Beef Quality Assurance certification offered
Oklahoma cattle producers can earn Beef Quality Assurance certification at an in-person meeting Aug. 20 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Alfalfa County Fairgrounds in Cherokee with appropriate social distancing and other coronavirus precautions in place.
Breakfast refreshments will be provided at the Blackwell event and a sponsored lunch will be provided at the Cherokee meeting. There is no cost to attend.
BQA is a nationwide program that raises consumer confidence by offering research-based best management techniques and fostering a commitment to quality within every segment of the beef industry. The August certification meetings are being sponsored jointly by Oklahoma State University Extension and the Oklahoma Beef Council.
“We’re asking participants to RSVP to help us plan for necessary social distancing,” said Tommy Puffinbarger, Alfalfa County Extension director and agricultural educator. “In a normal year we would have started hosting meetings in April and continued through the summer.”
Those planning to attend can RSVP by contacting the Alfalfa County Extension Office by email at [email protected] or by phone at 580-596-3131.
For those who do not need in-person training assistance, BQA certification is available through the national office at www.bqa.org.
Being able to take advantage of OQBN fall sales is a good investment for cattle producers, said Jeff Robe, program coordinator for the university’s Department of Animal and Food Sciences.
“OQBN provided excellent value to participating producers in 2019, despite fallout from lethargic price swings in the fall markets because of the Kansas packing plant fire, ongoing trade negotiations and slow wheat growth around the state,” he said.
The estimated gross revenue associated with OQBN was nearly $896,000 in 2019. On average, cattle producers have received a premium of $12.75 per hundredweight at fall market sales over the last nine years.
