CDQAP 2021: Year in Review
The new year is off to a fast start, and similar to you and your dairy staff, CDQAP adapted to the changing needs of the COVID-19 pandemic. In spite of the ever-changing requirements associated with COVID-19 CDQAP continued to support our industry partners on a diverse range of issues.
☐ COVID-19 – Throughout the year CDQAP shared information on COVID and Cal-OSHA requirements as needed providing you with up-to-date information for business continuity and vaccination information needs. Needs continually evolve and CDQAP will keep you posted.
☐ Nitrate and Salt Control Programs for the Central Valley – CDQAP partners worked closely with the State and Regional water boards and the Central Valley Dairy Representative Monitoring Program. Staying current with your CVDRMP membership continues to be your ticket to stay informed and streamline reporting requirements.
☐ Drought information – CDQAP coordinated with its partners to ensure that producers remained current on resources and steps they could take to mitigate the effects of drought. In the coming months we’ll continue keeping producers abreast of groundwater protection implementation through SGMA.
☐ Dairy Security Against Activist Activity – CDQAP worked with national organizations to distribute timely information to protect your farm and employees from undercover activists. Excellent resources are available for best hiring practices. CDQAP worked with CMAB to collect and distribute information on activist intrusions to state, county, and federal law enforcement agencies.
☐ Updates on the FARM Animal Care Program – A recent review of FARM evaluations reveals that the vast majority of improvements needed relate to documentation. With evaluations resuming you’ll want to be sure your paperwork is ready. This includes an annual review of your written Herd Health Plan and VCPR agreement with your veterinarian, as well as ensuring treatment records are permanent, not just on a grease board. Document training for employees performing euthanasia, and implement a pain management program for disbudding calves. Be sure all signatures for employees’ cattle care ethics agreementss are current.
☐ Avoiding Injuries Caused by Dairy Livestock – CDQAP partnered with the Zenith Insurance Company to deliver a unique webinar, reviewing the most common dairy employee injuries and how to prevent them. Importantly for producers, injuries involving animal contact represented 42% of all dairy employee claims. Animal handling training and refreshers are critical. Document annual stockmanship training for general employees or annual specialty training for calf raisers.
☐ Region 1 Classes – To assist North Coast producers in completing obligations under their General Waste Discharge Requirements, CDQAP partnered with their water board and trade groups to offer in-person, socially-distanced training in April and October.
☐ Online Classes – To better fit producers’ schedules, we again provided an online version of our water quality courses. This resource is also useful during COVID restrictions. Contact us for more information on accessing these free courses from the national Cooperative Extension platform.
☐ AMMP Outreach – CDQAP hosted webinars on use of two different types of mechanical separators (May, 2021) and improved our website devoted to information on Alternative Manure Management Practices. All webinars and individual producer interviews are available for viewing. Stay tuned for Grant funding availability in the new year.
☐ Planning for Rendering Disruption – CDQAP is actively engaged in CDFA’s Rendering Task Force. The formidable expertise that UCD and dairy trade organizations bring to the Task Force is supporting CDFA’s goal of having county-specific, turn-key options when emergencies lead to carcass disposal issues.
☐ Manure management – A mainstay of CDQAP that continued through the pandemic was outreach regarding manure management. CDQAP’s on-line and in-person classes, articles and webinars continue to address all aspects from feed sampling to winterization to nutrient management in drought.
☐ Dairy Security Against Theft – Following farm robberies in the first half of the year, CDQAP worked with law enforcement to provide timely recommendations to protect dairy employees. CDQAP worked with CMAB to collect and distribute information on activist intrusions to state, county, and federal law enforcement agencies. Stay vigilant and be secure.
☐ FMD Preparation – Partnering with USDA and CDFA, CDQAP worked as part of the team planning for a foreign animal disease outbreak, such as Foot and Mouth Disease. The work is moving forward with a goal of creating a protocol to allow producers and processors to continue shipping milk from uninfected farms during an incident.
☐ Minimizing Fees – With the strong support of industry, CDQAP has worked with State Water Resources Control Board fees unit to be sure CDQAP certified facilities continue to receive a 50% discount in fees.