• Environmental Stewardship Module
• Animal Welfare Module
• Emergency preparedness/Food Safety Module
• Leveraging Resources

Progress
More than 1,325 producers have completed the 6-hour environmental stewardship water course; an additional 745 have completed at least two hours. To date 216 dairies certified by completing third party facility evaluations. An additional 25 dairies are in the process of becoming certified.

This year was the first in which certified producers saw a reduction in Storm Water Permit fees by the State Water Board representing a savings from $200 to $2000 dollars per year (depending on dairy size). Two sets of short courses as well as training for partner staff were completed this year.

Negotiations continue with the Central Valley Regional Water Board in the form of both written comments and presentations to staff and the board itself. The ultimate goal of this outreach is the inclusion of CDQAP environmental certification as a method to document compliance with the yet-to-be-adopted water permit.

The CDQAP also demonstrated industry’s commitment to compliance by assisting producers in meeting the new air quality permit requirements. A new air quality curriculum was delivered to more then 800 producers in 18 workshops in 8 counties. The program heavily leveraged university, state, federal and processor resources, including a $50,000 grant from US EPA.
Processors also committed human and financial resources to the program in the form of the Community Alliance for Responsible Environmental Stewardship (CARES). Comprised of proprietary creamery, cooperative and service organization leadership, CARES has an annual budget of more then $300,000. In addition to advocating industry views on environmental matters, part of CARES mission is to assist in CDQAP efforts. Dr. O’Donnell now serves on the CARES board. Expenditures by CARES allowed for 200 roadside signs, a CDQAP newsletter, and pamphlets and financed the air workshops.

Having leveraged more then $332,000 in government and philanthropic foundation grants, curriculum for the Food Safety / Emergency Preparedness Module is nearing completion. Three videos (BSE Prevention, Biosecurity and Emergency Response) paid for by a $90,000 CDFA/USDA grant have been finalized. Delivery of the program is scheduled for 2005 through various dairy organizations throughout the state. The curriculum was developed through collaboration with CDFA, USDA and UCD and is perhaps the most useful training on the subject of bio-security available to dairy producers in the country.

The CDQAP has successfully collaborated with State and Federal agencies to offer an education, evaluation and certification package for Johne’s disease prevention. Thus far 129 producers have taken advantage of the educational module. More then 180 veterinarians have received special training and are available for on-farm evaluations for development of Johne’s mitigation plans. With $500 per herd paid directly to the evaluating veterinarian, the service is free to producers. In addition to minimizing spread of Johne’s on a dairy, implementation of such a plan also helps reduce the common GI disease transmission on the farm such as Salmonella, E coli, cryptosporidia and rota and corona viruses. To date 37 dairies and 13 beef herds have taken advantage of the free evaluation. In addition, producers participating in the program can have their cows’ blood tested for free (valued at $4.35/test). Confirmatory fecal testing (valued at $17/test), also free, is available for those cows positive or suspect on the blood test.

A Dairy Welfare curriculum has been completed and is available for adaptation by interested processors. The curriculum is science-based and available for free down-loading at the program web site at www.cdqa.org.

For every $1.00 of dairy industry money invested in the CDQAP, more then $5.00 of non-industry funding has been received to work on industry problems. Total non-industry grant monies or in-kind funds to date have exceeded $1.5 million dollars.

Lastly, the CDQAP has responded to media questions, especially on perchlorate and BSE.

CDQA Program Animal Welfare Module
Carolyn Stull, UC Davis
Barbara Reed, UC Davis
Steven Berry, UC Davis

Project Objectives:

• Develop an animal welfare educational module for the California Dairy Quality Assurance Program (CDQAP) utilizing a voluntary assessment and providing science-based guidelines in educational materials on the many topics contributing to assuring animal well-being on California dairies.

• Compare specific standards of three animal welfare assessment programs (including the CDQAP assessment) on commercial California dairies by conducting personal interviews with dairy owners or managers and using a questionnaire survey.

