United States Department of Agriculture • Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service • Safeguarding American Agriculture 

Veterinary Services 

Centers for Epidemiology and Animal Health April 2013 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

Awareness of the Beef Quality 

Assurance Program Among 

Operators of Small1

 Feedlots 

The Beef Quality Assurance program (BQA) has 

developed guidelines for producers in all phases of 

production to ensure the quality of beef and enhance 

consumer satisfaction. BQA covers a range of topics, 

from genetic selection to handling animals at harvest. 

The success of the BQA program depends on beef 

producers’ awareness that they may impact beef quality 

downstream from their production segment. In addition, 

producers must manage their cattle in a manner that 

supports the end goals. One objective of the National 

Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS) Feedlot 

2011 study was to assess feedlot operators’ awareness 

and perceptions of the BQA program. 

The NAHMS Feedlot 2011 study provides an indepth look at large feedlots (1,000 or more head 

capacity) in 12 States2

 and small feedlots (fewer than 

1,000 head capacity) in 13 States.3

 Large feedlots 

accounted for 82.1 percent of the January 1, 2011, 

inventory of feedlot cattle in all U.S. feedlots but only 2.8 

percent of all feedlots. The 12 participating States 

accounted for over 95 percent of the inventory of cattle 

in large feedlots (NASS “Cattle on Feed” report, 

February 18, 2011). Small feedlots accounted for 16.0 

percent of the inventory in all U.S. feedlots and 92.9 

percent of all U.S. farms with cattle on feed. The 13 

participating States accounted for 85.4 percent of U.S. 

farms with fewer than 500 cattle on feed and 90.5 

percent of the inventory on farms with fewer than 500 

cattle on feed (NASS, 2007 Census of Agriculture). 

Study results presented in this information sheet reflect 

only small feedlots, which were divided into two groups: 

those with a capacity of 1 to 499 head and those with a 

capacity of 500 to 999 head. (For information on BQA 

awareness among operators of large feedlots, see 

“Quality Assurance on U.S. Feedlots, 2011,” available at 

http://nahms.aphis.usda.gov/feedlot).

 

1

 Feedlots with a capacity of fewer than 1,000 head. 

2

 Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, New 

Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Washington 

3

 Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, 

Nebraska, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Wisconsin

Familiarity with the BQA program 

An objective of the Feedlot 2011 study was to 

describe feedlot operators’ familiarity with the BQA 

program and to describe their perceptions of the 

importance of management practices that may impact 

beef quality. Widespread awareness of the BQA 

program has been a goal of the beef industry for several 

years. Operators on 18.1 percent of feedlots with a 

capacity of fewer than 1,000 head were very familiar with 

the BQA program and 33.5 percent of operators 

characterized their awareness as “somewhat familiar” 

(table 1). Overall, 48.4 percent of operators of feedlots 

with fewer than 1,000 head capacity had only heard the 

name or were not familiar with the BQA program. The 

level of awareness was related to feedlot size. Operators 

of feedlots with 500 to 999 head capacity were much 

more likely to characterize themselves as “very familiar” 

(41.9 percent) compared with operators of feedlots with 

fewer than 500 head capacity (17.1 percent). 

Table 1. Percentage of feedlots by level of familiarity 

with either the State or the National Cattlemen’s Beef 

Association BQA program, and by feedlot capacity 

and region 

 Percent Feedlots 

Feedlot 

capacity 

(number head) Region 

1–499 

500–

999 Central Other

All 

feedlots

Level Pct. Pct. Pct. Pct. Pct. 

Very familiar 17.1 41.9 24.1 15.9 18.1 

Somewhat 

familiar 33.4 33.8 20.4 38.3 33.5 

Heard of 

name only 19.6 15.7 12.2 22.1 19.4 

Not familiar 29.9 8.6 43.3 23.7 29.0 

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 

BQA training 

Based on the level of awareness among operators 

of small feedlots it is not surprising that only 21.8 percent 

of feedlots with fewer than 1,000 head capacity reported 

having had someone from their operation attend a 
United States Department of Agriculture • Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service • Safeguarding American Agriculture 

national, State, or local BQA meeting or training session 

in the last 5 years. 

