BQA gives beef producers direction

By MINDY POEHL | Central Texas Edition

Dr. Ron Gill, Extension livestock specialist, speaks about Beef Quality Assurance. Gill was one of several presenters at the May 17 program in Weatherford. -- Staff photo

June 2, 2005 - The Texas Beef Quality Producer Program (TBQP) is an educational effort that teaches the principles of "Beef Quality Assurance" (BQA). BQA is a reliable system of management practices that helps im-prove the quality and safety of the beef that producers raise. Not only does this program teach BQA principles, but it updates ranchers of the changes occurring in the beef industry, as well as what must be done to increase the demand for cattle.

On May 17, the TBQP was held at the Extension office in Weatherford. Dr. Ron Gill, professor & Extension livestock specialist from Dallas, was on hand to explain what could go wrong with cattle, how to avoid it and how to correctly document everything that has been done with the cattle.

"The majority of beef producers in Texas are small, independent producers," Gill said. "No matter how many cows a producer is managing, he alone can impact the quality of his beef."

Level I training taught producers about the BQA principles, industry updates, marketing strategies, record keeping, handling, culling, vaccines and drug use. Level II covered the requirements needed to receive and maintain full certification as a Texas Beef Quality producer.

The beef industry is evolving into vertically coordinated production systems, which require all segments - from the cow-calf producer to the consumer. The effort allows participating segments to communicate and share information to assure that beef is safe and wholesome, to increase the efficiency of production, and to enhance environmental quality.

"We are an elite group of cattle producers who are sending the message to the consumer that they are producing quality food, rather than just raising and selling cattle," Gill explained.

BQA strengthens consumer confidence in beef products because it integrates Total Quality Management (TQM) into beef operations and addresses important quality and safety issues.

"At the consumer level, quality attributes like tenderness, flavor and portion size are important," said Gill. "At the production level, producers are concerned with things like performance, health and predictability in the system."

When breeding cows, one must realize that all breeds have different strengths and weaknesses. For a rapid genetic change within the herd, select a breed that "excels in traits of interest," as opposed to selection within a breed for the same traits, Gill said. For example, if you desire to increase the marbling ability of your calves, utilize sires from a high-marbling breed instead of searching for high-marbling sires in a breed that is not noted for marbling.

Emphasis should be given to sire selection because of the bull's ability to produce multiple offspring in one year.

"In a mating system that retains replacement females, 87.5 percent of the genetics in the cow herd after three generations can be traced to the sires that have been utilized," said Gill.

In a crossbreeding system, bulls should be selected to best match industry targets for growth and carcass characteristics. If replacement heifers are being produced, sire selection should emphasize maternal traits, with secondary emphasis on growth and carcass traits.

No matter what type of cows are used in the breeding herd, sires must complement the herd to provide a sound genetic base for health, performance and carcass characteristics.

"It is not possible to utilize management (feed, vaccine, preconditioning, etc.) to overcome poor genetics," Gill said. "Therefore, genetic decisions are the first step in quality control."