Animal welfare is a complex combination of factors such as environment, housing, genetics, health, hygiene, and management. No single parameter has been identified to satisfactorily evaluate well-being under all conditions, nor has the contribution of each parameter to animal welfare been evaluated or prioritized. Thus, a “benchmark” for dairy animal welfare is difficult to characterize. Selection of assessment criteria which reflect quantitative comparisons is equally challenging. We developed a voluntary, on-farm animal welfare module for the CDQAP. The “Dairy Welfare Evaluation Guide” is divided into two sections with an Assessment of the Dairy Facility
in a checklist format, followed by an extensive educational Technical Guide providing science-based information on the best management practices. Topics covered include Management and Policies, Health Care, Facilities and Environment, Feed and Water, Handling and Transportation, and Birth and Management of Calves. The Appendix has colored illustration materials on Locomotion Scoring, Practical Euthanasia, and Hygiene Scoring along with Body Condition Scoring Chart.

The draft documents were reviewed by Dairy Advisors in California and members of the CDQAP Steering Committee and their recommendations incorporated into the final publication. The final distribution of the “Dairy Welfare Evaluation Guide” will have three pathways. The Guide in booklet format is intended for retailers, public policy makers and consumer groups. Dairy producers in California will be the recipients of the 3-ring binder workbook. And finally, the Guide will be accessible by downloading from
the CDQAP web site (CDQAP.org).

Since two other animal welfare programs are currently available nationwide for certifying dairies, a comparison in the compliance scores of the three programs on California dairies was evaluated using the standards from all three programs. The 316-question survey was administered to 10 commercial California dairies with varying herd size, management styles, facilities, and breed used. The ten dairies represented were located in four counties in central California including Tulare and Merced, which are the top milk producing counties in California. The average herd size for the study was 1,954 cows, while the 305-d rolling herd average was 21,952 lbs of milk.

Scores for compliance to standards for each of the programs were calculated and the dairies were ranked by the compliance scores. The average percent compliance for the CDQAP programs was 85%. The order of rank was
not similar between the three animal welfare assessment programs, except
the same two dairies were ranked the lowest in compliance for all three programs. The most common standard, which was not in compliance was
the lack of written protocols for various animal care and health protocols, including euthanasia. Eight of the dairies have no annual review of the policies with employees and other staff personnel.

The three programs covered similar topics, but the outcome of the results reflect the program’s design, purpose for assessment, certifying criteria, and differences in specific standards. Results show that selection of the assessment program is important in determining the “outcome”, either as pass/fail or absolute score. This outcome reflects differences in the standards between programs. Use of the programs may be beneficial as a guide for improving animal welfare on the dairy.

Significance and industry benefit
The Food Marketing Institute and the National Council of Chain Restaurants have suggested that the national retailers will require assurance of proper animal handling and welfare of animals on the dairy in order for producers to market dairy products. In the near future, consumer confidence in retail
dairy products may be the driving force pushing for third party audits
and certification at the farm level to assure animal well-being. Voluntary implementation of the CDQAP animal welfare module on California dairies will prepare producers for the possibility of third party audits, and may be beneficial as a guide to define notable deficiencies or implement improvements.

Conclusions
The development of the module is completed and ready to be launched for voluntary producer utilization or collectively by cooperatives in California. The acceptance of the module will be driven by consumer and retailer demands, or by progressive cooperatives realizing the marketing value of assuring quality animal welfare on the dairy.

Publications
Stull, C. L., B.A. Reed, and S.L. Berry. 2004. A comparison of three animal welfare assessment programs on California dairies. Submitted (06/04): Journal of Dairy Science.

Published Abstracts
Reed, B.A., C.L. Stull, and S.L. Berry. 2004. A comparison of three animal welfare assessment programs for California dairies. Proceedings, Annual American Dairy Science Meeting, St Louis, MO. Abstract: #W183.