The area of animal health products will focus on storage, transportation, handling, mixing and administration. Animal specific issues will focus on animal handling techniques, specific administration sites and alternate administration sites. A secondary focus of the BQA effort is the development of a certified pre-conditioning program to minimize the incidence of animal health problems and to assure the buyer the animal has received an adequate pre shipment conditioning program. Consumers are demanding a safe, wholesome product. Today s beef industry has responded to the consumers demand by initiating a nationwide Beef Quality Assurance campaign.
Experience dictates that the best apporach is to directly address consumer concerns.
The beef quality assurance program does this by taking the offensive in developing the scientific data and training necessary to avoid residues and blemishes in beef products. Initial ranch certification involves attendance in a 4 hour workshop, discussing and demonstrating the importance of proper handling of vaccines and pharmaceuticals, correct injection procedures and the importance of records. After a ranch is certified, they are eligible to participate in level 1. These tags identify the cattle as RBQA livestock. Level 2 includes level 1 plus a 2 nd set of vaccinations at least 14 days after the first shots and at least 10 days prior to shipment.