Cattle Working Day!

This summer I have gotten the opportunity to spend a lot of time working with and learning about plants. Coming from a vegetable farming background, I have loved every second of it! In addition, I also have lots of experience with cows, so when I heard I was going to get to help a client work her cattle I was excited.

Today we went to help a cattle producer weigh and work her fall calves. She had fourteen that all needed to be weighed, dewormed, and vaccinated. I worked the head gate and administered all of the shots.

One negative for the day was the weather. It poured rain! Thankfully the producer had her working facilities under a large shed she had built. We stayed dry, but the cattle were absolutely soaked! The rain beating on the roof made it hard for us to hear one another too.

Once I got used to working the chute and head gate, things started to run smoothly. I was thankful that I already had experience working with cattle, but it was great to get more practice and to know that I was helping a producer out!

We worked all of her cattle according to the BQA, or Beef Quality Assurance, guidelines. BQA is a national program to provide guidelines for cattle producers. This program gains consumer confidence through proper management techniques and a commitment to quality. The BQA program provides common sense guidelines to keep up with record keeping and herd health.

If you are interested in becoming BQA certified, contact your local extension office, or check out the online learning module on the Virginia Tech's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences website.