Article is by Diane Hanson, Livestock Beef Audit Lead at FSNS C&A
2021 has been a year of growth for the FSNS Certification & Audit team. The Livestock Audit Services team has developed a variety of new audit tool offerings, which includes a new program for livestock show and rodeo events to evaluate, benchmark, and monitor compliance with current rules, regulations, and animal welfare standards.
Livestock show and rodeo events have long served as a means to promote the agriculture and food industry. These events use livestock as a medium to support youth, adult, community development and education. Additionally, livestock shows play a unique role in both the food supply chain, as well as representing the industry’s stance on animal welfare. Due to the public nature of livestock shows and rodeos, they have recently been the subject of many special interest groups wishing to ban such events. Public perception will continue to play a large role in the security of livestock shows and rodeos. Though being highly visible, and events having received negative publicity by special interest groups, exhibition events have not widely participated in third-party verification of compliance with show rules and regulations.
Understanding the importance of livestock shows and rodeos to the greater livestock and food safety industries, the FSNS C&A team created the Livestock Show & Rodeo Evaluation Tool. The foundation of the evaluation tool aligns with current industry standards for animal welfare and handling practices. Acknowledging that livestock show and rodeo events have developed different rules and regulations based on federal, state, local, and facility guidelines, this evaluation program is also designed to allow each customer to tailor it to fit the specific needs of the event. The tool includes focused areas for: facility, training, housing, transportation, show, special events, veterinary, and rodeo performance. Additionally, different versions of the tool have been developed to be species-specific, for animals ranging from cattle to rabbits, poultry to pigs, and everything in between.
The goal of FSNS C&A in providing third-party evaluations to the livestock show and rodeo industry is to both promote the consistent implementation of animal welfare practices, as well as provide events with data for continuous improvement. The results of our third-party evaluation allow events to have tangible data and resources that display their commitment to both animal welfare and food safety. The opportunity to work with livestock shows and rodeos has been both exciting and rewarding for the FSNS C&A team, and they look forward to continuing to expand their work as a trusted partner for the industry in 2022.
