Keeping Up with the Times By Emma Cross, on contract with Verified Beef Production Plus How VBP+ Has Grown with the Industry For the commercial cattleman, the bottom line is much more than a benchmark. Profit is the difference between ranching another day
and hanging up your hat for good. However, profitability is a moving target for a commercial producer. Over the years, beef production has changed to match consumer expectations and desires, right down to the cow/calf level. Since consumers speak with their wallets, producers have had to shift their production practices in accordance with changing policies based on public want and need. Luckily, entities like Verified Beef Production Plus exist to help producers navigate these changing tides to remain profitable in new supply chains. In 2004, the Verified Beef Production (VBP) program was developed by industry as a progression of the educational Quality Starts Here initiative of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association. At the time, the VBP program helped producers demonstrate their attention to hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP) by validating practices on-farm. However, consumer demands since the launch of the VBP program have expanded to include expectations beyond food safety alone. After three years of work on expansion, in 2016, the Verified Beef Production Plus (VBP+) program was launched. To this day, the VBP+ program incorporates a combination of Page 6
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training and auditing in the areas of animal care, biosecurity, environmental stewardship, and on-farm food safety. Standards of the VBP+ program are aligned with the national On-Farm Food Safety Standards, National Farm Animal Care Council Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Beef Cattle, the Canadian On-Farm Biosecurity Standard, and key indicators of the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (CRSB). For a commercial producer, this means that VBP+ offers a centralized avenue to meet a wide variety of consumer desires, in turn ensuring a market for their cattle. In 2019, VBP+ shifted to national delivery rather than delivery through provincial partners. This facilitated the development of a unified process for training auditors, standardized review of regular assessments and standardization of audit process that has allowed VBP+ to partner with other important stakeholders in sustainable beef supply chains. In short, national delivery has allowed the program to secure key marketing opportunities for certified producers. VBP+, through one audit, can now audit producers not only to the VBP+ standard, but through equivalency, producers are audited to the standard of the Certifed Sustainable Beef Framework as well. So, VBP+ certified producers can access supply chains leading to major retailers like McDonald’s and Walmart. As well, VBP+ is working with the stakeholders
Commercial Edition 2022 *
to expand options for third-party verification for the GEP-free program that would allow us to help producers in Canada access the market into the European Union. Shifts in the marketing strategies of major players in Canadian and international beef markets show a clear trend towards meeting the wishes of the modern public. Today, many consumers are willing to shift away from eating beef if their expectations are not met. VBP+ seeks to help Canadian beef producers meet those demands to maintain the prosperity of our industry. While the VBP+ program has changed substantially since the VBP launch in 2004, growth is far from over. However, the constant guiding force will remain to help producers access avenues to market their cattle. In the coming years, this will likely take shape in the form of increased training opportunities and continued development of auditing systems for new supply streams. The Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) program in the US is a key example of how training can help producers enhance public perception of industry while securing added value from the sale of cattle. To become BQA certified, producers can attend an in-person training session or take an online course. The same options are available through the VBP+ program, allowing producers to become familiar with the best practices included in the VBP+ standard without committing to an audit. While auditing may be necessary to market cattle or beef to certain processors or retailers with sustainability standards, BQA’s success in enhancing industry practices and consumer trust demonstrates that training can be a valuable tool in Canada. In the future, VBP+ will seek to enhance and diversify training to help producers enhance aspects of their operation that they need most. For example, many of the VBP+ required practices improve production efficiency by ensuring effectiveness of animal health interventions through
