Barry Whitworth, DVM, MPH
Senior Extension Specialist/State BQA Coordinator

Department of Animal & Food Sciences | Ferguson College of Agriculture | Oklahoma State University

According to one survey, Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) is the most successful rancher educational program in the United States. In Oklahoma, BQA is a joint effort of the Oklahoma Beef Council, Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension Service, and the OSU Department of Animal and Food Sciences. This Beef Checkoff-funded program helps cattle producers raise healthy cattle while providing consumers with a healthy, safe, wholesome product.

BQA is a voluntary certification program that provides cattle producers with science-based guidelines for animal husbandry, herd health, and food safety. Launched in the 1980s, BQA helps producers adopt best management practices that reduce residues, prevent defects in carcasses, and improve the overall quality of beef. This not only benefits producers but also builds consumer confidence.

The objectives of BQA are to provide hands on training to help cattle producers meet BQA expectations as well as realize the benefits of being BQA certified. BQA emphasizes record keeping that meets or exceeds government guidelines. BQA participants are provided with technical assistance from BQA staff, veterinarians, extension specialists, and others. Lastly, BQA provides a foundation for responsible cattle management.

To improve beef quality, BQA applies principles from the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP)program. This system helps producers identify key control points in beef production where management practices can prevent problems before they occur. Preventing issues at the source not only protects consumers but also makes economic sense for producers.

The BQA program addresses a wide range of management practices such as cattle care, herd health, biosecurity, nutrition, record keeping, transportation, environmental stewardship, worker safety, and emergency action planning. Emphasizing these results in better outcomes for cattle as well as producers. To find other areas where improvement should be made, BQA relies on the National Beef Quality Audits (NBQA). These audits are conducted roughly every five years on feeder steers and heifers and cull cows and bulls. The audits can be viewed at www.bqa.org.

Beef cattle producers have different options for certification. The option of certification depends on what phase of the beef cattle production cycle producers identify with. One certification program is related to cow/calf production for those who breed and sell calves. Another program deals with stocker/backgrounder operations for those that raise and sell feeder cattle, and lastly, feeder operators can be feedyard certified. Even those individuals that haul cattle can be BQA certified in transportation.

BQA trainings can be done online at bqa.org or in-person trainings occur across the state of Oklahoma throughout the year. For in-person training, producers should contact their local Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension County office for more information.

BQA certifications are valid for three years from the date of the original certification. To renew a certification, a producer must obtain three hours of continuing educational (CE) courses before their BQA certification expires. CE courses are available at bqa.org or can be obtained through OSU Extension programs.

BQA certification demonstrates to consumers that beef cattle are raised with care, respect, and responsibility. By following BQA guidelines, producers can improve herd health, reduce losses, and increase consumer demand for beef. In short, BQA is both good business and the right thing to do.

For more information about BQA, cattle producers should visit the BQA website at www.bqa.org or contact their local Oklahoma State University Cooperative County Extension office.

References

Klopatek, S. C., Cantwell, A. M., Roche, L., Stackhouse-Lawson, K., & Oltjen, J. W. (2022). Beef Quality Assurance national rancher survey: program participation, best management practices, and motivations for joining future sustainability programs. Translational animal science, 6(3), txac094.

For many livestock exhibitors in Oklahoma, the Oklahoma Youth Expo is always top of mind. As the highly anticipated event approaches, I couldn’t think of a better time to introduce my new seven-part series, The Life Cycle of a Show Steer.

Growing up in the livestock industry—raising, selling, and exhibiting market steers—I’ve been immersed in this world for as long as I can remember. As a kid, I hosted “steer shows” in my living room, dragging a stuffed calf around while begging my mom to judge (not to brag, but I won every time). Recognizing my passion early on, my dad handed me a real show halter at just three years old. Since then, I’ve had the privilege of competing at shows across the country, from the Sioux Empire Livestock Show to the National Western Stock Show and Rodeo.

While winning at national events was unforgettable—especially covering my steer in glitter for the Sioux Empire Sale of Champions and standing on the green carpet in Denver—nothing compares to the limo ride tradition at the Oklahoma Youth Expo. In 2022, my steer, Tarzan, was named breed champion All Other Breeds (AOB), but the journey to that moment was long and full of hard work.

Throughout this series, I’ll take you behind the scenes of what it takes to prepare a steer for his final show, using Tarzan’s story as a guide. From selecting genetics to the emotional final days at the show, I’ll cover every stage of the process.

By Marty New

Body condition scores of beef cows at the time of calving have the greatest impact on subsequent rebreeding performance.

One of the major constraints in the improvement of reproductive efficiency is the duration of the post-calving anestrous period. If cows are to maintain a calving interval of one year, they must conceive within 80 days to 85 days after calving. Calving intervals in excess of 12 months are often caused by nutritional stress at some point, which results in thin body condition and poor reproductive performance.

Research has shown mature and young cows that maintain body weight have ample energy reserves before parturition, exhibited estrus sooner than cows that lost considerable body weight and consequently had poor energy reserves. Body weight change during pregnancy is confounded with embryo and placenta growth. Therefore, the estimation of body fat by use of body condition scores is more useful in quantifying the energy status of beef cows. The system of body condition scoring is an excellent estimator of percentage of body fat in beef cows.

The processes of fetal development, delivering a calf, milk production and repair of the reproductive tract are all physiological stresses. These stresses require availability and utilization of large quantities of energy to enable cows to be rebred in the required 85 days.

Added to physiological stresses are the environmental stresses of cold, wet weather on spring calving cows. In normal cow diets, energy intake will be below the amount needed to maintain body weight and condition. As the intake falls short of the energy utilized, the cow compensates by mobilizing stored energy and over a period of several weeks, a noticeable change in the outward appearance of the cow takes place.

Cows that have a thin body condition at calving return to estrus slowly. Postpartum increases in energy intake can modify the length of the postpartum interval. However, increases in the quality and quantity of feed to increase postpartum body condition can be very expensive. Improvement in reproductive performance achieved by expensive postpartum feeding to thin cows may not be adequate to justify the cost of the additional nutrients.

The influence of nutrition before calving is a major factor that controls the length of time between calving and the return to estrus. Thin cows with a BCS score of four or less at calving produce less colostrum as well as give birth to less vigorous calves that are slower to stand.

The impact of quality and quantity of colostrum will effect these calves’ immunoglobulin levels, thus harming their ability to overcome early calf-hood disease challenges. It is much easier to increase condition in cows before rather than after they calve. High nutrition after calving is directed first toward milk production. Feeding cows to gain condition early in lactation therefore leads to increased milk production but has little effect on body condition.

Cows prior to calving and through breeding should have a BCS of five or higher to have good reproductive performance. First-calf heifers should have a BCS of six. Spring-calving cows are still consuming harvested forages and lactating will generally lose one BCS following calving.

Over-stocking pastures is a common cause of poor body condition and reproductive failure. Proper stocking, year-round mineral supplementation and timely use of protein supplement offer potential for economically improving body condition score and reproductive performance.

An efficient way to utilize BCS involves sorting cows by condition 90 to 100 days prior to calving. Feed each group to have condition scores of five to six at calving. These would be logical scores for achieving maximum reproductive performance while holding supplemental feed costs to a minimum.

Body condition scoring has allowed cattlemen to continually evaluate their nutritional program. By evaluating cow condition at strategic times of the year, it is possible to coordinate use of the forage resource with nutritional needs of the cow herd so supplemental feed and hay needs are reduced to a minimum.

This article originally appeared in the February 2016 issue of Oklahoma Farm & Ranch.