Effectiveness of a Certification Program to Facilitate Practice Change in Cattle Handling and Care

Proper handling and care of cattle is important to the beef industry and beef producers as a whole. During a workshop of leading Kentucky beef cattle farmers held in 2012, proper handling and care was identified as one of the top five industry concerns. Based on this information an educational program on cattle handling and care was developed and a certification process was implemented to acknowledge beef producers who successfully completed the program. The program centered on an educational video that covered the following topics: Genetic Influences, Proper Handling Techniques, Transportation, Proper Nutrition, Body Condition Scoring, Dystocia, Castration, Dehorning, Vaccinations, Eye Disorders, Disease, Lameness, Pasture/Housing and Humane Euthanasia. Upon completion of the video, the participants were administered an exam and were required to correctly answer 30 out of 35 questions to be certified. Farmers completing certification received a barn sign for display, a laminated chute-side aid and a trailer bumper sticker with weight limits. From summer 2014 through the end of 2016, 2026 farmers were Cattle Handling and Care Certified in Kentucky. In December 2016 and January 2017, a survey was sent to all certified farmers, one per household, who were certified prior to December 1, 2016 which totaled 1519 individuals. Four hundred ninety two surveys were completed for a response rate of 32.4%. Demographics indicated the respondents were 88.8% male and 49.4% were over the age of 60 years. When asked if the video was an effective delivery tool, 98.4% responded positively and 96.1% felt that becoming certified was an effective use of their time. Four hundred thirteen producers (84.6%) indicated they had made practice changes due to the program. Areas that showed the greatest change were improved handling facilities (68.4%), improved handling techniques (58.8%), improved cattle sorting techniques (56.2%), improved nutrition management (51.8%), improved herd health (51.2%) and improved genetics for calving ease (44.9%). When asked if the chute-side aid, bumper sticker or barn sign were useful resources, the positives responses were 61.7%, 23.6% and 56.0%, respectively. Of the respondents, 95.0% were either likely or very likely to recommend the program to other beef farmers. These results indicate that a cattle handling and care certification program can be successful in fostering practice change in beef cattle managers and utilizing an educational video, along with other resources, are effective tools in delivering the information.