Indiana Kitchen: Fresh Pork Products » Our Family of Pork Producers » Livestock Transit
Livestock Transit
Livestock transit is a vital componenet of the procurement process at Indiana Packers. As such, this section is provided to further enhance and support this component. In this section you will find information on our Transport Quality AssuranceTM Program, the Indiana Packers Transit Insurance Program, and required forms.
We at Indiana Packers Corporation fully appreciate and understand the moral and ethical duties associated with the care and movement of food animal livestock. As such, we are fully committed to providing industry leading food animal welfare for all livestock under our care or those received at our facility.
In support of our commitment, our associates are trained and educated in the latest principles of care and movement of livestock. We utilize training and educational tools supplied by a number of respected industry sources as well as internal plant education programs. Simply providing one time training for our associates is not sufficient to meet our goal of being an industry leader. It is our opinion that continued education should be a priority for creating a culture that respects and understands the movement of livestock.
To this end, we are constantly working to expose our associates to new information and the latest techniques for animal care and movement. Additionally, our procurement staff works very closely with our supply partners and transporters to keep them informed of our efforts and enlist their support of our education programs.
The following are a few highlights of polices and initiatives to ensure the safe and proper transport of food animal livestock.
- Employees acknowledge their commitment through a signed document.
- IPC requires all transporters to be TQA® [Transport Quality Assurance] Certified
- IPC recognizes the value for a farm validation through Pork Quality Assurance -Plus®
- In addition to internal self-audits; we have our animal welfare and handling systems evaluate at least annually by an independent third party with expertise in animal welfare.
- All associates and transporters are required to participate in the TQA® certification program administered by the National Pork Board. The program emphasizes the importance of proper care in loading / unloading, transport needs and possible weather related issues.