Quality Assurance

Staying on Top of Employee Training

Employees are one of the most valuable assets to a successful farm. Successful farms implement on-boarding of new employees and provide continued training to ensure proficiency and consistency in job duties.

Get a Jump on Your PQA Internal Site Assessments

Spring is coming fast, so before planting gets underway take some time to conduct an internal site assessment as part of the PQA Plus Site Assessment criteria.

Preparing for a PQA Plus Site Assessment

The PQA Plus site assessment is an on-farm evaluation of a production site by a qualified PQA Plus Advisor. A review of standard operating procedures and office records, including caretaker training, animal observations, and the facilities will occur during the site assessment.

Test Emergency Backup Systems in the New Year

Animal care starts with having confidence in facilities and ventilation systems that safeguard health in all weather conditions. Testing emergency backup equipment at the start of a new year is a good preventative practice.

How Much Room Does a Pig Need?

Let’s take a moment to consider one of the animal observations from the Pork Quality Assurance Plus (PQA Plus) Site Assessment and its impacts. Recommendations exist in facility planning books about the square footage for an animal at each phase of production.

Handling Reminders for Dairies: Training Resources

Sources of handling stress are accumulative in cattle. Stockmen can have a positive impact on the amount of stress cattle experience by planning ahead and being realistic about allowing adequate time to get things done well.

SDSU Extension hosts swine transporter, producer training during 2023 Pork Congress

January 09, 2023

South Dakota State University Extension will help swine producers, transporters and handlers update their Pork Quality Assurance (PQA) Plus and Transportation Quality Assurance (TQA) training at the South Dakota Pork Producers Congress in Sioux Falls on Jan. 11, 2023.

SDSU Extension to Host Pork Quality Assurance Plus Advisor Training May 5 and June 14

May 04, 2022

SDSU Extension will host two Pork Quality Assurance Plus Advisor Training Certification Days on May 5 and June 14 at the South Dakota State University campus in Brookings.

Public Perception and Animal Well-Being

So you ask why is public perception and animal well-being important? Well, did you know that there is just a little over 1% of the population involved in production agriculture, today? Did you know that 98% of the people have no direct connection with how their food is produced?