Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)

You’ll produce a safe food product on a continuous basis if every person involved in your operation applies Good Production Practices consistently. As we ’ve seen, GPPs are the foundation of an on-farm safety assurance program, and establishing Standard Operating Procedures is the first step in applying GPPs in a consistent manner.

SOPs help you and your staff to:

• know which cattle have been treated and when the withdrawal time has lapsed
• follow safe procedures for feed medication storage, mixing and feeding
• know when to call the veterinarian
• improve production practices and prevent identified hazards.

SOPs need to be accessible and regularly updated. Employees need to be trained and evaluated on a regular basis to ensure consistency. For samples of some standard SOPs, see the Quality Starts Here: Verified Beef Production Producer Manual (pages 15-42).
The following SOPs are described in the QSH  Producer Manual:

SOP-01: Animal Health Management
SOP-01: Cattle Feeding
SOP-03: Cattle Receiving and Shipping
SOP-04: Pest Control and Yard Maintenance
SOP-05: Biosecurity