Reprinted from the Manitoba Cattle Producers newsletter, March 2008

Beef producers who have participated in a Verified Beef Production (VBP) workshop are eligible for up to $750 per purchase toward equipment that assists with food safety practices. The funding is available from the On-Farm Implementation (OFI) fund of the Canadian Food Safety and Quality Program. This program has been extended to
March 2009.

"What I like about the equipment fund is it has a very real impact," says Manitoba beef producer Betty Green, who helps deliver the program as part of her role as a VBP coordinator.

Examples of equipment that may be purchased include hand-held RFID tag readers, computer software to track medication withdrawals, extension for chutes to facilitate neck injections, scale/calibration devices for medicated feeds, and disposal containers for used
medical bottles.

"The producers who purchase this equipment do so to improve their technique or improve their procedures at the farm level," says Green, part of the Green family operation near Fisher Branch, which includes a 1,000- head cow-calf operation and a feedlot.

"It's always nice when you're rewarding the producers who are doing things right. That's what the equipment funding is set-up to do."

VBP is Canada's recognized on-farm food safety program for beef - a program designed to uphold consumer confidence in the products and good practices of this country's beef producers. By attending a VBP workshop at any one of several held regularly across the country, producers keep up to date with standard operating procedures that support on-farm food safety. They also have the option to complete additional steps to become VBP registered, which can bring marketing advantages by providing verified assurance that the operation's practices meet recognized VBP standards.

For producers who haven't participated in the VBP program, the first step to become eligible for the funding is to sign-up to attend a VBP workshop. Information on workshops is available through VBP provincial coordinators, who are listed on the "VBP Across Canada" section of the VBP Web site, located at www.verifiedbeef.org. Producers can also get contact information by calling their provincial cattle association office.

Producers who have attended a VBP workshop can apply for equipment funding by contacting their provincial VBP program coordinator ahead of purchase. The coordinator will then assist the producer with an assessment of equipment eligibility and provide a Producer Declaration form to use in the process of obtaining funding.

The Manitoba Cattle Producers' Association website is at www.mcpa.net.