Dairy Beef, BQA To ‘Marry’
(Continued from Page A 1)
program at the new Livestock
Evaluation Center near Pennsyl
vania Furnace Wednesday.
The DBQA program will join
with the Beef Quality Assurance
(BQA) program already in place
in the state, with a focus on best
management practices for send
ing dairy culls to market free of
carcass defects.
“We’re going to marry our
Dairy Beef Quality Assurance
program with our Beef Quality
Assurance program,” Slayton
said.
Dairy producers who complete
a one-day training session will be
eligible for a DBQA certificate
and a BQA sign to display on
their farm. Blue ear tags are also
provided for market animals on
certified farms. The idea is for
meat packers to recognize the
tags as a sign of good-quality
slaughter cattle.
Slayton stressed that the certif
icate represents producers, not
individual animals.
Eventually, DBQA should pay
off in increased market cow
prices for dairy farmers, accord-
Abe Harpster, dairyman
and member of the Beef
Quality Assurance commis
sion, urges dairy producers
to pay attention to the
quality of their cull cows.
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ing to dairy groups backing the
program, including the National
Milk Producers Federation,
Pennsylvania Dairy Stakehold
ers, Pennsylvania Professional
Dairy Managers Association, and
the Pennsylvania Holstein Asso
ciation.
A major driving force behind
the program is the increasing
consumer demand for safe food,
according to Slayton.
“Consumers demand safe
food,” he said. “They give us no
tolerance. There’s no element of
apology there.”
Food quality is also a big factor
in the competitiveness of beef.
“Alarmingly, up until a few
years ago.. .one out of four peo
ple ordering beef at a restaurant
had an unpleasant eating experi
ence,” Slayton said. “To remain
competitive, the industry must
maintain or even increase high
quality standards for our prod
uct.
“ There can be no excuses by
the industry, because there is no
tolerance by the public.”
A recent survey shows that the
public has more confidence in
farmers and ranchers than in
government inspectors, restau
rants, or meat packers, according
to Slayton.
That’s a confidence producers
should build on, he noted.
DBQA elements include class
room instruction, cowside train
ing, and a personal contract stat
ing that the producer will adhere
to best management practices.
Certified producers will also re
ceive a manual and a newsletter.
The Pennsylvania Department
of Agriculture will conduct
random “third party” audits of
certified operations.
A major focus of the program
is to teach producers good med
ical, inject ion, methods, for cattle.
Lesions caused by improper in
jections cause tough spots in beef.
According to Slayton, value
losses from injection-site lesions
increased more than twofold
from 1994 to
I 1999.
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The program
also stresses good
recordkeeping in
all aspects of pro
duction, from
feeding to medica
tion. Drug resi
dues are another
important concern
of consumers.
Abe Harpster,
dairyman from
000
006
Paul Slayton, Pennsylvania Beef Council executive director, second from right, pres
ents Dairy Beef Quality Assurance certificate and farm sign to Pennsylvania Secretary
of Agriculture Dennis Wolff for attending the program Wednesday. Joining them are Dr.
John Enck, Bureau of Animal Health and Diagnostic Services director, left, and Scott
Wright, Pennsylvania Beef Quality Assurance director. Photo by Dave Lefever
Evergreen Farms, Spni9e Creek,
and a member of the BQA com
mission, spoke about the benefits
to dairy farmers of becoming cer
tified DBQA producers.
According to Harpster, a con
certed effort on the part of dairy
producers to become DBQA-cer
tified will go a long way.
“What we need to do now is
get a lot of people involved,” he
said. “It’s a simple program.
There are a lot of dairy producers
already doing the things they
need to do.
“We want Pennsylvania to
produce the best market cow
that’s out there,” Harpster said.
Dr. Larry Hutchinson of Penn
State’s veterinary science depart
ment outlined best management
procedures.
Dairy farmers should view
their slaughter cows not as cull
animals, but rather as valuable
market animals, Hutchinson
noted.
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“There are no cull cows any
more,” he said. “We have pro
duction cows and we have mar
ket cows.”
Dr. Celie Meyers of Taylor/
Excel Packing Company, Wya
lusing, spoke about beef quality
from a packer’s perspective.
“Quality assurance is all about
meeting the customer's expecta
tions,” Meyers said. “DBQA can
serve as a basis for continual im
provement.”
Century Farm
Applications Accepted
LANCASTER (Lancaster Co.)
Lancaster County Cooperative
Extension Director Leon Ressler
has announced that applications
for Lancaster County Century
Farm nominations are being ac
cepted by the Pennsylvania De
Also on hand for the program
kick-off was Pennsylvania Ag
Secretary Dennis Wolff and Dr.
John Enck, director of the Penn
sylvania Bureau of Animal
Health and Diagnostic Services.
Hands-on injection site and ne
cropsy demonstrations were also
part of the program.
A total of 80 ag officials and
dairy farmers from across the
state attended.
partment of Agriculture.
“To qualify as a Century
Farm, the farm must have been
owned by the same family for
100 consecutive years,” said
Ressler. “A family member must
currently live on the farm and
the farm must consist of
at least 10 acres of the
original holding or grow
more than $l,OOO annu
ally from the sale of
farm products.”
Lancaster County has
142 registered Century
Farms.
Century Farm in
formation, applications
and assistance in filling
out the application may
be obtained from the
Lancaster County Coop
erative Extension, 1383
Arcadia Road, Room 1,
Lancaster, PA 17601 or
by calling (717)
394-6851.
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