LEQA

The Livestock Environmental Quality Assurance Program

PROGRAM & LEGISLATIVE INTENTIONS

The Livestock Environmental Quality Assurance (LEQA) Program is a voluntary program for livestock producers to assist producers in the assessment of their management practices for water, soil, odor & air, habitat and community image concerns with the intentions to provide the producers with a means to capture the value of resource management assurance. Generating this value for the producer will be the result of creating a succinct and transparent assurance process that is accepted and communicates well to the government, industry, processors and other resource stakeholders.

PRODUCER BENEFITS

Livestock producers enrolled in the program receive a natural resource Assessment (valued at $1000) conducted by using the categories of Farm, Farmstead, Livestock Facility, Fields & Pasture and Forests & Wooded Areas. This Assessment is accompanied by an Action Plan that describes what measures can be taken to meet the LEQA 5-Star Certification Standards, along with a $900 voucher that the producer can elect what issues they want to address. The voucher can be applied toward certification assistance delivered by the LEQA Technician. Upon completion of the Action Plan at the producer’s own pace, a Certification Walkthrough is conducted by a LEQA representative and a feedlot officers if necessary to ensure feedlot compliance. An Annual Review will be conducted initially to provide on-going assurance with the goal of the LEQA providing “reasonable assurance” to numerous stakeholders.

STAKEHOLDER BENEFITS

Organizations, businesses, governments and society in general have become much more concerned of the natural resources and how they are being managed. This version of the LEQA is built upon a multi-stakeholder collaboration that was lead by the MMPA several years ago and is now evolving toward a process that uses assessment tools developed by industry, government and universities. Using common assessment tools allows stakeholders to gravitate toward a more unified system that benefits both stakeholders and producers. It is the initial goal of the LEQA Program is to provide assurance to governmental entities that farms are being management to protect the environment.