The OSU Extension office is offering a Beef Quality Assurance certification program next month, Nov. 27. The program will be held from 5:30 p.m.-7 p.m. at the Wilmington College Academic Farm, 1594 Fife Ave., Wilmington.
Dinner will be provided by the Clinton County Farm Bureau. The cost of this program is $10 per person, please call the Clinton County Extension office at 937-382-0901 to register and pay by credit card. You can also mail in a check to the extension office at 111 S. Nelson Ave., Suite 2, Wilmington, OH 45177, and make the check payable to Ohio State University. If you send in a check, please include the names of all attendees, address, and your phone number. This program is open to cattle producers from any county, or people who just want to learn about cattle husbandry. The registration deadline is Nov. 20.
What is Beef Quality Assurance? Why is it important?
BQA is a national program to increase the competitive base for marketing cattle. BQA does this by ensuring that beef and dairy cattle are maintained in a manner that will result in a safe and wholesome beef product. Cattle that are from BQA certified farms are listed at the sale barn as “value added,” these cattle can be purchased by companies that require BQA certified cattle.
Think of order buyers from out west that come to Ohio to purchase our calves to put on their feedlots, many of these feedlots sell finished cattle to companies like Wendy’s or Tyson that require BQA certified beef. If you are not BQA certified, your feeder calves will not be purchased by order buyers who are buying for these companies, who often bid higher on calves in order to get their orders filled. The point is you can lose out on marketing opportunities without Beef Quality Assurance certification.
Increasing consumer confidence in the beef industry is another key aspect of BQA. In the world we live in today, families care about what they are feeding their families and want to know where their food comes from. The BQA program adds to the transparency of the beef industry and includes consumers in the conversation about the food they are buying.
Without the beef consumer, we as cattle farmers do not have a business. The American Farmer has provided the safest, most affordable, and most bountiful food stream in the world, and it is important that we continue this legacy as the world becomes more populous. The BQA program helps build on the already stellar reputation that the American beef producer has, by helping farmers to continue providing top-tier beef products.
We look forward to seeing you at the 2023 Southwest Ohio Beef Quality Assurance Training. If you have questions, call OSU Extension Educator Brooks Warner at 937-382-0901.
Brooks Warner is the Ag & Natural Resources Educator at OSU Extension Clinton County.
