BEEF QUALITY ASSURANCE TRAINING OFFERED ON CD

Ranchers are now able to take the Beef Quality Assurance Training in the comfort of their own homes.

In cooperation with the National Cattlemen's Beef Association and the
Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers, Texas Cooperative Extension
developed a CD-ROM from material taught for several years in workshops
throughout the state, said Dr. Dan Hale, Extension meats science
specialist. The CD will be included in slip covers of The Cattleman and
Gulf Coast Cattleman magazines or may be ordered directly from Extension,
he said.

In the late 1980s, the Texas Cattle Feeders Association put together
the Beef Quality Assurance Program for feeder cattle, Hale said.
Ranchers then began asking for the training, so Extension ? with the
help of TSCRA and the Texas Beef Council ? developed the program and
materials. All of the programs are supported in some degree through
associational sponsorships and Beef Checkoff dollars, he said.

More than 3,000 producers have attended the face-to-face Level One
trainings that teach producers about beef quality assurance, Hale said.
"We saw a need to get this same information out to the masses," he
said, since Texas has more than 100,000 cattle producers, he said. That's
when they approached the NCBA to develop the CD.

The goal of Beef Quality Assurance is to improve the quality and safety
of Texas beef from the ranch to the consumer, he said.

"People call it a ?gate-to-plate' beef safety assurance program," he
said, "and it's also a program that improves the quality and consistency
of beef."

The course is set up in four modules: defining beef quality assurance,
management practices that improve the safety of beef, improving the
quality of the beef and optimizing the care of cattle, and management
practices that enhance the environment.

The CD takes from three to four hours to complete, he said. In-person
training sessions are six hours long.

If producers want to certify they have been through the program, they
will need an Internet connection to link with the Web site
(http://www.beefquality.com) and take the quizzes that go over the
material.

After successfully completing the four modules and the quizzes,
producers will be added to the Texas Beef Quality Producer database
maintained by TSCRA.

All of the educational material is contained on the CD; further
resource material is available through the Web site link included, Hale
said.

After completing Level One, ranchers are eligible to take the Level Two
training that helps certify their ranches have beef quality assurance
programs in place. Further information about that training is available
from Extension agents in each county.

"I look at it this way: Level One trains the person. Level Two shows
the ranch has a beef quality assurance program," he said.

In the future, with an added emphasis on food safety, more people will
be looking for cattle that have been produced from ranchers trained in
beef quality assurance, he said.

The CDs are free with a subscription to The Cattleman or Gulf Coast
Cattleman magazines, or may be ordered for $10 (to cover shipping and
handling) by contacting the local Extension agent-agriculture or from
http://www.beefquality.com.