Hello everyone! It is hard to believe it is already the middle of June! We are excited to announce that we are scheduling produce safety farm visits (On-Farm Readiness Reviews)! Read on for more information about the visits, FDA's temporary policy for qualified exempt farms and new COVID-19 resources specifically for agriculture.
How will the Produce Safety Rule impact your farm?
Colorado State University Extension has begun scheduling farm food safety visits (On-Farm Readiness Reviews) to help growers evaluate their produce safety practices and help them prepare for Produce Safety Rule inspections. During these visits we will walk around your farm and evaluate your food safety and good agricultural practices in relation to worker health and hygiene, agricultural water use, soil amendments, cleaning and sanitation, and employee training.
How have we been able to help farmers during the visits?
Evaluate worker training and provide multi-lingual training resources for health, hygiene and harvesting practices
Identify potential risks during harvest and post-harvest activities including pre-harvest assessments, wildlife intrusion, employee practices, and management of tools, equipment and storage areas
Provide recommendations for implementing cleaning practices and using sanitizers correctly
Farmers who have had a visit have said it was helpful to have an external review of their food safety practices and they ultimately felt more comfortable with the Produce Safety Rule. Even those farms who participate in a third-party audit have appreciated visits and learned more about risks associated with their operations.
All farms can request an on-farm readiness review even if you qualify for an exemption from the Produce Safety Rule. The visit is free of charge and confidential. read more>>
FDA announces temporary policy for farms that qualify for a modified exemption from the Produce Safety Rule
On May 22, 2020, FDA announced a temporary policy to allow flexibility for farms that are considered "Qualified Exempt" under the Produce Safety Rule to shift buyers to those who might not be considered qualified end users. FDA recognizes that there have been significant disruptions to supply chains due to the COVID-19 outbreak and that farmers may need to find alternative buyers for their produce.
Because this may affect the qualified exempt status of farms for 2021, FDA is exercising enforcement discretion, (i.e. not enforcing) the requirement of the qualified exemption that the majority of sales be to qualified end users. This applies to those farms that met the criteria for a qualified exemption in 2020 which would have been based on sales from 2017-2019. The temporary policy will not be applied to those farms that did not meet the requirements for the modified exemption for 2020.
For eligibility for the modified exemption status in 2021, farmers will need to:
Maintain documentation that the farm met all of the criteria for the qualified exemption (both total food sales and majority of sales to qualified end users) in 2020 based on records from 2017-2019; and
Maintain documentation that the monetary value of all the food the farm sold during 2018-2020 was less than $500,000, adjusted for inflation.
FDA has indicated that this enforcement discretion will remain in effect for the duration of the COVID-19 public health emergency. There is a guidance document that farmers can download that includes specific examples to help you determine if this temporary policy will apply to your farm. read more>>
New Agriculture Industry COVID-19 Resources
There are now specific recommendations for farmers to help limit the spread of COVID-19 among employees. Included in these resources are guidance for the workplace, employer-provided shared housing and transportation, and employee screening and monitoring for symptoms.
Do you need to build additional handwashing stations? Use our Field Handwashing Station resource to help guide you.
Do you have a produce safety question?
You can schedule a convenient time to discuss any questions you have related to your food safety practices, processes or other general questions. Click here to schedule a time.
