More about me – and what is BQA?

A little more about me

Hello everyone! Hannah here – and I thought I would give this whole blogging thing a chance. For those of you that don’t know me, I am a cattle rancher who lives in Gunnison County. I work full time off the ranch, as a facility maintenance employee of the Gunnison Fairgrounds.

I was born and raised in Gunnison – growing up working my family’s cattle ranch. Following my graduation from high school, I left and attended the University of Wyoming in Laramie. I majored in Agricultural Business with an emphasis in Farm and Ranch Management. After graduation from Laramie, I moved back to Gunnison to help ranch again.

Since returning to Gunnison, I have started my own herd of registered Charolais cattle. I was lucky enough to start with high quality genetics, and am excited to offer a set of fancy calves this fall.

You might be asking yourself, why Charolais? Well, according to Kansas State University, “in a recent analysis of seven years of extensive Superior Livestock video auction marketing data including more than two million head of cattle, Charolais sired steer calves outsold all other English-Continental breed cross steers by $3.73 per hundred weight.” Why? Charolais offer increased weaning and yearling weights, easy calving, more live calves, adaptability, low PAP scores, and market demand to your current herd. Our home ranch is located at 8000 feet above sea level, producing very high altitude hearty cattle.

Other than being very passionate about raising high quality cattle, I am extremely passionate about promoting our industry. I am certified in Beef Quality Assurance as an livestock producer. I have also completed my Master’s of Beef Advocacy, and recently completed the Animal Ag Allies program offered by Animal Agriculture Alliance. I am excited to be able to share my passion for agriculture with all of you, and I want to welcome topics of questions to get this blogging experience started!

I think the first and one very important topic to cover is BQA. So let’s dive right in.

What is BQA?

BQA stands for Beef Quality Assurance. It is a nationally coordinated and state implemented program that gives producers the knowledge to combine the best husbandry practices with the best science, to ensure that consumers can be confident in all beef they purchase. To become BQA certified, producer’s voluntarily take courses either in person, or online. They learn about good record keeping, proper nutrition, safe injection sites, proper antibiotic use, withdrawal times, environmental stewardship, and safe and low stress handling methods.

BQA tailors their courses to different aspects of our industry. For example, there is a specific certification option for producers, which is even broken down further into specific courses for cow/calf operations, stocker/weaner operations, and feedlot operations. There is a certification program for transportation – split between professional transportation drivers focusing on semi trailers, and transportation for farmers and ranchers, specifically focusing on gooseneck and small trailers. Finally, BQA offers a dairy certification course. All these options allow BQA to really “get into the weeds” and focus on the absolute best practices for each of these sub groups, and offering very detailed protocols. All that mumbo-jumbo to say, that BQA is very thorough and focuses on every single aspect of the production cycle for cattle.

Farmers and ranchers don’t stop their education after certification. The program allows them to continue their education with in person events across the country to further all the topics. Most producer’s regularly review the courses and revisit topics as necessary.

BQA is a very important part of our industry, and a part of our industry that allows you, the consumer, to be very confident in all beef you purchase (or milk you drink). 85% of beef comes from BQA certified farmers and ranchers, and that number is growing every single day.

Click here for more information about the BQA program, or to sign up for a course!

That’s all for today, but please, comment or email me with questions or future topics!

~Hannah