyard operators document and evaluate animal stewardship and beef quality assurance in their day-to-day management. The program will be ready for distribution this fall, and state BQA coordinators will help feedyard managers implement the system.
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Ruppert says NCBA is in the process of developing a similar self-assessment program for stocker operators, focusing on animal handling and best practices for castration and dehorning.
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NCBA last year initiated a BQA program for cattle transport, including the Master Cattle Transporter training program. The organization now is in the process of finalizing the certification component of the program so that drivers and trucking companies can become certified as Master Cattle Transporters. The Transport Quality Assurance group at NCBA also coordinates its efforts with the Pork Board, as many trucking companies haul cattle and hogs.
Walking points
Johnson-Smith stresses that every livestock operation should have its own animal-welfare program in place, with its animal-care policies available to employees or anyone else.
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Train new and existing employees to follow your animal-care guidelines, Johnson-Smith says. Make sure they understand your policies for treating injured, sick or stubborn animals.
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When hiring new employees, make it a requirement that they sign a written commitment to handle animals according to your welfare policies and to notify you immediately if other employees mistreat animals. This helps assure they understand your expectations and could provide recourse in case of an incident. Keep in mind that the animal-rights activists who have released videos of abuse did not intervene but allowed the mistreatment to continue so they could obtain their footage.
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On the issue of surveillance, Johnson-Smith notes that every minute of every day someone could be watching. Livestock producers need to act as if someone is filming everything they do.
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When arranging transport for your cattle, familiarize yourself with the trucking company and driver. Verify that the driver has had animal-welfare training and understands the industry’s TBQA guidelines.
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Become more proactive in communicating what you do. Don’t assume that people in your community believe you are doing the right things in terms of animal welfare. Tell them.
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Host briefings for all employees to ensure they understand company policies, Johnson-Smith suggests. Employees can be your personal spokespeople away from work.
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People these days often turn to the Internet first for information, so Johnson-Smith recommends developing a Web site for your farm or ranch. The site should include your animal-welfare policy and information about how you care for your animals. If a neighbor or anyone else suspects you might be mistreating animals and goes online for information, your positive message could help relieve their concerns. Building a site does not need to be complex or expensive. One of your kids or a neighboring high school or college student probably could set it up for you.
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Look at your farm from an outsider’s perspective and correct anything that might create the wrong impression. Recognize that most people today know very little about animal agriculture. If an animal dies, for example, keep it out of view until the rendering truck removes it.
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Get to know your legislators, and work with your state and local associations to educate them about animal agriculture. Animal-rights groups have found their best success by going directly to voters through the ballot-initiative process to pass laws restricting agricultural practices. With the support of producers, state legislators could create laws protecting the rights of farmers and ranchers.
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Ruppert notes that the incidence of bruising in slaughter cattle remains a challenge. Learn and practice low-stress animal-handling techniques, particularly during processing and transport, to protect animal welfare and beef quality.
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Finally, Ruppert says, if you are not BQA certified, engage in the training and get your certification. If your BQA certification is out of date, get re-certified. Consumers increasingly want to know that producers are doing the right things, and BQA certification is a great step toward providing that assurance.
To download a copy of the beef industry’s animal-care and handling guidelines, go to www.bqa.org.
Continuing education
The terminology changes — call it animal husbandry, health and well-being or animal welfare —but producers have long recognized that proper care of their livestock relates directly to the success of their business, in addition to being the right thing to do.
As in all other aspects of beef production, we continue to learn. Scien-tific discovery provides on-going improvements in animal health, nutri-tion, handling-practices management and, particularly, a growing understanding of the relationship between stress and animal health.
Talking Points
Nebraska consulting veterinarian Lynn Locatelli, along with fellow Nebraska veterinarian Tom Noffsinger, founded a service called Cattleexpressions, providing training in low-stress animal handling and acclimation for shipped cattle. She offers these points.
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Vaccines work, helping cattle build immunity against specific pathogens. But veterinarians and producers increasingly recognize that vaccines cannot work alone. Optimal response to a vaccine depends on an environment that includes good nutrition and a minimum of stress.
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The same applies to the efficacy of treatment for cattle that become sick. Today’s antibiotics can and do cure many common diseases, but only if caregivers identify and treat the disease in
a timely manner, and provide good nutrition and minimize stress through the treatment and recovery period. -
Research consistently shows that healthy animals perform better than animals that become sick or are under stress, and are more likely to grade USDA Choice or better at slaughter, meaning they produce higher returns for cattle feeders and packers.
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Higher-quality beef, resulting from responsible production, helps build demand among domestic and international consumers, meaning higher financial returns throughout the production chain.
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Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the animal-welfare issue, and at the same time producers are gaining more understanding of the value of handling animals in a calm manner.
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There is a strong trend among producers to reduce the use of prods, loud voices, aggression or force that cause stress during animal handling.
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Producers are becoming interested in modifying facilities to utilize the natural tendencies of animals — so that handling is easier for animals and people.
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Operations that adopt and practice low-stress animal-handling methods consistently see improvements in performance and health.
Walking Points
Dr. Locatelli stresses that while those trends are positive, producers stand to benefit as they pursue greater understanding of how to achieve production-animal wellness.
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Learn to create “emotional fitness” in cattle. When cattle acclimate to their surroundings and handlers, they handle transitions with minimal stress, more uniform social and intake behavior, and better tolerance of physical challenges.
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Learn how to teach cattle to work for their handlers, rather than fearing or resisting them.
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Human contact shapes subsequent behaviors in cattle. Strive to develop behaviors that make cattle easier, rather than more difficult, to work with during future production events.
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Learn to prepare cattle for production events, such as processing and shipping, to reduce stress during these critical times.
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