{"id":242,"date":"2024-03-07T17:12:35","date_gmt":"2024-03-07T17:12:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.cdfa.ca.gov\/CFRP\/?p=242"},"modified":"2024-03-07T17:18:26","modified_gmt":"2024-03-07T17:18:26","slug":"safe-animal-feed-education-2024-survey-for-feed-industry-responses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cdfa.ca.gov\/CFRP\/index.php\/2024\/03\/07\/safe-animal-feed-education-2024-survey-for-feed-industry-responses\/","title":{"rendered":"Safe Animal Feed Education 2024 Survey for Feed Industry Responses"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The Safe Animal Feed Education (SAFE) Program conducted a survey through SAFE and FEED listserv subscribers, all licensees via the ExtraView Database listserv as well as via the Run of the Mill Blog to assist the program with identifying areas to focus its outreach and educational resources in 2024. This survey was successful in reaching various sectors of the feed industry. Out of 51 responses, the majority (51%) of participants identified themselves as a livestock feed manufacturer, 23% were human food processing facilities selling by-products to animal feed, 14% were brokers\/re-sellers, and the rest included consumers, retailers, and nutritionists (Table 1)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The primary question of the survey was:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI and\/or employees at my company would benefit from education in which of the following areas?\u201d Select all that apply.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over 60% of participants selected \u201cknowledge of feed safety hazards that are known and reasonably foreseeable\u201d and 45% of participants selected \u201ccommercial feed label requirements\u201d. Participants also selected \u201c<\/strong>ingredients safe and approved for feed\u201d (37%), \u201cknowledge of livestock nutrition\u201d (37%), \u201chow to report tonnage\u201d (37%), \u201cmixer efficiency, sequencing and flushing\u201d (29%), \u201cfood safety plan and prerequisite programs\u201d (29%), and \u201cdiversion of by-products to livestock feed\u201d (27%) (Figure 1<\/strong>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Participants were also asked to choose the value of education in the areas selected. The responses demonstrate SAFE plays an important role in helping industry voluntarily gain compliance with regulations and improve operations and processes to ensure the safe manufacture of commercial feed (Figure 2<\/strong>). Responses indicate the preferred method of resources is a virtual format (Figure 3<\/strong>), with 80% of participants selecting webinar and about half of participants selecting video and document.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Outcomes<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SAFE\u2019s main take-away from this survey was a resounding lack of visibility and use of currently available educational resources. In the last two years, SAFE has provided new and updated guidance in the form of documents, checklists, examples, in-depth guidance, videos, and webpages related to the highest-ranking topics from this survey, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n