For beef producers, ensuring a secure and safe beef supply is more than a responsibility — it’s a commitment to consumers who trust the beef they purchase is of the highest quality. Biosecurity is an essential part of this commitment, as it helps protect cattle health and welfare, maintains product quality, and ultimately, supports consumer trust.
GROWING CONSUMER TRUST
Biosecurity aims to protect animals from disease by minimizing the movement of biological organisms, such as viruses, bacteria or parasites, within or onto an operation. This, in turn, promotes animal health and welfare and minimizes the time and labor resources required to treat a sick animal.
For Julia Herman, beef cattle specialist veterinarian with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), a contractor to the Beef Checkoff, a solid biosecurity plan directly impacts consumer confidence. “Consumers care about the welfare of the animals they’re feeding to their families,” Herman said. “Biosecurity plays a huge role in reducing disease risk, both for the animals and the humans caring for them.”
Biosecurity practices include much more than cleaning equipment. Sanitation is just one part of biosecurity’s holistic view of herd health that incorporates nutrition, vaccination programs and low-stress handling — all of which contribute to a disease-free environment.
CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT
Over the years, biosecurity practices in the beef industry have advanced significantly. Herman notes that many biosecurity strategies draw lessons from other industries and human health, helping shape current biosecurity practices by emphasizing proactive, preventive measures. “Biosecurity is a mindset, not just a task. Continuous improvement is key,” she said.
To encourage producers to adopt or strengthen their operations’ biosecurity plans, a newly released Beef Checkoff-funded biosecurity plan offers a customizable, practical approach to biosecurity that aligns with each operation’s unique needs and goals.
The BQA Daily Biosecurity Plan for Disease Prevention is a customizable biosecurity plan that goes beyond just guidelines. The plan fosters a culture of biosecurity in each operation and empowers producers to take a proactive role in preventing disease, which protects cattle health and can lead to other benefits.
“Biosecurity can be as in-depth or as simple as producers want it to be,” Herman said. “When it comes down to it, prevention is better than treatment, helping producers save money in the long run.”
While biosecurity adoption may be a gradual process for some producers, it will play an increasingly central role in the beef industry. Even small-scale producers are beginning to recognize the benefits of adopting biosecurity practices, particularly as they see the positive impact on their operations and consumer perception. “If everyone in the beef industry follows basic biosecurity protocols, it can help us all and strengthens the industry as a whole,” Herman said.
BIOSECURITY IMPLEMENTATION
To implement the custom biosecurity plan effectively, Herman recommends first thoroughly reviewing the plan and tailoring it to fit an operation’s specific needs. “Every operation is different, so producers should consult with their resource groups, like veterinarians or extension specialists, to get a second set of eyes on the plan,” she said.
Producers are encouraged to consider practical, easy-to-implement biosecurity steps, such as designating a parking area for visitors to minimize contamination, adjusting traffic patterns within the operation or quarantining new additions to the herd. These small changes can have a significant impact and are easy to integrate into daily routines.
BEEF CRISIS
If, unfortunately, a disease outbreak were to happen, the Beef Checkoff is ready to take action by preparing for the unexpected. The Checkoff can quickly provide consumers and producers with the information they need if there is ever a disease outbreak, bioterrorism attack or any other crisis that could potentially disrupt the beef industry or consumer confidence in beef.
The Checkoff is continuously evolving and updating its comprehensive, industry-wide crisis communications response plan should a cattle disease outbreak or other crisis take place in the future. Continually reassessing this plan ensures the information within is as substantive as possible while also reflecting today’s latest technology.
One element of the overarching comprehensive crisis response plan is working in coalition with the Foot-and-Mouth Disease Cross-Species team. The team helps to manage a website, FMDinfo.org, that would be activated in a time of crisis in cooperation with other industry organizations. The goal of this partnership and its website is to provide clear, factual and easily accessible information about foot- and-mouth disease if an outbreak were to occur.
As well as working with the Foot-and-Mouth Disease Cross-Species team, the Checkoff would also represent the beef industry in
the event of an outbreak, and it has developed proactive crisis communication processes, strategies and tactics to follow if necessary.
ACCESS RESOURCES
By embracing biosecurity as a core part of your operation, you can not only protect your herd but also help maintain a secure beef supply that consumers can trust.
For producers interested in taking the next step, the Beef Checkoff provides resources and tools, including the custom biosecurity plan and Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) modules, to support effective biosecurity practices. To access these resources, visit www.bqa.org/resources/biosecurity-resources
BQA DAILY BIOSECURITY PLAN FOR DISEASE PREVENTION
This free, downloadable template helps cattle producers create a customizable daily biosecurity plan for their operations. Meant to be filled out with a veterinarian or other resource team member, this plan walks producers through the different areas of biosecurity risk, evaluate what they are doing now, and plan for what to improve in the future. The template is available digitally as a fillable PDF or can be printed out for handwritten plans.
BQA CONTINUING EDUCATION MODULE ON BIOSECURITY
For producers already BQA certified, BQA’s Continuing Education module on biosecuroty focuses on the basics of disease transmission and prevention. These resources were developed so anyone who is involved in raising cattle has the opportunity to understand how biosecurity principles are integrated into their farm or ranch and plan for continuous improvement in the future. Interactive and real-world best practice examples are provided for a variety of topics, such as new bull or replacement purchases and manure management to reduce feed contamination, among others. Participants also walk through and fill out the BQA Daily Biosecurity Plan for Disease Prevention.