ANNUAL REPORT
to
THE CALIFORNIA DAIRY RESEARCH FOUNDATION

for

January 1-December 31, 2001

Michael Payne, UC Davis

Executive Summary

The California Dairy Quality Assurance Program (CDQAP) is a voluntary, producer-directed education and certification program. The CDQAP offers three modules: Environmental Stewardship, Food Safety and Animal Health and Welfare. The following progress was made in 2001:

More than 1,100 producers have completed the six-hour environmental stewardship course; an additional 540 have completed at least two hours. Courses will continue to be provided in 2002 through a combination of industry and non-industry funding. To date, 82 producers from 63 dairies have been certified by completing third-party facility evaluations. Many additional evaluations are already scheduled and Western United Dairymen (WUD), the California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB) and Hilmar Cheese Co. board members have committed to pursuing certification.

Grant funds from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ($443,740) are available for up to 1,000 evaluations. Program materials have been translated into Portuguese using non-industry funds.

New grants for development of the Food Safety short course curriculum were awarded from USDA’s Ag Telecommunications Program ($60,000) and Food Safety Inspection Service ($40,000). For every $1 of dairy industry money invested in the CDQAP, $6.47 of non-industry funding has been received to work on industry problems. Total non-industry grant monies to date have exceeded one million dollars.

Products from the Environmental Stewardship Module in 2001 - The flagship of the CDQAP has remained the Environmental Stewardship (ES) module. The vision for this component is a certification program in which producers attend a University of California short course, develop a pollution prevention plan and obtain certification by a third-party evaluator that their facilities meet all regulations. Major advances have been made toward achievement of this model.

Various dairy organizations have been actively promoting the short course. Land O’ Lakes has offered a $300 rebate to producers completing the course. In a remarkable show of leadership, the board members for CMAB, WUD and Hilmar Cheese Co. have committed to participating in a dairy evaluation. In addition, Hilmar Cheese has earmarked $3 million in funds as monetary incentives for their producers who complete the educational course and third-party evaluation.

The CDQAP earned important political capital when the U.S. EPA head administrator, Christie Todd-Whitman, was briefed on the program. The CDQAP was one of only a handful of programs and discussion topics selected for presentation to Whitman during her visit to California. CDQAP Chairman Chuck Ahlem outlined the advantages of a voluntary industry-regulatory program. EPA’s Region 9 has collaborated on development of both the evaluation tool (checklist) and training for the non-regulatory third-party on-site evaluations. Whitman was impressed with the comprehensive nature of the program, asking if we would participate in a technology transfer, making our experiences available to other states. Also attending the meeting were Celeste Cantu, executive officer for the California Water Resources Control Board, and Helen Flach, assistant state conservationist. Both Cantu and Flach expressed strong support for the program. Work is continuing to establish the CDQAP as an alternative or “in lieu of” program to imminent new federal (CAFO) and state (Waste Discharge Permits or Waivers) requirements.

Progress has been made with other projects related to the Environmental Module. The state and industry partners are close to finalizing regulatory language to clarify the situations under which unsuitable milk is discarded into dairy lagoons. Formalizing the legitimacy of this practice will be especially important if future power shortages result in large quantities of milk that cannot be processed due to processor shutdown or refrigeration failure. Program partners also have coordinated response to proposed changes in federal (CAFO) regulation. Program partners have been working with CAL-EPA’s office of Environmental Technology, developing protocols by which new dairy technologies can be tested at the companies’ private expense prior to CDQAP recommending its use on dairies. The goal of the program is to ensure that those companies selling, for example, manure separators, bio-gas recovery systems and lagoon additives have data to support their claims. Curriculum development is continuing for the next short course, which will focus mainly on land application and protection of the groundwater. Industry/regulatory consensus was reached regarding what qualified as adequate back-flow prevention. Lastly, a poster with full-color photos illustrating the “Dos and Don’ts of Dairy Manure Management” has been completed and mailed to every California producer.

Products from Food Safety/Emergency Preparedness Module in 2001 - The following outlines the stages of various Food Safety Module components.
 

Completed:

- The Role of the Cull Dairy Cow in the Food Chain (video)

- A producer’s tour of a packing plant (video)

- Prevention of Drug and Toxin Residues on the Dairy (video)

- Sale of Bootleg Milk (slide set)
 

In Production:

-  Prevention of Injection Site Lesions (slide set)

- Responding to Food Safety & Animal Health Emergencies (slide set)

- Bio-security on California Dairies (slide set)

- BSE: preventing “Mad Cow Disease” (slide set)

- Preventing Antibiotic Resistance (slide set)

Another CDQAP module dealing with Johne’s Disease already has been producer- tested and will be rolled out to producers soon. Lastly, initial planning for the final CDQAP module on animal welfare has begun.

Products from Program Management
Leveraging of Resources: Time and Monetary Contributions -  One of the most important advantages of the collaborative nature of the CDQAP is leveraging of resources. The program’s academic, state, federal and industry partners contribute enormously in staff time  toward their common goal of program delivery.