Welcome
Health and handling assessments are important because they promote the integrity of the meat production industry and, hopefully, improve animal welfare. They can be a tool to communicate about animal care to the consumer.
They are commonly used in 2 ways:
They are commonly used in 2 ways:
- As a management tool. Producers can self-assess to monitor conditions and make improvements on their ranch.
- As part of the supply chain process. Retailers, processors, or specialty product labels use assessments to ensure a given level of animal care on the ranch. In these cases, a independent, trained 3rd party auditor often performs the assessment.
The purpose of this website is to help you learn how to formally assess cattle health and behavior and stockperson handling. This assessment was designed for cow-calf ranches that work cattle in a chute, but we hope it will be useful in other, related operations.
How to use this site:
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"Success is a journey, not a destination." ~ Arthur Ashe
This website is funded by the Rustici Rangeland and Cattle Research Endowment