Beef Cattle

• Draft - Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Beef Cattle (Dec 2012)
• Review of scientific research on priority issues (Nov 2012)
• Current Code of Practice for the care and handling of Beef Cattle (1991) • Factsheet

Code Development Progress

• Beef Code progress reports
• Overall Code timeline
• Beef Cattle Code Q & A
• News Release Beef Cattle Code of Practice to be Updated • 29 Oct 2010 
• NFACC Code development process

Surveys

As part of the beef cattle Code development process, NFACC conducted two surveys to gain input from a broader group of stakeholders.

Survey one – awareness of and attitudes towards the beef Code of Practice
Survey two – assessed routine management practices including animal identification (branding), dehorning, and castration

These surveys are now closed. We thank everyone who participated in the surveys; the results were very useful to the committee as they drafted the Code.

Priority Welfare Issues List

The priority welfare issues are species specific and manageable topics that are considered to be important for animal welfare and will particularly benefit from a review of the available scientific literature.

The Code Development Committee (CDC) and the Scientific Committees (SC) each identify their respective priority list of issues. Once complete the committees come together to collectively identify the final priority welfare list for the species. The SC then reviews the scientific literature for each priority welfare issue and develops a report synthesizing the research results, summarizing the consensus (if any), and identifying any gaps requiring further research.  See full SC Terms of Reference.

The CDC uses the SC report to develop requirements and recommendations around the priority welfare issues.

Following is the Priority Welfare Issues List for the Beef Cattle Code update:

• Painful procedures (methods and age)
  • Branding
  • Castration
  • Dehorning
• Feedlot health and morbidity
  • Respiratory disease
  • Lameness
  • Nutritional diseases
    • Acidosis
    • Laminitis
    • Liver abscesses
• Environmental and housing conditions for animals
  • Mud-effect on health and welfare
  • What is acceptable shelter
    • Extreme weather conditions
• Weaning strategies

Note: other welfare topics for the species will be covered by the CDC. The priority welfare issue list is comprised of issues that would particularly benefit from a review of the available scientific literature.

Committees

Beef Cattle Code Development Committee

Participants are defined as per NFACC’s Code of Practice guidelines.

Beef Cattle Scientific Committee

• John Campbell
• Janice Berg
• Karen Schwartzkopf-Genswein (Co-Chair)
• Joe Stookey (Co-Chair)
• Derek Haley
• Ed Pajor
• Nicole Fenwick (Research Writer)

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