The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) has announced that signup for the Quality Loss Adjustment (QLA) Program began Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021. Funded by the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020, this new program provides assistance to producers who suffered eligible crop quality losses due to natural disasters occurring in 2018 and 2019. The deadline to apply for QLA is Friday, March 5, 2021. [Read more…]
On-Farm Food Safety Section
Keep up with the latest news on this dynamic topic that impacts growers on multiple levels. Developing a farm food safety plan is a good idea for all growers, and may be required as part of food safety audits if you sell to certain buyers.
View NJAES On-Farm Food Safety Publications
January 7, 2021 Nick Polanin
Quality Loss Adjustment (QLA) Program Now Available for Eligible Producers Affected by 2018, 2019 Natural Disasters
January 7, 2021 Wes Kline
Harmonized Audit From Start To Finish – January 19, 2021
If you need to know more about the USDA Harmonized Audits register for the virtual training on January 19, 2021. This three hour class will cover each question on the USDA Harmonized Audit and USDA Harmonized Plus Audits. New Jersey Department of Agriculture Auditors will discuss how someone signs up for an audit and review common issues that auditors found during 2020 audits. Participants will have the opportunity have their questions answered to help make their audit run more smoothly. To register for the class go to https://go.rutgers.edu/whfr8g1u
January 4, 2021 Nick Polanin
USDA to Conduct 2020 Local Food Marketing Practices Survey
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will conduct the 2020 Local Food Marketing Practices Survey, beginning in January 2021. First conducted in 2015, this Census of Agriculture special study will look at local and regional food systems and provide new data on how locally grown and sold foods in the United States are marketed. The results will be available in November 2021. [Read more…]
November 24, 2020 Wes Kline
Food Safety Training 2021
With the need to social distance and restrictions on the number of individuals allowed at a meeting we are holding all our food safety trainings online for the spring. Below is the list of trainings which are limited to 20 participants for each unless noted.
Produce Safety Alliance Training
The Produce Safety Alliance Grower Training Course is one way to satisfy the FSMA Produce Safety Rule requirement outlined in § 112.22(c) that requires ‘At least one supervisor or responsible party for your farm must have successfully completed food safety training at least equivalent to that received under the standardized curriculum recognized as adequate by the Food and Drug Administration’. This is the only training recognized by the FDA at this time!
Fruit and vegetables growers and others interested in learning about produce safety, the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule, Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) and co-management of natural resources and food safety should also attend this training.
For the Produce Safety Alliance Training you must follow these requirements. You must have a computer or laptop with audio (microphone) and video (camera) capabilities. Video must be on for the entire course. Before signing up for this training please read the following: (right click on link below to open menu then click open link in new tab or just copy and paste link into your browser) https://producesafetyalliance.cornell.edu/training/zoom/. Without these requirements you will not receive a certificate of completion.
What to Expect at the PSA Grower Training Course?
This is approximately a seven-hour course to cover these seven modules:
- Introduction to Produce Safety
- Worker Health, Hygiene, and Training
- Soil Amendments
- Wildlife, Domesticated Animals, and Land Use
- Agricultural Water (Part I: Production Water; Part II: Postharvest Water)
- Postharvest Handling and Sanitation
- How to Develop a Farm Food Safety Plan
In addition to learning about produce safety best practices, parts of the FSMA Produce Safety Rule requirements are outlined within each module and are included in the grower manual provided. There is time for questions and discussion, so participants are encouraged to share their experiences and produce safety questions.
Benefits of Attending the Course
The course provides a foundation of Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) and co-management information, FSMA Produce Safety Rule requirements, and details on how to develop a farm food safety plan. Individuals who participate in this course are expected to gain a basic understanding of:
- Microorganisms relevant to produce safety and where they may be found on the farm
- How to identify microbial risks, practices that reduce risks, and how to begin implementing produce safety practices on the farm
- Parts of a farm food safety plan and how to begin writing one
- Requirements in the FSMA Produce Safety Rule and how to meet them.
After attending the entire course, participants will be eligible to receive a certificate from the Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO) that verifies they have completed the training course. To receive an AFDO certificate, a participant must be online for the entire training and submit the appropriate paperwork to the trainers at the end of the course.
