Hot Topics Relating to Livestock and Forages
Age Verification for the Japanese Market
U.S. beef producers welcome the December 12, 2005
announcement that Japan is opening its market to U.S. beef under 21 months of
age. U.S. beef will be sent to Japan under the Beef Export Verification Program,
and those supplying it will be certified under a separate program known as
Quality System Assessment (QSA). The QSA stretches from the farm to the packer
and ensures that the beef is source- and age-verified.
Currently, it is estimated that only 3% of the 2006 U.S.
cattle slaughter will qualify under the A-40 maturity. The A-40 maturity is a
carcass grading system to determine the age of cattle that is accepted by
Japanese officials.
Cow and calf producers have three options for qualifying
animals for the Export Verification Program.
- Option 1: Cattle producers can
apply for approval of their own USDA QSA program for age verification.
- Option 2: Cattle producers can
enroll in one of the approved age verification programs listed online at
http://www.ams.usda.gov/lsg/arc/qsap.htm. Some of the approved age
verification programs are Beef Marketing Group (Ellsworth, KS), Cargill Cattle
Feeders, Merial SureHealth, Smithfield Beef Group, and Texas Cattle Feeders
Association.
- Option 3: Cattle producers can
enroll their cattle in one of the approved USDA Process Verified Programs for
age verification as listed on the Livestock and Seed Program Web site (http://processverified.usda.gov).
A few of the USDA Process Verified Programs are AngusSource, eMerge, Farmland
Food, Cargill Meat Solutions, and Smithfield Beef Group.
Cattle must be traceable to live animal production records.
Verification activities for age requirements must be conducted at the slaughter,
feedlot, and producer levels as required by the QSA program. Records used to
verify this requirement must meet any one of the following criteria.
Individual Animal Age Verification
- Animals must have a unique individual
identification.
- Records must be sufficient to trace the individual
animal back to ranch records.
- Records must indicate the actual date of birth of
the animal and must accompany each animal through the process.
Group Age Verification
- All animals within a group and born during the
same birthing season must be individually identified.
- Records must indicate the actual date of birth of
the first calf of the birthing season.
- The age of all calves within a group must be
derived from the actual date of birth of the first calf born within the
group.
- Records indicating the date the bulls are given
access to the cows may be used as a supplementary measure to verify the
oldest age of animals in the group.
It appears that producers who have a defined breeding and
calving season could choose either individual age verification or group age
verification. Cow-calf producers with a yearlong calving season would be better
served with the individual age verification.
If you have your own stand-alone USDA QSA Program (option
1), the USDA Livestock and Seed Program will approve your program through
on-site visits and by auditing your program. If you are part of an “umbrella”
USDA QSA (option 2) or PVP Program (option 3), the company will conduct supplier
evaluations and re-evaluations in accordance with its approved program. USDA may
conduct audits of suppliers of cattle while auditing the company’s approved
program to ensure program requirements are met.
For individual animal ID, the type of ID is dependent on
the program in which you participate. If you are in an “umbrella” program, then
you must use the type of ID required by the company. If you have your own
program, then you determine the type of ID. Identification must be such that
animals can be traced back to legitimate birth records.
Tom R. Troxel
Extension Beef Cattle Specialist
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