WHY ARE WE HERE: Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs): Through On-Farm Assessment , Creating a Farm Produce Safety Plan

1. Robert Hadad Cornell Vegetable Program Regional Specialist For Western NY 585-739-4065 rgh26@cornell.edu WHY ARE WE HERE: Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs): Through On-Farm Assessment , Creating a Farm Produce Safety Plan

2. Reducing Microbial Contamination • It is all about keeping things clean • Reduction vs. elimination • No such thing as zero • E. coli • Salmonella • Listeria • Many others

3. Farm Produce Safety • Most farmers already practicing • Organizing an approach that outlines a plan to minimize microbial contamination • Develop a farm produce safety plan through assessment • Implement as part of farm practices

4. Summary of FDA Food Safety Modernization Act • While some provisions of the new law take effect immediately, many others need to be implemented and funded before they go into effect. • Funding will be a critical factor in whether the new law is effective. ·     

5. Critical funding needs include: • The law establishes a schedule for FDA inspection of food processing facilities - after several years the agency will inspect once every three years for "high-risk" food facilities and once every five years for "low-risk" facilities. • The law directs the FDA to double its inspection of foreign food facilities that export products to the U.S. every year, for five years. The FDA is scheduled to visit 600 foreign facilities in fiscal year 2011. The schedule outlined in the law would bring the total of foreign inspections to over 19,000 in fiscal year 2016.

6. FDA • The law sets a target of 5000 food safety employees at the FDA by fiscal year 2014. To meet this target, it will need to hire about 2000 more food safety employees than the agency currently has. • The law creates a grant program for training small processors and farmers to assist them as they come into compliance with the produce safety or food safety plan requirements.

7. Exemptions • To be eligible for this exemption, farms or businesses must gross less than $500,000 per year and sell a majority of their food products directly to consumers, restaurants and grocery stores within a 275-mile radius from their place of business (or the same state.)

8. The law directs the FDA to develop produce safety standards with consideration for organic standards, wildlife protection and conservation measures as they develop these standards. I • Also consideration that any new standards are workable for all scales and types of producers, including small-scale, organic or diversified production farms that raise multiple crops.

9. The law directs the FDA to develop preventive controls standards for food processors.  • In addition to FDA will also have to implement other provisions of the law and must ensure that the new regulations are protective of consumers.

10. The law requires that food importers certify that the food they are bringing into the country meets U.S. standards. The FDA must design this certification program to hold exporters accountable to high standards. • The law establishes whistleblower protections for the FDA and company employees who report violations of the law or other food safety regulations.

11. Certification In a Nut Shell… • Understand what is being asked & documentation • Was based on crop • Create your own farm produce safety plan • Have your plan audited and crop(s) inspected at harvest • Pass the audit/inspection • Get certification • Sell to buyer

12. Auditing Types • Mostly dealing with same topics with a few differences • Primus • Global GAP • Some necessary for fruit export • Some include social justice issues • Harmonization by industry • Combining programs

13. Certification Based on Vegetable Crop by Some Buyers • Greens including cabbage and lettuce • Netted melons • Tomatoes • Peppers • Herbs including green/bunching onions • Various buyers may require others

14. By completing this farm self-assessment, you will: • Review production practices that you are using • Assess management strengths & weaknesses related to minimizing microbial risks • Identify changes in farm production practices that can reduce the risk of contamination especially during harvest and packing then implement these changes • Develop record keeping that documents all farm actions that reduce microbial risks • Develop action plans to improve the food safety of produce grown or packed on your farm

15. This Is Your Plan • You create it to match your production and handling practices • Don’t make it more complicated than it needs to be • Once you write it, you have to follow it

16. Look at Farm Practices in Sections • Worker hygiene • Toilets & hand washing facilities • Irrigation and spray water quality • On-farm wells • Manure sources and application • Compost sources and on-farm storage & compost application

17. Wild animals in field, storage, and packing (shed) areas • Harvest and field sanitation • Packing (house) sanitation and safety • Post harvest handling of produce • Transportation • Trace-back

18. Traceback • One step forward, one step back • If you had to identify a potentially contaminated load/lot/bin could you find out which field it came from, how much was picked, when it was picked, maybe by whom, and where it went? • Documentation through record keeping

19. Pickers are Food Handlers

20. Workers • Workers include yourself & family • Training • Hand washing • Health and hygiene • Rest room facilities • Harvest and handling

21. Water Use • Source of irrigation water for crops • Municipal treated water source • Ground water from a properly constructed and capped well • Water from uncapped well • Surface water from farm pond • Water from creek or river

22. What’s In Your Pond?

23. Water Testing • Do you know who else has had access to the water? • Municipal water • Well water from capped well tested yearly • Uncapped well tested more frequently • All surface water tested routinely

24. Water Testing • Monitor for thermotolerant coliforms and quantifiable generic E. coli • How many times? • Need to establish base line and compare • Take action as needed • Keep records on file • New research needed on water quality

25. Using Irrigation • Trickle • Topical or overhead spraying • How and when • Monitoring sediment in surface water • Backflow prevention: Anti-backflow or check valve devices are installed on all plumbing systems and no cross connections exist between water supplies.

