Beef On-Farm Food Safety

Recognizing the importance of consumer confidence in Canadian beef, a team of industry leaders working with specialists from across the beef industry developed a national on-farm food safety program for beef producers called the Quality Starts Here (QSH), Verified Beef Production (VBP) program. It’s a producer-led program designed to help implement and verify the good production practices on-farm that minimize food safety risks. Producers can attend training workshops to learn about potential beef safety risks on-farm and implement good production practices that minimize those risks.

Program Fundamentals

Good Production Practices (GPPs)

These beef management practices, identified by the program organizers and a team of industry specialists as most critical to on-farm food safety, are outlined in an easy-to-use reference manual.

Effective Records

By documenting management practices that reduce food safety risks, producers show they are implementing good production practices on-farm. Producers are in a better position to manage what they can measure.

Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)

When Good Production Practices are understood and applied in a consistent manner by everyone involved in the operation, they become "Standard Operating Procedures." The national QSH VBP program specifies SOPs in the areas of animal health, cattle feeding, cattle receiving and shipping, pesticide control, biosecurity, personnel hygiene and training. When these SOPs have been successfully implemented, the beef operation can then be certified.

Benefits to Beef Producers

There are many benefits to Canadian beef producers who participate in the QSH/VBP program.

• Improved production efficiency

• Awareness of food safety risks and costs

• Increased market opportunities

• Reduced risk of government regulation

• Demonstrated reasonable care

• Staff training benefits

• Certification recognition

Good Production Practices

The QSH/VBP beef safety training workshops focus on the following areas:

• Animal management

• Cattle feeding

• Cattle receiving and shipping

• Pest control and facility maintenance

• Biosecurity, hygiene and training

Standard Operating Procedures

Proof for What is Being Done

The key to producing a safe food product on a continuous basis is to ensure that every person involved in the farm operation is consistent in applying Good Production Practices (GPPs). Establishing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) is the first step in applying GPPs in a consistent manner.

Standard procedures, based on GPPs, are necessary not only to produce safe, quality beef, but also to produce it efficiently.

SOPs help producers and their staff to:

• Recognize potential food safety hazards for a cattle feeding operation

• Know which good production practices will prevent these beef safety hazards

• Know what to do if something goes wrong (e.g. broken needle)

• Keep documentation that shows conformance to program requirements

SOPs should be regularly updated. Employee training and evaluation on a regular basis will ensure that GPPs are consistently being carried out according to documented procedures.

Complete details on the program requirements are available at producer training workshops. The producer manual provided describes all required SOPs and provides record examples.

Simple Steps to VBP Participation

Participating in the Verified Beef Production (VBP) program is simple and straightforward.

1. Contact a Provincial Delivery Agent (PDA) for information or to register for a local Quality Starts Here workshop. Phone the Manitoba Cattle Producers Association at 204-772-4542 or at 1-800-772-0458. The half-day workshops are scheduled for small or large groups of producers to explain the program basics. There is no obligation to participate further.

2. Producers can choose to simply implement Good Production Practices (GPPs) or implement Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). If they wish, producers can proceed to the VBP registration stage, where their production practices and documentation are audited.

3. To qualify for registration under the VBP audit program, cow/calf operations must implement the VBP program for at least six month; feedlot owners for at least three months.

4. The audit, which takes about a half day, involves a cost (including traveling expenses) to have a trained auditor visit the operation and assess SOPs and documentation.

5. Producers who successfully meet VBP criteria will be issued an official VBP registration certificate and can market their operation as VBP-registered.

Steps for On-Farm Certification

• Beef On-Farm Food Safety: Steps for On-Farm Certification (PDF)

For more information visit the Verified Beef Program website.

For More Information contact your Local Specialist or MAFRI GO Teams Office or Centre.