The University of Minnesota Extension and the Minnesota Beef Council will host an online Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) training opportunity on Tuesday, March 21, from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. CT. Producers attending the free training will receive their three-year BQA certification.
In recent years, cattlemen and women have been asked to complete the BQA program in order to market their cattle to certain processors. However, BQA certification is still voluntary. A BQA certification is required by many major industry buyers and processors who have chosen to extend their quality assurance protocol requirements to the cattlemen who are part of their supply chain. When a producer does not have a current BQA certification, the resulting consequence is that many packers and feedlots simply cannot purchase those cattle because their company cannot source cattle from a producer who does not meet their certification requirements.
The upcoming online BQA trainings that will be offered in Spring 2023 includes:
- Online Zoom training: Tuesday, March 21, beginning at 7 p.m.
- Register at z.umn.edu/BQAMarch21
- In-person viewing party: Tuesday, March 21 at 7:00 p.m. in Jordan, Minn., at the Scott
County Extension Office*.
*Scott County Extension Office address: 7151 190th St. W, Jordan, MN 55352
Attendees who’d like to join online via Zoom must pre-register online at: z.umn.edu/BQAMarch21. You will not be able to access the Zoom meeting room without pre-registering and receiving the secure Zoom link emailed to you from the Extension staff. If you’d like to attend the in-person viewing party, please call Colleen Carlson at the Scott County Extension Office at 507-521-3640. Only one person from each operation is required to be certified to ensure the entire operation follows the BQA standards. However, everyone who handles and manages the operation’s cattle is encouraged to become BQA certified. Families are able to view the training on the same computer/mobile device, and all viewers will receive credit for certification if pre-registered. You only need to attend one of the training options to complete the BQA certification.
Anyone can complete the online BQA training at www.bqa.org at any time.
To keep up to date on both online and in-person BQA trainings that will be offered throughout Minnesota in 2023, you can go to the UMN Extension BQA Events site: https://extension.umn.edu/courses-and-events/beef-quality-assurance. As more training sessions are scheduled, they will be added to this page so that you can see a complete list of options, both online (webinar) and in-person locations.
If you have any questions about accessing the in-person or online BQA training sessions or have questions regarding your BQA status expiration, please contact Brenda Miller at: nels4220@umn.edu or 320-533-4655.
