Dairy Quality Assurance - A look back at 1998

The California Dairy Quality Assurance (CDQA) program was launched in 1997 and most of that year was spent surveying the industry is assist in program development. With the state wide producer questionnaire and focus groups completed, the CDQA program began in earnest in 1998. Funding for that year's activities was provided by a $75,000 grant awarded by the California Dairy Research Foundation in December of 1997.

In 1998 the state's producers saw increasing focus on their operations by state and federal environmental regulatory agencies. This shift in regulatory priorities culminated with extensive media coverage, numerous large fines, and even producer jail time. In March the CDQA's steering committee directed that environmental stewardship become the program's top priority, and that food safety/animal welfare efforts were to temporarily be put on hold. The task before the committee was to develop and fund an environmental education/certification program that would meet with regulatory agency approval.

Dr. Deanne Meyer, the University of California's animal waste specialist, was invited to direct an environmental module that would utilize the short-course curriculum she had already developed. Under her direction, 132 classes were held though out the state. During 1998, approximately 450 producers attended the entire three-class series, with 1200 producers attending at least one class. Demand was so high that Gary Veserat BS, MS, was brought on board to assist in program delivery.

The committee entered into dialog with every agency having regulatory authority on California dairies. These discussions made it clear that 1) every dairy was expected to develop a plan to protect surface and ground waters and 2) by 2005 every dairy would be inspected to see that its plan was in place and functional. Negotiations concluded with the October 9 signing of the "Environmental Stewardship Partnership Agreement" by 14 state, federal, university and industry organizations.

The Partnership Agreement created a mechanism by which a dairy producer could voluntarily have his or her facility "certified" as complying with all state and federal regulations. The program was modeled after other successful regulatory/industry agreements which had eradicated Brucellosis from California and which had allowed for voluntary industry-based certification of the state's egg farms. The dairy environmental stewardship program is educational in nature with both classroom and on-site assistance.

Certifications of dairies could not begin without state and federal agreement as to what constituted compliance with all regulations. Remarkably, a single document that consolidated all federal, state and local regulations had never been created. On October 20 a work group of federal, state, university and industry representatives meet for the first time with the goal of producing a "checklist" to be used in the certification process. The most technically demanding effort undertaken by the program, this checklist has taken six months and numerous drafts to compete. It is currently being beta-tested on commercial dairies.

The CDQA program was invited to compete for grant money being made available by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. A pre-proposal was submitted in July and following its acceptance, a full proposal was submitted in November. The grant for $443,000 provides sufficient seed funding to allow for half of the state's dairies to be voluntarily certified by a third party. The grant should be formally awarded in August of 1999. The grant award will coincide with the public announcement of US EPA participation in the program.

General publicity for the program is important to attract both funding and participants. Presentations describing the program's activities were given to various organizations throughout 1998. These included the California Department of Food and Agriculture (January 7), California Farm Bureau (January 27), California Creamery Operators Association (February 26), UC Dairy Day (March 25), and California Veterinary Medical Association (April 19). National attention on the program occurred when the results of the producer questionnaire and focus group surveys were accepted for publication by both the Journal of Dairy Science and the proceedings for the American Dairy Science Association Meeting in Denver.

The Dairy Issues Forum has capitalized on the successes of the CDQA program. Throughout 1998 CDQA assisted DIF in developing "talking points" on a variety of issues including the environment, chemical residues and antibiotic resistance, bovine growth hormone, and "mad cow" disease. The DIF has distributed background press materials to key agriculture reporters, trade editors and environmental groups. They have conducted media training for industry spokespersons and developed a web site with both general and restricted areas.

In summary, during 1998, the CDQA program educated over 1000 producers, applied for or received over half a million dollars in grants, and created a forum in which the dairy industry could, for the first time, negotiate directly with state and federal regulatory agencies. The program has not, however, rested on its laurels. In August of 1999 environmental certification of dairies will commence. 1999 will also see the creation of a food safety program that addresses issues such as botulism, pesticide poisoning, Salmonella, E. coli and prudent drug use. This program is being cooperatively developed with assistance of the packing (slaughterhouse) industry.