26. Assessing Wells • Well is upslope from all potential pollution sources (e.g. fertilizer or pesticide storage and handling areas, livestock yards, septic leach fields, manure piles, fuel storages). • No surface water runoff reaches well. • Surface water is diverted from well

27. Wells • More than 300 feet from any contamination source. • Anti-backflow or check valve devices are installed on all plumbing systems, and no cross connections exist between water supplies. • Water testing

28. Pre-harvest Assessment • When you check field, patch, or orchard for maturity, check for safety issues • Look at harvest area for signs of wildlife damage • Clean harvest boxes, totes, bins etc. • Clean tools • Clean vehicles

30. Water for Cleaning & Packing House • Potable water only!!! • Water for washing produce and making ice is potable from a municipal or ground water source. • Results of annual water tests are on file • Wash water is changed several times a day, and chlorine or other disinfectant is added and levels monitored continuously, to maintain appropriate levels (crop dependent). • Water pH is monitored and adjusted to • between 6.5 and 7.5.

31. Water • Water temperature in dump tanks and flumes is regularly monitored to be no more than 10°F cooler than produce. • Ice reservoirs are cleaned and sanitized monthly and there is no direct hand contact with ice. • Cleaning schedule and records of cleaning dates are kept. • Backflow devices are installed separating dump and flume tanks from the water source.

33. Manure and Manure-based Compost

34. Manure • Is manure used in produce production? • If ‘no’ then say so in your plan…”We do not use any manure on our farm for vegetable/fruit production.” get automatic 35 points on audit • If ‘yes’ then fill in the details…

35. Manure • Is the manure used raw on the farm? • If “no” then describe how it is used • If “yes” describe how • List the dates of application to ensure that it is applied at least a minimum of 120 days to harvest ed food crop • All of this is documented.

36. Manure Best Practices • Manure is applied and incorporated into the soil at least 120 days prior to harvest of a produce crop • OR composted manure is applied. • Compost production protocols are identified • Time between manure application and harvest is ALWAYS maximized.

37. Manure Best Practices • Crop residues/cover crops can be used to minimize manure nutrient leaching or run-off from fields. • Cover crops or "filter strips“ can be used at field boundaries and along water courses to minimize manure runoff.

38. Tarp Cover on Manure Pile

39. Compost Best Practices • Record keeping on materials and practices of making compost and monitoring temperatures (131°to 160°F) for at least 5 days • AND aerates or turns the pile several times. • Compost is stored away from produce handling facilities. Barriers or tarps are used to minimize risk of runoff • OR compost is immediately applied to fields when received.

40. Covered Compost Piles

41. Compost Tea • Only composts that achieved a high temperature of 140°to 160°F for 15 days are used to make compost teas to be applied to produce crops. • This source compost is well cured AND is tested free of human pathogens prior to use for making compost tea.

42. Side Dressing with Manure-based Compost • Produce crops are side-dressed using only properly composted manure • AND try to make sure the material does not come into contact with the sensitive plants (greens vs. sweet corn etc.).

44. Livestock • The closest dairy or livestock production facility is _____(how far) from the farm field plots. •  To the best of our knowledge, the type of manure handling done on any nearby livestock operation is: •  If livestock is nearby, the steps taken to prevent/restrict access of them getting into the crop irrigation water system/supply are:

45. Runoff

46. Runoff Reduction • Crop residues or cover crops are always used to minimize compost runoff from fields. Cover crops or "filter strips" are always used at field boundaries and along water courses to minimize compost runoff.

47. Filter Strips

49. Risk from Wildlife • Enteric pathogens isolated from wildlife • Campylobacter • Cryptosporidium • Salmonella • Shiga toxin-producing E.coli /E. coli O157:H7 • E. coli O157:H7 isolated from • house fly, slug, bullfrog, starling, goose, rat, squirrel, skunk, deer, rabbit, raccoon, cattle, sheep, goat, pig, buffalo, horse, dog, human Information from Michele Jay-Russell, WCFS, UC Davis

50. One Approach to Wildlife Control • LGMA Standards recognize level of concern and required corrective actions for Significant Animals • Significant Animals: Cattle, Pig, Deer, Goat, Sheep • Non-Significant: Coyote, Fox, Dog, Cat, Horse, Rabbit, Raccoon, Birds, Chickens, Reptiles, Amphibians, Other