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Beef Quality Assurance

Mississippi Beef Quality Assurance Program (MS-BQA)

Beef Quality Assurance is a national program that provides guidelines for beef cattle production. The program raises consumer confidence through offering proper management techniques and a commitment to quality within every segment of the beef industry.

Producers have embraced BQA because it is the right thing to do; but they have also gained through increased profitability. As an educating program, BQA helps producers identify management processes that can be improved.

The Mississippi Beef Quality Assurance (MS-BQA) Program identifies areas in beef production where defects in quality occur. The MS-BQA Program is a cooperative effort between beef producers, veterinarians, nutritionists, and professionals from the Mississippi Cattlemen’s Association, Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation, MSU Extension Service, and MSU College of Veterinary Medicine, who believe that cattle managed under BQA guidelines will be less likely to contain a violative residue, injection-site tissue damage, or foreign metal such as a broken needle. The program asks everyone involved with beef production to follow the FDA/USDA/EPA guidelines for product use and to use common sense, reasonable management skills, and accepted scientific knowledge to avoid product defects at the consumer level. After all, consumers purchase what they trust, and their confidence is the basis of our industry’s and our children’s future.

For more information on the National BQA Program

Beef Quality Assurance Trainings Scheduled

Face to face BQA trainings are being schduled scheduled for this fall throughout the state.

 A certification fee of $15 is required and includes manual, vaccine cooler, and bumper sticker.Certifications begin at 6:30 p.m. 

To schedule your meeting contact Dr. Carla Huston or Dr. Brandi Karisch.

National Beef Quality Assurance Guide for Cattle Transporters

Online training video and a downloadable guide are available for the Master Cattle Transporter Program.

Master Cattle Transporter Training

Mississippi Livestock Quality Assurance Program for Youth Producers

The purpose of the Mississippi Livestock Quality Assurance Program for Youth Producers is to increase food safety awareness by educating youth producers of their role in this process and the importance of raising their livestock in an appropriate manner. By following a quality assurance program, youth can improve their animal care and management practices in order for their animal to achieve its highest level of performance while providing a safe, wholesome product for consumers.

Mississippi Livestock Quality Assurance Program for Youth Producers Publication

MS-BQA Coordinators

For more information about the MS-BQA program, contact:

Carla Huston, D.V.M., Ph.D.
Mailstop 9825
R1128B Wise Center
Mississippi State, MS 39762
662-325-1183 (office)
662-325-4548 (fax)
huston@cvm.msstate.edu 

Brandi Karisch, Ph.D.
Box 9815, Room 4010 Wise Center
Mississippi State, MS 39762
662-325-7465 (office)
662-325-8873 (fax)
brandi.karisch@msstate.edu

 

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News

Several cows and calves stand in a pasture.
Filed Under: Agriculture, Livestock, Beef May 21, 2024

RAYMOND, Miss. -- Beef cattle prices are the best they have been in nearly a decade for Mississippi’s producers, but they face some tough management challenges to ensure their operations are profitable.

People sit around a table.
Filed Under: Agriculture, Commercial Horticulture, Beef, Equine, Goats and Sheep, Forestry, Wildlife February 26, 2024

RAYMOND, Miss. -- Small ruminants are a popular choice for people like J.T. Crownover who want to get into the livestock business but do not want to raise cattle. Crownover attended the Central Mississippi Research and Extension Center’s Producer Advisory Council meeting Feb. 20. The forum, where agricultural producers can discuss their needs with MSU administrators, researchers, specialists and Extension agents, was the catalyst for the university’s active small ruminant program.

Black cows stand in a herd in a green pasture near trees.
Filed Under: Beef May 9, 2023

Mississippi cattle operations must constantly improve efficiency to remain profitable, as rising production costs are decreasing the benefit of high market prices. Brandi Karisch, beef specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said beef production is a significant component of the state’s agricultural economy, with a total estimated value of $318 million in 2022.

Success Stories

A large group of people standing on a covered patio.
Volume 10 Number 2

In late February, Mississippi State University hosted the 2024 National Floriculture Forum, an annual conference held at different locations around the country. 

A woman and man seated in a side-by-side with a cattle field stretching behind them.
Volume 10 Number 1

Cruising into Madison County, you see a cultivated urban landscape full of brick edifices and manicured lawns spring up around you. Your cell phone announces your turnoff, and you comply, turning onto an older road that soon turns to gravel.

A man wearing a cowboy hat and pink polo looking out over a field and a man in a maroon shirt and sunglasses behind him.
Volume 9 Number 3

Gaddis & McLaurin might sound more like the name of a law firm than a general store, but the name is synonymous with all manner of dry goods in the Hinds County community of Bolton and has been since the 1870s.

Select Your County Office

Contacts

Portrait of Dr. Brandi Bourg Karisch
Assoc Extension/Research Prof
Beef Cattle, Nutrition, Management, Health
Portrait of Dr. Carla L. Huston
Prof/Dir/Enh Cln Educ/Ext Vet
Beef Cattle Health Disaster Management Epidemiology Veterinary Preventive Medicine

Your Extension Experts

Portrait of Ms. Libby Suzanne Durst
Extension Associate II
Portrait of Dr. Brandi Bourg Karisch
Assoc Extension/Research Prof
Portrait of Dr. Barbara Roqueto dos Reis
Assistant Professor