Beef Quality Assurance + Production Practices Flashcards
What are the health professional’s goals for food animal producer success?
- efficient livestock production
- marketable product
- quality assured animals
- animal well-being - good production practices, quality handling facilities, clean environment, adequate nutrition
- public health - drug residue avoidance, microbial contamination avoidance
What does HACCP stand for and what are the seven HACCP priniciples?
HACCP = hazard analysis/critical control points
- conduct hazard analysis
- critical control point (CCP) identification
- establishing critical limits
- monitoring procedures
- corrective action
- verification procedures
- record keeping
What are 3 factors involved in hazard analysis and what are examples of each?
- Biological
- bacteria, parasites, natural toxins
- Chemical
- pesticides, residues, feed additives
- Physical
- bruises, abscesses, injection lesions
What does a production unit consist of?
history and physical exam; you’re assessing health, production, and reproduction
What are the goal health parameters for each life stage of a beef calf?
Mortality Rate:
- calves, birth to 10 d: < 5%
- calves, 11-30d: < 2%
- calves, 31d-weaning: < 1%
- calves, post-weaning: < 1%
- cows/bulls: < 0.05%
*anything greater than these parameters is considered critical for intervention
What are the goal production parameters for beef cattle?
Pregnancy Rate:
- Cows (60d breeding): 90-95%
- Heifers (45 d breeding): 80-85%
Calving Rate: 80-85%
Weaned Calf Crop: >75%
Replacement Rate: 15%
What are important things to consider when performing a records evaluation of a beef production farm?
- monitor performance, goals, and critical points
- health - disease incidence
- production - weaning wts, ADG
- repro - pregnancy %, abortions
- nutrition - BCS, wt, nutrient deficiencies
What are some agents you should be aware of when adhering to biosecurity principles of state and national borders?
- BSE - BSE prion
- FMD - Aphthovirus
- Heartwater - Ehrlichia ruminantium
- Texas Cattle Fever - Babesia bigemina, B. bovis
- Brucellosis - B. abortus
- Tuberculosis - M. bovis, M. tuberculosis
What are your consumer health public concerns for beef quality assurance?
- drug residue avoidance
- microbial contamination avoidance
- wholesome product - healthy livestock
- lean to fat
What things result in the greatest amount of loss per steer/heifer?
- excess external fat
- marbling
- hide defects (^ these 3 are much more costly)
- injection sites
- pathology
- dark cutters
- bruises
What are some quality complaints had by retailers?
- excess external fat, weight/box
- injection site blemishes
- bruise damage
- dark cutters
What are some quality complaints had by packers?
- hide defects
- injection side blemishes
- bruises
- reduced quality from implants
- liver condemnations
- dark cutters
What are some areas for improvement in fed beef quality?
- low uniformity/consistency cattle, carcasses
- insufficient marbling
- reduce quality grade from poor animal health
- excessive external fat
- hide damage
- too frequent/severe bruising
- too frequent liver condemnations
What are the guidelines for animal health product use?
- read and adhere to the label
- keep records
- don’t combine vaccines
- use transfer needles (when reconstituting vax)
- don’t reconstitute too much (mix enough for < 1 hr)
- keep mixing periodically
- mark/separate syringes by product
- do not interchange syringes
- restrain animals properly
- select the best route (SQ preferred)
- choose the best site (NOT fastest/easiest, least likely to damage mm/meat)
- neck, behind the shoulder, thigh only if regular or large quantities
- choose correct needle (16/18 gauge; SQ = 1/2-3/4”, IM = 1-1 1/2”)
- use proper injection technique
- sanitation
What are considered 10 critical control points, based on the swine quality assessment program?
- set high quality standards (i.e. become informed, reinforce by self review)
- establish a herd health mgt plan (quarantine procedures, sanitation/hygiene)
- veterinarian/client/patient relationship (assume responsibility for the herd)
- store all drugs correctly (per label)
- use drugs under professional direction
- administer drugs properly
- follow medication instructions
- maintain tx records
- identify treated animals
- use drug residue tests, provide training on proper drug use, annually review QA plan
