The American Meat Institute (AMI) Foundation and Alchemy Systems, a leader in innovative training solutions based in Austin, TX, are teaming up to develop an animal welfare training series for the beef and pork industries.

“Humane livestock handling is a critically important priority for the U.S. meat industry. Partnering with Alchemy enabled us to provide high-quality, industry-approved training materials that will help our members ensure their operations are meeting USDA humane slaughter requirements and industry best practices,” says AMI President and CEO J. Patrick Boyle.

The series is endorsed by AMI’s Animal Welfare Committee and will be available in 2012 exclusively on DVD from AMI and as new courses within the SISTEM training platform from Alchemy.

Federal humane slaughter rules have prescribed strict humane handling requirements that packing plants must meet since 1958. In the 1990s, AMI released recommended animal handling guidelines and later a plant audit to help the industry meet federal requirements. The new training is based upon federal rules and industry best practices.

The new DVD will include the following courses:

“Alchemy is honored to partner with AMI on the development and delivery of animal welfare training,” says Jeff Eastman, Alchemy’s CEO. “Our SISTEM training platform is used by many AMI members and we make it our mission to provide them with relevant content that simplifies the delivery and documentation of their training.”