University of Minnesota Extension, along with Minnesota Beef Council, continues to host online Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) training opportunities with the next event on November 30. Producers attending any of the free workshops will receive their three-year BQA certification. 

Over the past three 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. Specific companies have chosen to extend their own quality assurance protocol requirements to cattlemen who are a part of their supply chain. A BQA certification is being required by many major industry buyers and processors. When a producer does not have current BQA certification the result 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 online BQA trainings that will be offered include: 

• Online Zoom training: Thursday, November 30, beginning at 7 p.m. Register at z.umn.edu/BQANov30

• Online Zoom Training: Tuesday, February 20, 2024, beginning at 7 p.m. Register at z.umn.edu/BQAFeb20

• Online Zoom Training: Tuesday, April 9, 2024, beginning at 7 p.m. Register at z.umn.edu/BQAApril9

The two-hour trainings are free to attend, but attendees must pre-register online at the correct link, everyone who handles and manages fed cattle is encouraged to become BQA certified. You only need to attend one of the training options to complete BQA certification.

About the ONLINE Zoom trainings: Pre-registration is required. You will not be able to access the Zoom meeting room without first pre-registering and receiving the secure Zoom link from Extension staff. Accessing Zoom is as simple as clicking on the secure link that will be emailed directly to you. 

Families are able to view the training on the same computer/mobile device, and all viewers will receive credit for certification. At the time of entering the Zoom webinar, each participant will need to be checked in by UMN Extension staff with their full name, address, and contact information if it was not supplied at the time of registration.

As always, 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 and 2024, you can go to the UMN Extension BQA Events site: https://extension.umn.edu/courses-and-events/beef-quality-assurance. As more training courses are scheduled, they will all be added to this page so that you can see a complete list of options, both online and in person, to be offered. Pay close attention to whether a training will be offered virtually or in-person. 

If you have any questions about accessing the in-person or online BQA trainings, or have questions regarding your BQA status expiration, please do not hesitate to contact the UMN BQA Team by email – bqa@umn.edu.

Article contributed by Melissa Runck is an Extension Educator-Ag Production Systems with University of Minnesota Extension in Murray and Pipestone counties; and Joe Armstrong is an Extension Educator – Cattle Production Systems with University of Minnesota Extension.