Latest Beef Quality Audit Shows Improvements

May 30, 2023

The National Beef Quality Audit (NBQA) delivers a set of guidelines and measurements for producers and other stakeholders to help determine the quality conformance of the beef supply. Results from the 2022 audit indicate the industry is producing a high-quality product consumers want and the focus of the supply chain remains food safety.

Early audits focused on attributes like marbling, external fat and carcass blemishes. This list has evolved to include food safety, sustainability, animal well-being and the growing disconnect between producers and consumers. As a result, NBQA has made changes to the research, leading to an increasingly meaningful set of results.

Based on interviews with industry stakeholders, as well as in-plant research, some of the key findings from the 2022 audit include:
• Market segments no longer consider food safety a purchasing criterion, but an expectation.
• When comparing 2016 and 2022 audits, the largest improvement was increased efficiency across the beef supply chain.
• An increase in usage of electronic identification.

Click here to see more...

Video: Dicamba Returns for Georgia Farmers: What the New EPA Ruling Means for Cotton Growers

After being unavailable in 2024 due to registration issues, dicamba products are returning for Georgia farmers this growing season — but under strict new conditions.

In this report from Tifton, Extension Weed Specialist Stanley Culpepper explains the updated EPA ruling, including new application limits, mandatory training requirements, and the need for a restricted use pesticide license. Among the key changes: a cap of two ½-pound applications per year and the required use of an approved volatility reduction agent with every application.

For Georgia cotton producers, the ruling is significant. According to Taylor Sills with the Georgia Cotton Commission, the vast majority of cotton planted in the state carries the dicamba-tolerant trait — meaning farmers had been paying for technology they couldn’t use.

While environmental groups have expressed concerns over spray drift, Georgia growers have reduced off-target pesticide movement by more than 91% over the past decade. Still, this two-year registration period will come with increased scrutiny, making stewardship and compliance more important than ever.