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Beef Quality Assurance

Management Tactics for Overcoming Beef's Quality Shortcomings

• Eliminate Side and Multiple Brands
• Remove Horns
• Improve Parasite Control
• Improve Red Meat Yield
• Improve Handling/Transportation Techniques
• Eliminate Intramuscular Injections
• Measure Traits that Impact Value

Based on the average number of fed cattle marketed each year, brands and other hide defects such as parasite damage cost the beef industry greater than $648 million annually. Typically, this loss is passed along to all cattle sold in the industry by reduction in the average live cattle price. According to the 1995 NBQA, this is equivalent to $24.30 per head.

Correct management procedures can reduce if not eliminate the occurrence of these quality challenges. Correct administration of animal health products, moving brands to the shoulder or hip areas, marketing cattle at an optimum time, reducing the amount of stress placed on cattle and sorting cattle into marketing groups are just some of the management procedures that can assist in the elimination of defects and thereby increase market value – the return on investment by the consumer and the dollars received per benefits returned to the producer.

This information was taken from the Colorado Beef Quality Assurance Manual. For more information about beef quality assurance visit www.bqa.org or http://www.beef.org/library/publications/beef_quality_assurance/index.htm

• page 1 - Beef Quality Assurance Objective...
• page 2 - The History of Beef Quality Assurance...
• page 3 - Quality Concerns According to Packers and End-Users...
• page 4 - Quality Challenges...
• page 5 - Management Tactics...

For more information on Beef Quality Assurance, contact the Feed Division directly.