Please take a moment to read Anne’s post today, and sign up for her blog if you do not yet follow it. Anne is a very well respected cattle feedlot owner and operator, who is very hands-on with all day-to-day activities. Anne spends a lot of time sharing what she does on her feedlot via this blog and through various public venues. Thanks Anne for what you do!
I did an interview last week with a reporter who asked, “Why does your farm participate in 3rd party animal welfare audits?”
My answer: I ask that my customers trust me to be a good farmer, but I open my farm to auditing so that they can verify that I practice what I preach.
No matter how good a job you do on your farm, an audit is a stressful time.
- Hundreds of pages of documents are checked to make sure that records accurately demonstrate daily animal care practices.
- Hours are spent checking the farm’s facilities (feed and feed mixing areas, cattle pens, water tanks, and corrals) to ensure that animals have good living conditions.
- Cattle handling is observed to ensure that good welfare exists while animals are interacting with their human caregivers.
- Caregivers are asked questions about farm protocols on many different issues relative to animal care…
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Agricultural with Dr. Lindsay 