October 30, 2019

Certification required for transporting cattle in the US

All transporters must obtain the Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) Transportation certification before January 1, 2020.

Heidi Carroll, South Dakota State University Extension livestock stewardship field specialist and South Dakota BQA coordinator said all beef haulers and producers who transport cattle to major packing plants must acquire the BQA Transportation certification before the deadline. Major packers will not accept cattle from uncertified transporters after the January 1, 2020 deadline.

Transporters include farmer feeders, commercial truckers and any individual with the purpose of transporting cattle to a harvest/packing facility.

Some of the major topics covered in the certification programme include driver safety, handing cattle, transporting cattle timely, cattle transport fitness and emergency readiness.

US transporters who require certification can attend a BQA Transportation certification workshop or go online at www.bqa.com.

The next in-person workshop will be held on December 10, 2019 at Sioux Falls Regional Livestock in Worthing, South Dakota. A full list of in-person workshops can be found at https://www.bqa.org/events.