Activity Report for the Calendar Year of 1999

Michael Payne and Deanne Meyer

The California Dairy Quality Assurance Program (CDQAP) is a voluntary, producer-directed education and certification program. The CDQAP offers three different modules: Environmental Stewardship, Food Safety and Animal Health and Welfare. The following progress was made in the 1999 calendar year in developing and implementing the program goals.

Environmental Stewardship Module The flagship of the CDQAP has remained the Environmental Stewardship (ES) module. The vision for this component is a certification program where producers attend a UC short course, develop a pollution prevention plan and have their facilities certified as meeting all regulations by a third party evaluator. Major advances were made in 1999 in realization of that model.

Environmental Stewardship Short Courses - During 1999 238 dairy producers UCD finished all six hours of Environmental Stewardship Short-course. An additional 170 producers have completed the 3-course series thus far in 2000, bringing the total more then 850. These producers were trained in a total of 63 classes held in all geographic regions of the state. We have defrayed a portion of expenses associated with these meetings by utilizing USDA EQIP funds obtained by Western United Dairymen and Milk Producers Council. During fiscal 1999 USDA provided $22,000 for travel, room rental and handout materials.

Other Environmental Training Classes - Because long term sustainability of the program relies on partnerships training sessions have also been provided to various collaborating groups. A total of six classes were used to train 67 allied industry personnel. An additional 37 partner and/or consultant staff were trained in 2 day-long sessions. These figures include 25 people who will assist producers in implementing a stewardship program (creamery and service organization field staff, consultants, etc.) In addition, two pre-evaluation meetings were provided to producers pursuing certification.

Training and Promotion Materials - New and revised teaching materials were developed for the classes described above. Among the materials developed were a "CDQAP Question and Answer" sheet and a resource list consolidating all environmental expert and regulatory contacts in the various regions.

New Partnerships - In September the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency joined 14 other existing state, federal, academic and industry partners by signing the CDQAP's Environmental Stewardship Partnership Agreement. By becoming a "Partner" EPA endorses and assists in this education and certification program. At that signing EPA also announced a $443,740 grant to the CDQAP for continuation of the Short-courses and future non-regulatory environmental dairy evaluations.

In November the Dairy Quality Assurance Workgroup was ratified by the University of California. Composed primarily of extension professionals in the UC system it also includes faculty from a variety of departments. Official recognition by UCD's DANR makes CDQAP eligible for university research and extension funds. The workgroup is currently making application for such funding.

Last year also saw our program partnering for the first time with an environmental advocacy group. Sustainable Conservation is a private non-profit organization that promotes environmental stewardship through development of financial incentives for industry. Sustainable Conservation has an impressive track record in other industries and has never and will never be involved in litigation. The group has already received $25,000 seed funding to examine dairy incentives and anticipates acceptance of two additional grants this year totaling some $125,000. If awarded these funds will be used to hire a dairy project manager.

Environmental Checklist - Partnership Agreement members cooperatively developed a "Checklist" consolidating all federal, state and local environmental regulations. This is the first time such a unified resource has been available to the state's producers. Through nine revisions US EPA, the State Water Quality Control Board and importantly, staff from the regional boards have exhaustively scrutinized the document. A pilot project using 12 commercial dairies to evaluate the effectiveness of the Checklist was completed.

Evaluator Selection and Training - In October seven California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) milk specialists were identified as the first non-regulatory evaluators. Their training has included both didactic classroom education as well as numerous mock evaluations on commercial dairies. These training evaluations were conducted in cooperation with Regional Board staff. In December general agreement was obtained among the partners on a "Policy and Procedures" document which details the method by which the program would aware certifications. With evaluator training and the Checklist/Procedures documents nearing completion, evaluations are scheduled to begin in June.

Storage Software - A computer program was completed in August to allow for quick, easy calculation for necessary pond capacity. Validation of the program's calculations was made possible through water-meter data collected under a $87,000 research contract from the State Water Quality Control Board. This software is will be used in both training sessions and for the on-site evaluations.

Food Safety Module Also in 1999, with a framework for the environmental module nearing completion, the CDQAP program committee focused renewed attention on food safety.

Food Safety Task Force - During 1999 and 200, the CDQAP has been heavily involved with CDFA's efforts to develop food safety emergency procedures. This "action plan" is designed to stem distribution of contaminated milk or animals with foreign diseases. It was determined in June that the CDQAP would deliver the educational component of this program to the state's producers.

Packing Plant Survey - A survey of every California slaughterhouse killing cull dairy cows was completed in 1999. The goal of the survey was to determine what information would allow producers to maximize cull cow price and steer clear of regulatory problems. The results of this survey have been accepted for publication in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association.

Curriculum Development - A $59,000 grant obtained from the USDA allowed for work on a "Food Safety Short Course" to begin. Course materials include slide sets and videos developed here in California. The curriculum was beta tested this year and is currently undergoing revisions. It is scheduled for completion prior to the end of this year.

New Partnerships - The California Food Animal Practitioner's Group agreed in 1999 to assist in the Food Safety Short Course delivery and is assisting in the development of course materials. This group of primarily dairy veterinarians will team-teach the food safety curriculum with members of the new UC Dairy Quality Assurance Workgroup (see above).

Animal Health and Welfare Module Initial discussions have begun on the Animal Health and Welfare Module. Tentatively this module will address issues including Johne's, Biosecurity, Prevention of Foreign Animal Disease, Downer Cows, etc.