Beginning April 1, 2001 all cattle sold in the United States will be required to have a certification form signed that they have not been fed any mammalian/ruminant derived protein source feed and do not have illegal levels of drug residues.  This is another step in the protection of the beef supply in the United States against Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) or commonly referred to as Mad Cow Disease.  This is not a regulatory requirement from any government agency, however, as of April 1, 2001 a requirement of the major cattle buyers in the United States.  Major beef packers and beef purchasers such as IBP, ConAgra, Excel and McDonalds have established these certification programs for their suppliers to insure that they do not receive cattle that have been fed ruminant derived protein products. 

Before a seller can unload cattle at the sale barn, they will be required to sign a form attesting to the fact that they have not fed any prohibited feeds nor do their cattle contain illegal levels of any drug residue.  It is important to note that the SELLER of the cattle must sign this form.  If a second party hauls your cattle to the market, then you must sign the form before they leave the farm.  The hauler can witness the seller’s signature, however, if the form is not signed the hauler will not be permitted to sign for the seller at the market.  Once the cattle are sold then the market will be required to sign a certification form that all the cattle that the cattle buyer receives are certified as not having been fed ruminant derived protein feeds.  The market will be required to keep on file on the certification forms from the original sellers.  If a problem is found then the markets will be able to trace back to try to discover where the problem started at.

Again this is not a regulatory issue of any government agency, but a response to a request by the major beef buyers in the United States by the Livestock Marketing Association (LMA).  Even with all press coverage of the BSE issue world-wide a recent National Cattleman’s Beef Association survey conducted by the Wirthlin Research Group revealed that 81% of those surveyed have seed, heard or read about “Mad Cow Disease” in the past month.  This is the highest level of awareness since 1996 when the BSE issue first erupted onto the scene.  The survey also revealed that 87% of consumers, the highest level in many years, are confident that United States beef is safe.  The report also states that “Mad Cow Disease” has never appeared to be a factor in the U. S. consumer’s confidence.  Consumers have a lot of faith in the United States farmers and those involved in the agricultural industry.  It is through additional safeguards such as the certification process of selling our cattle that we can continue to foster high levels of faith in the American consumer.

The following is a check-list of suggestions that will help you to comply with the certification feeding requirements.

1. Prohibited feed (any feed containing mammalian/ruminant derived meat and/or bone meal) must be identified with a warning label.  The use of any prohibited feed in cattle rations must be avoided.

2. Keep records for a minimum of one-year concerning all animal protein ingredients you purchase and feed to your cattle.  Keep a representative feed tag or label for any purchased feed.

3. Before feeding left-over chicken or swine feed to cattle, be absolutely sure that the feed does not contain any prohibited ingredients.  Follow the same record keeping procedures for this feed as you would for other purchased feed.

4. On-farm inspections may be performed by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to verify that prohibited feed ingredients have not been fed to cattle.

5. Contact the Chatham County Center of the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service for information and fact sheets on proper drug usage, record keeping, and methods to avoid selling animals with drug residues.

If you need copies of the certification form you may get these forms whenever you take your cattle to the market.  You may also request copies of the certification forms ahead of time from Carolina Stockyards in Siler City or you may contact the Chatham County Center of the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service to get copies of the form.

If you have additional questions about the diseases discussed or the certification process, please feel free to contact Sam Groce, Agricultural Extension Agent, Livestock at the Chatham County Center of the N. C. Cooperative Extension Service at 919-542-8202 or by e-mail at sam_groce@ncsu.edu.