Pork Quality Assurance Advisor Training Offered Oct. 5

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PQA Plus sign outside of a swine barn
Photo courtesy of National Pork Board

AMES, Iowa - The Iowa Pork Industry Center (IPIC) with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach is offering its third and final Pork Quality Assurance Plus (PQA Plus) Advisor certification session of the year on Oct. 5. Interested individuals should review eligibility requirements and apply on the IPIC website by Sept. 28. 

The PQA Plus program meets the highest international standards for animal care and addresses food safety, animal well-being, environmental stewardship, worker safety, public health and community and more. Certified PQA Advisors can administer the PQA Plus education and certification program to pork producers and their employees and perform on-farm site assessments.

To become an advisor, individuals must be a veterinarian, extension specialist or agricultural educator involved in adult education or production training. Additional requirements can be found on the application form. 

The PQA Plus Advisor online certification session on Oct. 5 will begin at 9 a.m. and last approximately six hours. This training is open to qualified individuals seeking certification for the first time or to current or former advisors seeking to renew their certification. 

The training costs $100, and participants will receive information to join the online session once their application is approved. Five veterinary continuing education units (CEUs) are also available for the session.

For more information, contact Stacie Matchan at sgould@iastate.edu


IPIC was established in 1994 as a coordinated effort of the colleges of Agriculture (now Agriculture and Life Sciences) and Veterinary Medicine at ISU. Its mission is to promote efficient pork production technologies in Iowa, maintain Iowa's pork industry leadership and strengthen rural development efforts. IPIC focuses its efforts on programs that are integral and complementary to ISU Extension and Outreach. Through IPIC, Iowa producers receive accurate and timely information to make their operations more efficient and profitable.