Verified Beef Production
We’re Verified!
No, not instagram verified, that would be wild. We’re a Verified Beef Producer! The Canadian Verified Beef Production program encourages producers to use good production practices, and then they actually send a third party auditor to verify it. Proving to consumers whose concern over animal welfare, safety and environmental stewardship is gaining popularity along with alternative protein sources, that Canadian beef is both safe and sustainable.
The Process
First we found the VBP+ website and signed up for the online version of their course, I think it took me an evening. Honestly, it’s mostly everything you already know. As long as one individual on your operation has passed the course, you can move forward.
Next I set out to examine and improve our ranch record keeping practices. I’m a Registered Nurse by trade, so this was something that came easy to me. Record keeping is my jam. The VBP+ program gives you a very easy to follow list of “must do’s”. These are the passing points of your audit, follow them and you’ll be just fine.
Next I sat down with VBP+’s standard operating procedure checklist and assessed our operation. I noted anything that we didn’t do, or more likely, things we were doing all along but hadn’t necessarily had conversations about with everyone on the operation.
Example 1: “Those feeding cattle know what to do in case of power outage or feed equipment failure.” Sure, I think everyone knows what to do in this situation, but we made sure it was a quick topic we addressed with everyone at our next lunch break.
Example 2: “Livestock managers know who to contact in case of a disease emergency.” Sure they do, but to make this even easier, we added the office of the Chief Veterinary Officer to our emergency contact list.
4: Once you feel like you have your record keeping up to snuff and your operation complies with the practice standards, you’ll fire off an email to schedule a phone call with a VBP+ coordinator. They will spend about an hour going over the program and basically checking that you are following the guidelines so that when an auditor comes out to your operation, neither you or the auditor are wasting time. This phone call basically ensures you're ready for an audit, because you're busy, the auditor is busy and nobody wants to do it twice. So answer their questions honestly, and if there is something that they think isn't up to standard, they will coach you on it so that you can rectify the problem area before the auditor arrives. This isn’t stressful, it’s a friendly conversation to help assess whether you are following beef productions best practices.
5. The audit process takes about 2-4 hours. The auditor comes to your operation, looks around, looks at some cows, examines at your records and then engages in a conversation about management practices. The auditor leaves and submits his report to the organization and in a couple weeks, they will send you an email with your verification. If there were any areas of concern, they would discuss those with you, provide support and schedule another audit.
How VBP+ changed our daily operation
Now, we are ranchers in the truest of sense and we don’t have a comprehensive set of records on every animal. We don’t do genetic testing, we don’t weigh every calf, and we don’t tag every pair alike. So record keeping seemed impossible. But it’s not. You don't have to have records on every animal, just the animals that have needed your attention. We implemented a few new practices to make this easier and more legible, fool proof- if you will.
Every animal got a tag with a unique ID (ok, every cow got a right sided white ear tag that I wrote a number on, I started at 1 and counted up. Every cow or heifer that arrives gets a similar tag with a different number. I think in the future I’ll add the birth year as well. Bulls, well they just keep the tags they come with. When we reach 999, I will pick a new color and start again. The animals can still have a left sided tag to identify where they came from. But since we do buy cows throughout the year that sometimes aren’t necessarily a cohesive group, the right sided tag seems to work best for record keeping. (Otherwise we might end up with two animals with the same number, sometimes three of four.)
We (okay my super talented sister) created a spreadsheet and a google form that we use to input animal health treatments, herd health treatments (think, vaccination time), and also shipping records. The spreadsheet is even smart enough to highlight an animal that hasn’t passed it’s medication withdrawal period. Every time we have animals to ship to market or the processing plant, we pull up our spreadsheet to ensure every animal in our shipping pen is clear to go. Please note, paper records are totally acceptable, you don’t have to be this fancy, and you can certainly go fancier as I'm sure lots do. The VBP+ program has some sample spreadsheets on their website that are just wonderful.
I built a vet med sheet that displays every drug we have or use on the ranch, complete with labeled uses, any veterinarian prescribed off label uses, the dosages, how to store the med, etc. We keep this sheet at every chute we treat animals at, on all vet med storage fridges and cupboards as well as on every cowboy’s phone. We can rest assured that our animals are receiving proper drugs and proper dosage.
I also, though not necessary, and probably the Registered Nurse in me coming out, wrote policies, procedures, and protocols for emergency situations on the ranch as well as a number of other ranching activities.
I found all of the drug labels in PDF format and put them into an online folder that everyone has on their phone. As well as MSDS sheets for them in case someone got medication on their skin, eye, etc. (We also have MSDS folders for any and all chemicals we have on the ranch, because I like to be fancy like that).
Our shipping spreadsheet is simple, it includes what was sold/shipped, where it went, who hauled it, a check box that indicates withdrawal time was met, a check box that all animals were in acceptable loading condition, and then a sign off of who was responsible for checking and inputting the information.
I think this pretty much sums up our record keeping and preparations.
I probably left something out and since I’m pretty certain everyone reading this knows me personally, feel free to reach out if you have any further questions. In terms of actual practices, I think we were pretty much ready. Every Canadian beef operation I have been on already complies with verified beef production practices. Joining the program really takes more time than anything, familiarizing yourself with the program and assessing your business.
What I liked about this program is it gave me something to strive for. I love learning and improving and doing better. I’m never okay with good enough, and being able to work towards these standards was a fresh challenge. I will always be trying to save a dollar or a blade of grass, making sure my animals get all their nutritional requirements, and I’m happy that a program exists to guide people on their way. And let’s be honest, most importantly, I love this tool as a way to tell consumers that Canadian Beef is sustainable. The beef in your grocery store is being cared for by people like me and my family. With land and animals and family at heart.