A new platform from the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association is designed to serve as a “standardized audit tool” to measure compliance with industry standard practices in the nation’s cattle feedlots.
NCBA’s new Cattle Industry Feedyard Audit tool will be used to verify standards of animal care, health, and welfare are being upheld in accordance with the industry’s Beef Quality Assurance program.
According to an NCBA release, the organization will maintain the tool, but auditing will be conducted “through business-to-business activity within the cattle industry.” There are two major components of an audit: Feedlot observations and document review.
“Auditors will review documented protocols, records, and potentially conduct employee interviews to verify protocols are being followed,” NCBA noted. “Auditors will also conduct observations of pens, handling facilities, and animal observations both in pens and during processing.”
An NCBA committee had previously noted the need for a “uniform industrywide audit tool” and called for the creation of a BQA audit process. Results of the audit “can provide information back to the feedyard to drive improvement and measure the effectiveness of the operation’s implementation of BQA standards.”
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