New Sustainable Beef Verification Programme Launched in Canada
CANADA - The new Verified Beef Production Plus (VBP+) scheme was launched on Friday to help producers show retailers and consumers their sustainability credentials.
20 June 2016
1 minute read
The new, national VBP+ programme includes training and auditing for animal care, biosecurity and environmental stewardship along with on-farm food safety practices within the cow-calf and feedlot sectors.
VBP+ shows that Canadian beef producers are listening, said Alberta rancher and Chair of the producer-led VBP+ Transition Management Committee Cecilie Fleming.
“Being a VBP+ registered producer enables beef operations to showcase the good production practises they commit to on their farms, ranches and feedlots as well as fosters continual improvements.
"VBP+ is a straightforward, practical and low cost programme to implement yet contains the robust validation required to satisfy the retailer, other end users, and consumer needs. A voluntary programme, VBP+ allows registered operations to be part of a bigger picture of raising beef cattle that can flow into the growing Canadian sustainable beef supply stream,” she said.
Ms Fleming thanked those beef operators who have embraced and supported the evolution of the Verified Beef Production on-farm food safety programme into VBP+. “Expanding the VBP+ program gives beef producers another tool to credibly demonstrate that the beef industry is listening and responding to changing needs of its end users,” she added.
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