We have been watching as the state executive orders continue to roll out and how this impacts the agricultural community.  The two key take-aways for farms this season are:

1. Ensure that your customer capacity limits allow for 6′ of social distancing
2. Communicate to customers that masks will be required when indoors and when social distancing isn’t possible out of doors

Guidance documents have been updated on the following topics 
U-Pick Operation Guidelines under COVID-19
RCE Wholesale Grower Questions
Best Practices for Direct Market Sales
Complying with NJ Executive Orders – Pick Your Own

The Rutgers On-Farm Food Safety Team now has a COVID-19 Information For the Agricultural Industry webpage where these updated documents are housed, along with other COVID resources and vaccine information including printable posters in multiple languages.

Before scheduling an audit review the standards to understand what is required.  Go to https://www.ams.usda.gov/services/auditing/gap-ghp/harmonized and download the latest versions dated February 8, 2021.  There have been changes since the 2018 version so review carefully.  Compare the new version with your written food safety plan and make the necessary changes.  If you need technical assistance or want to discuss parts of the audit email “Ask the Experts” at onfarmfoodsafety@njaes.rutgers.edu.  The on-farm food safety team can be contacted at the same address to schedule a walkthrough to assess your readiness for an audit if requested.

Once the food safety plan is complete and you are ready for an audit email fvinspection@ag.nj.gov to schedule the audit.  You will receive an agreement to review and check which audit and audit sections you want audited.  You will be asked to send certain documents for review prior to the on-site audit.  This reduces the amount of time the auditors are on the farm for Covid considerations.  The auditors want to see at least 10 days of records prior to the audit.

Again, this year the Harmonized and Harmonized Plus+ audits in New Jersey will be reimbursed 100% through the USDA Risk Management Agency.  Once the audit is finalized, USDA will generate a bill to the auditee which summarizes the cost breakdown of the audit, and then showing a credit for that same amount. A note will be added to the bill stating, “Cost of your 2021 USDA Harmonized GAP Audit covered by a bill credit made possible through a grant from the USDA Risk Management Agency Agricultural Management Assistance Program”.  For more details and frequently ask questions visit the AMS website mentioned above and look under resources.

Once the audit is complete it will be reviewed by USDA personnel and a certificate will be sent to the grower.  Also, the farm name, address, date and commodities audited will be posted on the USDA AMS website.

This is the time of year when growers start to think about scheduling there USDA Harmonized and Harmonized Plus+ Audits.  There have been changes to both audits which take affect May 1.  Growers should download the latest versions from https://www.ams.usda.gov/services/auditing/gap-ghp/harmonized.  The Harmonized Audit is version 2 dated February 8, 2021 and the Harmonized Plus+ with the same date is version 3.  If anyone is still getting the GAP/GHP audits there are no changes.

There are changes to both the Harmonized and Harmonized Plus+.  New questions for the Harmonized Audit include:  G-8.2, G-10.7, G-12.1, G-12.2, P-3.1, P-8.2 and P-8.4.  Amended questions include: G-3.2, G-10.1, G-10.3, G-10.6, G-10.8, G-10.10, G-10.12, G-10.16 and G-10.19.  All of these apply to the Harmonized Plus+ in addition to four new questions:  F-8.2.c, P-6.5.a, P-3.1.a and P-9.4.a.  Two questions were also amended:  G2.2.2 and G-6.1.a.

Other than the new questions which must be reviewed and addressed in the food safety plan there are certain things audits will be stressing this year.  One is G-3.2 related to documentation and protection of those documents.  Documents must be maintained for two years and be available for review.  The one document which has not been assessed in the past is the portable toilet record.  This year they will be checking for it.  There are two ways growers can comply.  First make sure the starting and ending dates are on your contract for the portable toilets.  Also, take a picture of the log inside the toilet door at least at the end of the season.  It may make sense to do it mid-season and at the end.  Maintain those photos with your other documents.

The second is F-8.2 related to cleaning and sanitizing equipment, vehicles, tools and utensils and their storage.  There needs to be a schedule for those activities and records must include the date and method of cleaning and sanitizing.  One thing that gets overlooked at times are knives for field harvesting of vegetables and herbs.  These must be included, and the auditors will be looking for the logs this year.

Example templates are being updated on the Food Safety website https://onfarmfoodsafety.rutgers.edu/ that will include most of what would be needed for an audit.  These can be modified to fit any operation.

As part of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) the New Jersey Department of Agriculture in coordination with Rutgers Cooperative Extension are again offering an OFRR to any operation that has taken the Produce Safety Alliance (PSA) Training.  The PSA training is required for fresh produce operations to comply with FSMA with sales over $25,000.  We have been doing OFRRs over the last two years (approximately 100) and want to continue this service during 2021.  So, what is the OFRR?  It is a walkthrough of the farm operation to assess where it may need for make changes to comply with FSMA prior to an inspection.  Generally, two individuals will be on the assessment team one from Extension and one from the New Jersey Department of Agriculture.  These reviews take approximately 2 hours and is scheduled to fit into the grower’s time.  To schedule a review email Charlotte Muetter at charlotte.muetter@ag.nj.gov.  She will then contact the farm operation to schedule the review.

The Rutgers On-Farm Food Safety Team has developed three video presentations.  Clip on  Three On The Go Webinars For the Busy Grower  to view the three videos listed below.

 Introduction to Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) and USDA Audits.  Find out the differences between FSMA inspections and USDA audits. Who do they apply to and who does the inspection or audits?

Building Your One-Way Street: Backflow Prevention and Your Farm.  Learn what backflow is, how to evaluate your operations and how to prevent problems with backflow to protect your packed produce.

How to Use Best Practices for On-Farm Recordkeeping.  Tried and true strategies for organized record keeping that complies with FSMA and will prepare you for USDA audits.