ANNUAL REPORT
to
THE CALIFORNIA DAIRY RESEARCH FOUNDATION

for

January 1-December 31, 2002

Michael Payne, UC Davis

Executive Summary

The California Dairy Quality Assurance Program (CDQAP) is a voluntary, producer-directed education and certification program. The CDQAP is creating three modules: Environmental Stewardship, Food Safety, and Animal Health and Welfare. The following progress was made in 2002:

The CDQAP now has two functional components: The Environmental Stewardship Module and the Johne’s Disease Module. Classes are being delivered in both of these modules to producers throughout the state. Third-party evaluations and certifications are being awarded in the Stewardship Module. Significant progress has been made in the development of an Animal Health and Welfare curriculum. A joint Food Safety/Emergency Preparedness program is nearing completion.

Significant achievements and time expenditures have been made in several key efforts:
New federal concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFO) regulations require each state to institute best management practices for land application of manure. In California those practices are being developed by the CDQAP, insuring an industry and university voice in these new standards.

Under new federal (CAFO) regulations states must mandate permits for dairies of a certain size. In Region 5 (where 1,700 of the state’s 2,300 dairies reside) the Regional Water Board is working to include the CDQAP as an acceptable method of documentation of compliance for the permit.

Gov. Davis has signed AB 10x authorizing the State Water Board to set annual fees for businesses it regulates. While the dairy industry opposed this legislation, the bill was amended to include language that requires the water board to consider reducing fees for a dairy operator who has completed a stewardship program such as the CDQAP.

In addition, CDRF has achieved extraordinary success in leveraging supplementary air research funding from other agencies. Thus far, $45,000 in funding awarded by CDRF has generated $700,000 from other sources. The importance of accurate dairy air emission estimates cannot be overstated. Preliminary results suggest that the percent of methane, which is “reactive,” may be only one-fourth of the previous regulatory “guesstimate” of 8 percent. In addition U.S. EPA has awarded $50,000 to the CDQAP for development of a Dairy Air Stewardship Short Course.

CDQAP members worked closely with the Dairy CARES and the Dairy Issue Forum to develop news media messages for a wide range of topics, including El Nino, bovine tuberculosis, animal welfare, raw milk cheese safety and the Berkeley Farms milk contamination case. Through well-coordinated crisis communication programs messages reassuring information was presented to KPIX television in San Francisco, California Heartland, the Los Angeles Times and National Public Radio.

The Johne’s education module is complete and is being offered to producers. Work is proceeding that will allow producers to participate in the national voluntary Johne’s program through the California module.

A collaboration between CDQAP and the only nationally approved dairy welfare program has been initiated. If successful, the project will arm the state’s dairy industry with a significant response to unreasonable demands by some activist groups.