FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is a PVP?
PVP stands for “Process Verified Program”. The USDA Process Verified Program is a verification service that offers applicants a unique way to market their products to customers using clearly defined, implemented, and transparent process points. PVP Programs are submitted to and approved by the Agricultural Marketing Service division of USDA. Each year, Legacy Verified goes through an extensive USDA-AMS audit to ensure that we are administering and managing our program within the PVP requirements. All of our customers fall under our umbrella and through our processes, procedures, and verification activities, we ensure that ALL of our customers are adhering to the PVP Program requirements.
What does it mean to be Third-Party Verified?
Third-Party Verifications are external verifications performed by independent organizations. This means that Legacy Verified has no stake in whether or not our customers are approved for any claim – We have no financial gain from their success (although we do work hard to help all of our customers succeed). Third-Party Verifications are required as a part of the USDA-AMS PVP Program and gives strong legitimacy to any claims that a producer wants/needs to make to their customers.
Will my neighbor get special treatment because his ranch is bigger than mine?
Absolutely not. Each Legacy Verified customer is held to the highest of standards – Whether they are big or small. Our strong commitment to our integrity ensures that USDA, our export partners, and the industry, as a whole, can sleep well knowing that we are committed to meeting and adhering to the requirements of the USDA-AMS PVP Programs and custom programs we administer.
Is my information protected?
Legacy Verified maintains a PRIVATE database of all customer information which is never shared outside of Legacy Verified and is only shared with USDA-AMS upon their legitimate request. All customer information is kept confidential unless USDA-AMS requests producer information for disease traceback, if that becomes necessary. Audit notes may be reviewed by an USDA-AMS Auditor during the course of the Legacy Verified annual audit, but that information is not officially documented anywhere and is used solely to make sure Legacy Verified is meeting PVP Program requirements when administering the PVP Program for their customers. For all of our customers in the NHTC program, we are required to send an updated customer list to USDA of approved locations. The QAD NHTC Approved List contains Customer Name, Address, City, State, and Date of Approval/Withdrawal. This is used by USDA-AMS so they can verify that any beef being sent overseas to the EU is documented on a PVP Approved Company’s NHTC List and is in compliance under their program.
Is there a lot of extra record-keeping?
Not at all! You’re probably already doing most of it right now! If you have calving records, can list any hormones or medicines you have onsite, can pull a feed tag off of your mineral, and if you write down anytime you treat a calf, you have most of the basics needed for Legacy Natural, NHTC, SAV, and even Saudi Arabia! Legacy Verified will bring you a binder with various templates to help you organize this information and will even help you fill everything out at your initial onsite visit. You may have to send more paperwork at the time of shipping than you have in the past, but Legacy Verified will provide you with those documents!
Is it expensive to participate in value-added programs?
Legacy Verified prides itself in being the most cost-effective third-party option in the industry! We charge a flat rate for our services with no hidden fees, ever! We also sell Program Compliant Tags (PCT) (EID Tags) at just over our own wholesale cost (average cost of EID tags is just $2.05)! We don’t make any additional profit on the sale of tags – We make just enough to cover the cost to maintain our PCT Tag Database, which is required so we can provide traceability and verification information to cattle buyers and packers.
Will the Legacy Verified Verification be accepted by buyers in the industry?
Absolutely! Legacy Verified adheres to the same USDA PVP Program requirements as every other PVP-Approved company out there. Our PVP Program is USDA-AMS approved and we pride ourselves in offering the best customer service to our customers and industry partners at ALL stages of the verification process. Our program may look a little different, but everything we do has been reviewed and approved by USDA-AMS and we are a legitimate Third-Party Verification company.
Is it expensive to participate in value-added programs?
Legacy Verified prides itself in being the most cost-effective third-party option in the industry! We charge a flat rate for our services with no hidden fees, ever! We also sell Program Compliant Tags (PCT) (EID Tags) at just over our own wholesale cost (average cost of EID tags is just $2.05)! We don’t make any additional profit on the sale of tags – We make just enough to cover the cost to maintain our PCT Tag Database, which is required so we can provide traceability and verification information to cattle buyers and packers.
Does Legacy Verified offer custom-designed programs?
Yes, we do! A large portion of our business has expanded into custom programs for producer groups and even individual producers who sell direct. We have worked with multiple groups to help add validity to their claims with our Third-Party Verification services. There are many ways in which we can help. For instance, sometimes the customer gives us a list of claims that are important to their buyers and we write all of the standards for their program. Then, we create a verification process and administer the verification services. Sometimes, we have a producer or group of producers who already know what their claims are and have written the standards for their program. Then, we may assist them in creating the verification process and procedures to verify against those standards and/or we conduct the actual verifications for the customer.
Why should I choose Legacy Verified?
Legacy Verified has been in business since 2019 and has over 50 years of combined experience in managing, administering, and maintaining PVP Programs, not to mention decades of generational ranching, feeding, and dairy experience throughout the Team. In addition, we have gained experience and established creditable legitimacy through multiple industry partnerships by helping companies build and administer custom programs with a variety of claims from Traceability to more complex Sustainability and Regenerative Grazing Claims. We work hard to keep our overhead low so we can pass those savings on to our customers. We are a for-profit company, but our customers come first! Both owners are committed to administering a strong, cost-effective program with the utmost integrity to help producers increase their bottom line – Even if that means we have to minimize owner distributions to ensure we maintain the cost-effective rates our customers have come to expect . . . Saving you money and giving you the best experience possible is our Number One Priority!