State and National Programs

The Goal of Beef Quality Assurance

To ensure the consumer that all cattle shipped from a beef production unit are healthy, wholesome and safe and their management has met FDA, USDA and EPA standards.

The History of Beef Quality Assurance

Consumers have always wanted safe food. In 1980, cattlemen were concerned that they would lose the modern production tools they had come to rely on to improve the health and well-being of cattle, because of consumers concerns and possible misinformation about these production tools. So, beef producers began investigating ways to ensure that their production practices were safe, would pass the scrutiny of the consumer, and that consumers were aware that producers were following these safe practices.

In 1982, the United States Department of Agriculture-Food Safety Inspection Service (USDA-FSIS) began working with the beef industry in the United States to develop the Pre-harvest Beef Safety Production Program. Not wanting any additional governmental regulatory programs, the beef industry adopted the term Beef Quality Assurance (BQA). It has grown to include well over 90 percent of the beef production in the United States.

Between 1982 and 1985, three feedlots targeted evaluation of their production practices and with the help of the USDA-FSIS, assessed the residue risks. In 1985, after careful analysis and adjustment of some production practices, these three feedlots were certified by the USDA-FSIS as Verified Production Control feedlots. What was learned during those three years now serves as the backbone for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) BQA program.

While the BQA program was developing, Pillsbury was working on a quality control program that used many of the same principles. Their program, the Hazard Analysis, Critical Control Point program (HACCP), gained USDA acceptance. HACCP is presently required of all packing plants.

The concepts of the HACCP program are the same as those of the BQA. It is a process of determining what could go wrong, planning to avoid it, and documenting what you have done. In the cattle business, documentation, whether is it recording injections given, or recording calf and cow eartags, is just part of good business, as is following the principle of BQA.

Information on goals and history provided by the Nebraska Cattlemen's Beef Quality Assurance program.

The Success Story of BQA

Over the past 10 years some of the top challenges the beef industry have included injection site blemishes, hide damage from brands, excessive external fat, dark cutters, bruising, inconsistent size and weight of cattle, carcasses and cuts, liver condemnations, inadequate tenderness and insufficient marbling. Many of these challenges have been addressed and great improvements seen due to adherence to BQA principles.

For example, there has been a great reduction in the number of top sirloin butts that show injection site blemishes. The 2000 National Beef Quality Audit showed that less than 3% of top sirloin butts from fed cattle had injection site lesions. In 1991, 21.6% of all top butts evaluated had injection site lesions, with many of them being fluid filled, or abscessed. By 1997 this was down to 6.2% having lesions, and only .7% being fluid filled. The number of cattle with bruises has also decreased. Cattle with horns are a major cause of bruising. In 1995, 68% of cattle had no horns, in 2000, this was substantially higher, at 77% arriving at the packing plant with no horns. Overall, the National Beef Quality Audit found the industry had reduced costs due to quality defects by 15% since 1995. Most of the reduced losses were due to reductions in injection site lesions, bruises and dark cutters.

More Work to Do - Goals for 2005

Although there have been great improvements in quality problems, there is still more work to do. Among the goals the National Beef Quality Audit suggests to make beef a better product are these:

• Eliminate injection site lesions from whole muscle cuts, including the chuck.
• Eliminate major and critical bruises that result in loss of value of subprimals.
• Develop and implement a voluntary, industry-driven and standardized electronic ID system.
• Develop an information system that allows each producer to conduct a quality audit of his or her own herd.
• Provide BQA training for all producers.
• Improve transportation practices and cattle handling equipment.
• Reduce horns to less than 5% of the fed cattle supply.
• Eliminate USDA Standard grade carcasses.
• Eliminate Yield Grade 4's and 5's.
• Eliminate side-branded hides.
• Accompany all seedstock animals with meaningful genetic data for production and end-product traits.
• Continually improve the eating quality of beef.

Learn more about the Nebraska Beef Quality Assurance program, administered through the Nebraska Cattlemen, and the National BQA Guidelines from the National Cattlemen's Beef Association by visiting these sites:

• Nebraska Beef Quality Assurance program
• Beef Quality Assurance National Guidelines
• NebGuide 1351 - Proper Injection Procedures for Cattle
• NebGuide 1236 - Developing Beef Quality Assurance