Animal Care
California dairy producers provide great care and attention to the dairy animals in their care. CDQAP supports our farmers’ efforts in this area.
To learn more about CDQAP’s milestone accomplishments in Animal Care, click here.
FARM 4.0
Created by National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), with support from Dairy Management, Inc. (DMI), the National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) Program raises the bar for the entire dairy industry – creating a culture of continuous improvement on our nations’ dairy farms.
The FARM program provides a uniform system by which animal care practices can be documented for consumers and corporate buyers of dairy products.
The program uses an on-farm evaluation to examine animal care practices and includes performance-based monitoring for locomotion, body condition, hock injuries, and animal hygiene.
Today, FARM 4.0 is the current program standard of evaluation in use and with each new roll out, California dairy producers need to know what’s changed and how it may affect their individual dairy.
Did You Know…
**California’s four largest creameries require producer participation in the FARM program.
**Approximately 90% of the milk produced in California comes from FARM evaluated dairies.
For California producers participating in this nation-wide initiative, CDQAP provides practical support in the form of free workshops, protocol templates, and employee educational and training tools.
These courses focus on key animal care areas such as calf care, feet and leg health, euthanasia plans, emergency plans, and more.
The National Dairy FARM Program: How It Affects California Producers and How CDQAP Can Help
For more information on participating in the CDQAP FARM support course, please contact cdqapclasses@cdrf.org and click the binder below to access records, training materials, and herd health plan documentation.
Dairy Stockmanship Training
CDQAP (in partnership with the California Beef Council, National Beef Council, and other supporting organizations) offers an annual California Dairy Stockmanship workshop each spring.
The skillful, safe, effective and efficient handling of cows based on understanding cattle’s natural behavior is referred to as stockmanship.
Better stockmanship skills result in moving cattle more effectively and more calmly around the farm
Stockmanship training helps farm employees understand how cows differ from humans in their responses and behaviors.
This gives insight to the animal handler and helps create an awareness of how his or her actions impact the animal they are trying to manage.
Proper stockmanship training is designed to produce a win-win situation for the farm, the workers and the animals.
For more information on participating in a Dairy Stockmanship workshop and associated materials, please contact cdqapclasses@cdrf.org.
CDQAP Animal Care News
The CDQAP Ruminations series offers detailed, but brief, reference materials on key animal care issues with a specific focus on methods that are beneficial to both improved animal care and the dairy producer’s bottom line.
Each Ruminations article provides scientific statistics, economic assessments, and links to resources on the subject matter addressed.
Ruminations are published quarterly; sign up here for email notification of new publications.
