Canadian beef cattle farmers and ranchers take great pride in their animals, their operations, the environment, and the product they raise. The Verified Beef Production Plus (VBP+) program allows beef producers to prove to consumers, retailers, and industry stakeholders that their operations adhere to the highest standards for food safety, animal care, social responsibility, and environmental stewardship.
Modern consumers are looking to make responsible food choices, and retailers are looking to source beef from sustainable supply chains. VBP+ helps producers prove that they are doing the right things by offering both training and third-party auditing to certify operations under the program standard. Audits and training are available for operations in the cow-calf, backgrounding, and feedlot sectors from coast to coast. Getting certified qualifies your cattle for marketing in sustainable supply chains sought after by retailers.
VBP+ is delivered in all provinces with national coordination and management under the umbrella of the Beef Cattle Research Council, a division of the Canadian Cattle Association.
Producers certified by VBP+ meet a set of guidelines that align with the following standards:
The goal of the program is continuous improvement and giving producers credit for what they are largely already doing. While the program might give producers new ideas for improvements, the VBP+ standard is not designed to add significant cost or workload to a producer’s plate. Training helps producers learn about best practices, and the audit process lets the producer demonstrate that they are committed to using those methods on their operation. To learn more about the training and certification processes, see the Steps to Training and Steps to Certification pages.
As of January 31, 2024
Head Counts
1,738,895 head under the management of VBP+ certified operations
Certified Operations
1,332 VBP+ certified operations
Acreage
6,504,745.10 acres under the management of VBP+ certified operations
Training
6,416 producers trained under the VBP+ program
13,903 producers trained under the VBP program (before VBP+ was available)
Verified Beef Production (VBP) was developed by industry in 2004 to validate producers’ responsible practices to ensure on-farm food safety. This initial version of the program was developed from an educational initiative of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, Quality Starts Here. In 2013, the program began expanding to meet additional consumer demands. 2016 saw the launch of the VBP+ program, adding modules in animal care, biosecurity, and environmental stewardship to training and certification.
VBP+ is delivered in all provinces with national coordination and management under the umbrella of the Canadian Cattle Association. The Beef Cattle Research Council (BCRC) operates VBP+ with funding from the Canadian Beef Cattle Check-Off and Agriculture Canada’s AgriMarketing Program.