Course Dates:
January 12 – 13 registration deadline December 31 (there is one slot available for these dates)
February 11 – 12 registration deadline January 28
March 9 – 10 registration deadline February 23
Third Party Audit Training
Each year we hold third party audit training for the USDA Harmonized Audit. This year it will be January 19. The deadline for registration is January 5 on Eventbrite. This one-day training will cover all aspects of the Harmonized Audit and any changes for 2021. NJDA will also review problems areas found during 2020 audits.
Blueberry Food Safety Training
The annual food safety training for blueberry growers will be held March 16. There are no restrictions on the number of participants, but you must register through Eventbrite since the training will be virtual. The deadline to register is March 2. Look in the January and February newsletters for more details.
How to Register for Courses
All registration are being handle through Eventbrite, go to https://rutgersonfarmfoodsafety.eventbrite.com an signup. If you are unable to register online contact Brandi at (856) 451-2800 x 1 or contact Brandi Williams at BRANDIWI@co.cumberland.nj.us. Each course costs $50.00 to cover the certificate and materials.
November 18, 2020 Meredith Melendez
What produce safety concerns keep you up at night?
Work in or around produce safety? We have a new project that wants to know what produce safety concerns keep you up at night. In this anonymous online survey you will be asked to
rank your top five produce safety risk management areas that need improvement. The information collected will be used to guide Extension work nationally and the development of resources to help manage risks and comply with regulations.
This survey should take about ten minutes to complete and there is no direct benefit to you for completing this survey. The first survey question, the informed consent, must be answered yes in order to proceed through the survey. The informed consent will give you more details about the nature of the survey, the handling of any information collected, and contact information should you have questions about this survey. Anyone involved in the produce industry who is at least 18 years of age may take this survey. Please click on the link below to enter the survey. https://go.rutgers.edu/4tuxsrdf
November 2, 2020 Rick VanVranken
Univ California Survey on Uses of Specialty Asian Produce
Ruth Dahlquist-Willard, Ph.D., Small Farms and Specialty Crops Farm Advisor with the University of California Cooperative Extension in Fresno and Tularie Counties is conducting a national survey of growers and consumers of specialty Asian produce.
The purpose is to identify which types of specialty Asian produce are almost always cooked before eating, so that Southeast Asian and other small-scale farmers can receive exemptions from federal food safety regulations for low-risk crops. She would appreciate your help by both taking the survey and also sharing it widely with consumers of these crops, so she can gather data to provide to the FDA on whether they are eaten cooked or raw.
Click here to take the survey and enter to win a $50 gift card
Food safety regulations have exemptions for produce that is usually cooked instead of eaten raw, because the risk to consumers from human pathogens is much lower. Crops like potatoes, pumpkins, or lima beans that are almost always cooked before eating have a much lower risk than leafy greens such as lettuce and spinach that are frequently eaten raw.
The FDA’s current list of “rarely consumed raw” produce does not include many types of produce that are culturally important to diverse communities of consumers across the US, because the FDA does not have data on how they are eaten. Because these crops are not on the list, small-scale farmers growing specialty produce cannot receive the exemptions that mainstream crops do, even if their crops are never eaten raw.
We now have an opportunity to submit data to the FDA on additional crops that usually are cooked, pickled, or fermented to kill any disease organisms before eating. Data will be shared with the FDA to recommend additional culturally important crops to be added to the “rarely consumed raw” list, so that these crops can receive the same exemptions as mainstream “rarely consumed raw” crops under the federal Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).
Please help us contribute to making federal food safety regulations more inclusive of diverse communities of farmers and consumers. Click here or on the link above to take the 15-minute survey, and please share widely with any individuals or organizations who might be interested.
As a thank you for completing the survey, respondents can enter a drawing to receive one of ten $50 gift cards.
Thank you for helping to support. This effort will help diversified farmers here in NJ as well!
If you have questions about the survey, you may contact Dr. Dahlquist-Willard at:
Ruth Dahlquist-Willard, Ph.D.
Small Farms and Specialty Crops Farm Advisor
University of California Cooperative Extension, Fresno and Tulare Counties
Voicemail: 559-241-7513 (working remotely)