 

Importance of BQA practices 

Perceptions of the importance of management 

practices can impact their implementation. Feedlot 

operators were asked to rate the importance of several 

BQA-related management practices. With the exception 

of implant strategy, the majority of operators of small 

feedlots thought the listed practices were very important 

for beef quality. Despite each of these practices being 

cited in the BQA guidelines, 35 to 40 percent of 

operators believed that the practices were not important 

for BQA or were not sure. The percentages of operators 

that believed the practices were not important or were 

unsure of their importance were substantially higher 

among those that were not familiar with the BQA 

program (table 2). 

Table 2. For feedlots in which the operator was not 

familiar with the BQA program, percentage of 

feedlots by importance operator placed on the 

following BQA practices

 Percent Feedlots 

 Importance 

Very 

Somewhat Not Don’t 

know 

Practice Pct. Pct. Pct. Pct. Total

Location used for 

administration of 

injectable products 

(e.g., in neck, 

shoulder, side, or 

leg) 

42.6 20.8 12.8 23.8 100.0 

Route used for 

administration of 

injectable products 

(intramuscular, 

intravenous, 

subcutaneous) 

40.8 17.4 17.1 24.8 100.0 

Implanting strategy 14.5 9.2 42.6 33.7 100.0 

Antibiotic selection 

to manage disease 

(e.g., type of FDAapproved antibiotic 

used or duration of 

action) 

43.0 16.3 20.7 20.0 100.0 

Residue 

avoidance 54.3 7.3 14.4 24.0 100.0 

Summary 

The BQA program has worked hard to educate beef 

producers—along the continuum from cow-calf 

production through harvest—about the importance of 

management practices in ensuring the best possible 

product to meet consumer expectations. Training 

modules have been developed to specifically address 

production segments such as cow-calf, feedlot, 

transportation, and harvest facilities. For the feedlot 

segment of production there is very high awareness of 

the BQA program and good acceptance of the 

importance of various management practices in BQA 

guidelines. From the data collected as part of the 

NAHMS Feedlot 2011 study it appears that there are 

education opportunities among operators of small 

feedlots regarding the components of the BQA program 

and the importance of management practices that can 

impact beef quality. 

References

National BQA Manual. Available at: 

http://www.bqa.org/CMDocs/bqa/NationalManual.pdf 

National Dairy BQA Producers Manual. Available at: 

http://www.bqa.org/CMDocs/bqa/DairyBQAManual.pdf 

A Beef Producers Guide for Judicious Use of Antimicrobials in 

Cattle. Available at: 

http://www.bqa.org/CMDocs/bqa/JudiciousMicrobials.pdf 

Transportation Quality Assurance Program. Available at: 

http://www.bqa.org/manuals.aspx 

Cattle Industry Guidelines for the Care and Handling of Cattle. 

Available at: 

http://www.bqa.org/CMDocs/bqa/GuidelinesfortheCareandHandlingofC

attle.pdf 

BQA Feedyard Assessment. Available at: 

http://www.bqa.org/CMDocs/bqa/Feedyard_Assessment_062209_Blan

k.pdf 

BQA Cow-Calf Assessment. Available at: 

http://www.bqa.org/CMDocs/bqa/Assessors%20Guide_Cow-Calf.pdf 

BQA Stocker Self Assessment. Available at: 

http://www.bqa.org/CMDocs/bqa/Stocker_Assessment.pdf 

________________________________ 

For more information, contact: 

USDA–APHIS–VS–CEAH–NAHMS 

NRRC Building B, M.S. 2E7 

2150 Centre Avenue 

Fort Collins, CO 80526-8117 

970.494.7000 

http://nahms.aphis.usda.gov

#668.0513 

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