Join us at the Rutgers Snyder Research Farm to discuss the cleaning and sanitizing of produce grading equipment.
October 10, 2019 from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
This event is free but please register through Eventbrite or call Brandi at 856-451-2800
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
September 25, 2019 Meredith Melendez
Twilight Meeting 10/10: Cleaning and Sanitizing Grading Equipment
August 22, 2019 Michael Westendorf
African Swine Fever
African Swine Fever (ASF) no longer dominates the headlines and Chicago traders seem to have tired of speculation as to when supply shortages will result in higher prices. And yet the disease continues to march through China and Southeast Asia, leaving behind an ever-expanding supply hole. Here’s where things stand at this point:
– The number of new cases of ASF reported in China has been minimal, with no cases reported last week and only a handful of cases reported in the last month. China is a member of OIE, the world organization for animal health, and ASF is a reportable disease. In other words, China is obligated to report any and all new cases of ASF when they occur. This is so other countries understand the scope of the disease and take measures to protect themselves. China announced earlier in the summer that they have put in place a very rigorous testing regime for ASF but it appears that the number of ASF cases in the country has declined following the implementation of this new system. But even as no new cases have been reported, Chinese authorities indicated that the Chinese hog breeding herd in July declined by a staggering 8.9% from the previous month. To reiterate, the breeding herd which in June we calculate at around 30.5 million head declined by some 2.7 million head. How did those sows disappear with just a handful of ASF cases reported and only hundreds of pigs destroyed in official reports?
– The Chinese total hog inventory in July declined by 9.4% and since the start of the year the total hog inventory has declined by about 100 million head. In July alone the inventory contracted by an estimated 31 million hogs, which is almost half of the overall inventory of hogs we have in the US. Please keep in mind that Chinese officials do not report actual numbers. Rather, they do a survey of various stations and report the m/m change. To come up with actual numbers we took the latest official reported statistics and calculated the change from that point on. For a while, the decline in inventory numbers did not appear to have much of an impact on prices. Indeed, the short-term effect of any liquidation is to depress prices. But there has been a significant shift in China pork price action. Last week the reference hog price in China was pegged at 20.9 yuan per kg. In USD this comes to $2.95/kg ($1.34/lb. live or $1.80/dressed). We think the average price for this week, based on daily numbers, will be around 23.6 yuan/kg. Always be careful when comparing US hog prices to prices in a different country, however. It is not apples to apples since hog prices in China are for a product that will be slaughtered and sold fresh in traditional markets that are highly valued. US product will be frozen, shipped a long distance and likely go into processing or be sold in supermarkets with a markup. Hog prices in China have jumped 30% since the end of July and they are currently 74% higher than year ago, surpassing the record price levels we saw back in 2016. Pork prices at retail have also started to escalate, a signal of developing pork supply shortages in the market.
– ASF is not an issue in China alone. Reports from Vietnam underscore the degree of devastation in that country. Different from China, Vietnam continues to report scores of new cases of ASF and according to FAO, some 4 million pigs have been culled out of a total inventory of about 26 million at the start of the year. Cases of ASF have also been reported in Cambodia, Myanmar and Lao. There have also been reports of increased mortality in pigs in the Philippines although no official confirmation of ASF yet. A large number of backyard farms and limited bio-security means that once the disease enters an area it is almost impossible to contain it.
– The disease also continues to impact countries in Eastern Europe, with Bulgaria and Serbia the latest countries to report new cases of ASF. Bottom line: Despite some ASF reporting fatigue, the disease is far from contained and will remain a market factor going forward.
This article is taken from the Daily Livestock Report, for a more complete analysis please see:
August 15, 2019 Meredith Melendez
FSMA Produce Safety Rule Training 9/11/19 Ewing
Need a food safety education certificate for the FSMA Produce Safety Rule or for a buyer required third party audit? Join us!
September 11, 2019
Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Mercer County
1440 Parkside Avenue, Ewing, NJ 08638
9:00 – 4:00, lunch included
$50 covers the training, materials, certificate and lunch
July 25, 2019 Meredith Melendez
On-Farm Food Safety Certificate Training 9/11/19
Need a food safety training certificate for a third party audit or the FSMA Produce Safety Rule? Join us on September 11th at Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Mercer County in Ewing, NJ. For more details visit our online registration page.
May 3, 2019 Wes Kline and Meredith Melendez
Are you required to let the public bring their animals onto your retail farm?
An increasing number of customers are bringing animals with them when they visit farm markets, pick your own farms, or agritainment activities. Animals can pose a food safety risk to produce, introduce disease to farm animals, frighten or upset farm animals. Outside animals can also pose a risk to employees and other market customers and farm visitors. Farmers need to consider these occurrences when keeping in compliance with regulations and buyer requirements specific to food safety and biosecurity to protect their farm animals. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) governs what you are legally allowed to do in regards to customers with service animals visiting your market or on your farm. This fact sheet will cover the specifics of the ADA, animals that are not protected by the ADA regulations, and how to reduce potential risk on your farm from outside animals. States often have regulations that go beyond the federal ADA regulation, information represented in this fact sheet is specific to New Jersey. If you farm in another state please consult the state by state guide linked at the end of this article.
What do the ADA regulations cover?
While many types of animals can provide comfort and emotional support to their owners, only service animals are protected by the ADA, specifically Title II and III. The ADA regulations define “service animal” as dogs, and less commonly miniature ponies, that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities such as guiding a blind person, alerting people who are deaf, assisting a person in a wheelchair, alerting and protecting a person who is having a seizure, reminding a person with mental illness to take prescribed medications, calming a person with Post [Read more…]
February 6, 2019 Rick VanVranken
Romaine: What happened and where do we go from here?
The Rutgers Cooperative Extension Food Safety Team invites you to attend a Town Hall Meeting to learn the roles of the Food and Drug Administration, New Jersey Department of Agriculture and the New Jersey Department of Health in the 2018 Romaine foodborne illness outbreaks and what the plans are for the future.
The meeting is scheduled for Friday, February 15, 2019 from 9:00 am to noon at the Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Cumberland County, 291 Morton Ave. in Millville, NJ 08332.
Douglas H. Fisher, NJ Secretary of Agriculture; Tom Beaver, Director of NJDA Division of Marketing and Development; Chris Kleinguenther, Bureau Chief of NJDA Division of Marketing and Development; and Wesley Kline, Rutgers Cooperative Extension will discuss the steps that were taken for past outbreaks and what can be done for future outbreaks.
This event is free, and lunch will be served. Please RSVP to Charlotte at Charlotte.Muetter@ag.nj.gov or 856-839-3377 on or before February 13 if you are planning to attend.
