321. Moo-ving Cattle Through the Industry: Improving Transportation and Fitness for Transport Decision-making.

Abstract Introduction Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) and Beef Quality Assurance Transportation (BQAT) guidelines provide a framework emphasizing biosecurity, low-stress handling, and objective fitness-for-transport decision-making. Fitness assessments incorporate mobility scoring, body condition, expected travel distance, and health status. Transportation is one of the most stressful events cattle experiences and ensuring that only animals fit for transport enter the marketing chain is essential for animal welfare and beef quality. Findings from the 2022 National Beef Quality Audit (NBQA) highlight both progress and persistent challenges within beef and dairy cull cattle populations, particularly regarding mobility, body condition, and transport risk. Several stakeholders are invested in cattle health and welfare – the animals, veterinarians and producers, supply chain, and consumers. Understanding potential improvements in cull cattle decision making will have benefits to the cattle supply and food supply. The NBQA project, led by NCBA in collaboration with 14 universities across the U.S., aimed to collect data and create educational resources that guide veterinarians and producers in implementing transport decisions. Industry stakeholders met five times to review current NBQA findings and develop producer training materials for beef and dairy sectors. These resources emphasize why thin body condition or compromised mobility (e.g., mobility score ≥3) increases transport risk, including higher rates of lameness, condemnations, or welfare concerns documented in recent audits. In the 2022 NBQA, data was collected from 42 cattle plants. Notably, 13.7% of surveyed beef cows and 34.3% of surveyed dairy cows exhibited a mobility score ≥2 and 18.6% of surveyed beef cows and 23.3% of surveyed dairy cows had a BCS ≤2. Cull cows and bulls continue to represent a substantial portion of welfare-related concerns. Average transport distances for cull cattle in recent audits have averaged six hours with a maximum of 24 hours these cattle are on a moving trailer. Conclusion Factors such as low body condition score, poor mobility scores, and extended transport distances are associated with adverse outcomes such as fatigue, non-ambulatory events, and downgraded carcasses. These continue to be an area of improvement across the cattle industry. The resulting veterinarian- and producer-focused tools such as the Right Way. Right Time. A Guide to Cull Cow Management for both beef and dairy sectors support improved culling and transport decisions, enhance animal welfare, reduce losses associated with poor condition or mobility, and strengthen the efficiency and integrity of the cattle marketing system. In addition, the NBQA Executive Summary provides key takeaways for the industry and supply chain to incorporate for industry improvement. Industry education to producers and veterinarians in cull cattle decision making is critical to cattle welfare, product quality, and economics.