Ohio Beef Quality Assurance Program

Treatment records should be maintained with the following recorded:

1.  Individual animal or group or lot identification
2.  Date treated
3.  Product administered and manufacture’s lot/serial number
4.  Dosage used
5.  Route and location of administration
6.  Earliest date animal will have cleared withdrawal period
7.  Name of person administering product.

All cattle, including dairy beef shipped for harvest, should be checked by appropriate personnel to assure that all prescription withdrawal times for animal health products administered have been met or exceeded for animals that have been treated.

All processing and treatment records should be transferred with cattle to the next production level.  Prospective buyers must be informed of any cattle that have not met withdrawal times.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Record keeping, either computer or hand generated, is a critically important management tool.  Inventory and usage records can point out inefficiencies, theft and negligence.  With today’s narrow profit margins, correct inventory management is essential.

To ensure consumer confidence and maintain market share, we must be able to document the use and safety of our product.  We must be able to prove that we have tight control over risk factors that have a residue potential through effective documentation.  As a result, consumer confidence will be strengthened and regulatory pressures will be reduced.

Animal health products are costly items.  Accurate records can highlight inefficiencies on an animal-by-animal basis and prevent ineffective administration of treatments.  Furthermore, this information tells the veterinarian the treatments administered so he or she can validate treatment recommendations and adjust treatment regimes as animals and environmental conditions change.

Records are very important to business success.  Regulatory inspections by FDA, USDA, EPA or OSHA will prove the necessity of good records.  Effective documentation that shows appropriate compliance with training, inventory control, use orders, animal identification, withdrawal and disposal will help avoid liability from a residue contamination.

The record keeping system presented in the Appendix can be used as is or be a source of ideas to create or revise your current system. Computer record systems make extensive evaluation easy and efficient; however, hand-kept record systems are still very effective.  Each system has it own merits and you should select the system that is the most feasible for your beef production unit.

Another source of forms would be the Ohio State University Extension 4-H publication “Beef: Caring for Animals” located at