Animal health and care, food safety and environmental stewardship are increasingly important to the general public and the Canadian beef industry is keeping step. Beef retailers and consumers want to understand, at a base level, about our production practices at the farm, ranch and feedlot level. The VBP+ program expansion began in 2013 to build a program identifying outcomes for responsible production practices that are practical, credible and meet marketplace expectations. 

Animal health and care, food safety and environmental stewardship are increasingly important to the general public and the Canadian beef industry is keeping step. Beef retailers and consumers want to understand, at a base level, about our production practices at the farm, ranch and feedlot level. The VBP+ program expansion began in 2013 to build a program identifying outcomes for responsible production practices that are practical, credible and meet marketplace expectations. 

The Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (CRSB) oversees the Certified Sustainable Beef Framework. The standards set out by the framework are aligned with the requirements of the VBP+ program, and are verified on-farm by third-party auditors.  

When you get certified with VBP+, you automatically become certified with CRSB. As one of three certification bodies for CRSB, VBP+ can provide CRSB certification in the same audit when a producer seeks certification with VBP+. This means less time and effort for producers. 

With CRSB certification, producers gain access to incentive programs such as Cargill’s implementation of the Certified Sustainable Beef Framework and the Sustainability Incentive Program. 

VBP+ is actively working to minimize the amount of repetition between audits for different certifications. Currently, VBP+ is working on training auditors so that operations could become GEP-free certified for the EU and VBP+ certified in a single audit. We will continue to work on programs like this to minimize the work producers have to do to access these programs and their benefits. 

The cost associated with an audit varies by the type of operation. Producers can choose to pay annually (committing to all 5 years), or pay for the full five-year audit cycle up front. 

No! VBP+ runs on a 5-year audit cycle. In year 1, producers do the full audit to get certified. 

In years 2 and 4, producers submit the suite of records required under the program to VBP+ Delivery Services Inc. This makes sure that all the processes verified at an audit are still running smoothly! 

In years 3 and 5, producers submit a self-declaration to VBP+ Delivery Services Inc. to verify that they are still doing all the practices verified during the on-farm audit. 

After 5 years, the cycle starts over again! 

Most of our auditors are beef producers themselves, so they understand what managing cattle is like and how things operate! In many cases, producers say that their auditor has been a great resource for them to ask questions and improve their operations. 

Most of our staff are beef producers as well! When you have questions or submit renewals, rest assured that our staff understands the unique situations that arise on a farm. Many of us have experience getting certified on our own operations, and are here to help, not criticize! 

Think of the audit as a tour through your operation! Auditors are trained to ask the right questions and look and listen to find the pieces on your operation that meet each requirement. They will help guide you through what they need to see, and you provincial coordinator will help prepare you so that you can organize all the records, equipment, and other items that the auditor will need to see. 

All VBP+ auditors follow strict bio-security protocols so, to protect animal health, you will be asked if there are any specific actions needed prior to them visiting the beef cattle operation.