Released June 25, 2009
LINCOLN, Neb. — To help pork producers and their employees gain certification in the Pork Quality Assurance Plus Program and/or the Transport Quality Assurance program, several training sessions will be available at 22 locations across the state Aug. 4, 5, 11 and 12.
Two major packing plants recently announced that hog suppliers will be required to have these certifications, said Duane Reese, UNL Extension swine specialist.
Hormel Foods recently announced that all the hogs that they purchase will be raised by pork producers and their employees who are certified in PQA Plus and have completed well-being assessments on their farms and have TQA certification by at least Dec. 31.
Tyson Foods announced it will ask that all hog suppliers to the company become certified in the PQA Plus program by June 30, 2010 and complete a site assessment by Jan. 1, 2011.
The Nebraska Pork Producers Association, the Nebraska Soybean Board and University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension are sponsoring the PQA Plus and TQA producer certification sessions.
PQA Plus certification is required before site assessment can be conducted. There are about 44 PQA Plus Advisors in Nebraska trained to perform those assessments.
PQA Plus is a workable, credible and affordable solution to assure food safety and animal care. It will help meet the needs of customers including restaurants, food retailers and consumers.
TQA is a program that helps swine transporters, producers and handlers understand how to handle, move and transport pigs and the potential impacts of those actions on pig well-being and/or pork quality.
Reese will conduct the sessions in Lincoln and locations across the state will receive the training via satellite. There will be two-way audio to address any questions.
"This will be a convenient and cost-efficient manner in which to receive this training," Reese said.
More information is available at Nebraska Pork Producers Association or by contacting a local UNL Extension office. To register, visit http://www.nepork.org or call 1-888-627-7675 at least one week in advance of the session.
For times, dates and locations of PQA Plus sessions, see http://ianrnews.unl.edu/static/0906250.shtml
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http://ianrnews.unl.edu/static/0906250.shtml
Contact: Duane E. Reese, (402) 472-6425
Writer: Sandi Alswager Karstens, (402) 472-3030