Progress 07/01/24 to 06/30/25

Outputs
Target Audience:Survey results show audience participation is primarily comprised of farmers who are new to produce risk analysis and/or new and beginning produce growers. The population includes produce growers which are National Organic Program (NOP) certified organic, follow the National Organic Programguidelines without certification, and who use conventional production practices. These resultsfurther support observations that the bulk of the program audience are direct to consumer sales while both wholesale and direct to consumer growers also consistently participate in our educational training. Changes/Problems:We had anticipated better follow-through from participants from the in-person training to the farm visits and farm food safety plan writing assistance. We've had a handful of participants take advantage of each of these offerings, but many have only participated in or the other. We will spend this final year providing one-on-one outreach to those who have gone through our trainings so that we can hopefully provide three types of outreach to more of the participants. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?12/5/24 FSMA Produce Safety Rule in-person certificate training was held at the centrally loaced Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Mercer County office. Educational efforts weretargeted to beginning farmers or farmers who were new to produce safety risk reduction practices. Twenty-two participants attended the training. 1/8/25 FSMA Produce Safety Rule Ag Water Update webinar offered to updated producers on changes to the FSMA PSR and upcoming inspection dialog regarding irrigation and other pre-harvest water use. This webinar was promoted to our beginning farmer audience as many hope to grow their farms to the point of needing to comply with the FSMA PSR. Fourteen participants. 3/26/25 Produce Safety for New and Beginning Farmers, a full-day in-person workshop. The target audience was produce safety newcomers on small acreage or leased land who are in the process of deveoping their farm business plans. This workshop included presentation of why produce safety should be an important part of their business plan, a build your own handwashing station activity, postharvest sanitation basics hands-on activity, and a wildlife risk assessment conducted in a production field. Twenty-seven participants attended. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?A third hands-on workshop will be conducted in the fall of 2025 focusing on health and hygiene, postharvest sanitaiton, and wildlife management. Participants will be asked to identify 3 and 6 month goals and be reminded of these goals via email at the appropriate time. One-on-one farm visits will continue as a follow up to participation in any of our programming, previous participants will be reminded of this free, confidential, opportunity to assess their practices for produce safety. Farm food safetyplanning sessions will be offered to all program participants either on-farm or via Zoom. These food safety plan sessions will be tailored to the specific questions that the farmer has and will assist in identifying components needed for their plan, appropriate practices for inclusion, and connecting them to additional resources. A final program participant survey will be distributed to gather information on adoption of practices shared during the training sessions.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The team continued to provide in-person and online outreach and technical assistance to program participants. An additional 35 one-on-one farm visits were made at 30 farms. These visits focused on changes the grower can make to reduce risk on their farms. At least 10of these farm owners and/or their staff attended a produce safety training during this grant year. At least 10 of these farm visit participants attended the full-day hands-on food safety training we offered in 2025. The full-day hands-on training had 27 participants, at the conclusion of the training they were asked to identify goals they wished to achieve in three months and in six months. Eleven participants completed the task, with three-month goals seeming to be easier for them to identify than six-month goals. Three-month goals included learning more about produce safety, improving hand washing facilities, wildlife awareness, creating a SOP for washing produce, creating a training manual for employees, and increasing the frequency of cleaning and sanitizing tools and equipment. Six-month goals included implementing what they learned in the class, GAP certification, creating written documents relating to food safety, and training staff. These participants will be reminded of their three-month goals in late June and of their six-month goals in September. The full-day hands-on workshop participants were also asked to rate their knowledge on the topics to be covered both at the beginning of the class and at the end of the class. Participants ranked their knowledge from 1 (least) to 5 (highest). Their knowledge gain rose for all topics. Knowledge point gains are as follows: proper treatment of manures used as soil amendments (2.42 point gain), evaluating produce safety risks posed by wildlife in the field (2.36), 4-step cleaning and sanitation process (2.36), how to determine water quality (2.21), the difference between cleaning and sanitizing surfaces (0.93), and why produce safety is important (0.64). One webinar was offered during this grant year, focusing an update on the FSMA PSR ag water requirements. A total of 14 participants attended the live webinar and the recorded webinar has had 123 views on YouTube.

Publications

Progress 07/01/23 to 06/30/24

Outputs
Target Audience:Survey results show audience participation is primarily comprised of farmers who are new to produce risk analysis and/or new and beginning produce growers. The population includes produce growers which are National Organic Program (NOP) certified organic, follow NOP guidelines without certification, and who use conventional production practices. These results further support observations that the bulk of the program audience are direct to consumer sales while both wholesale and direct to consumer growers also consistently participate in our educational training. Changes/Problems:Collecting robust data from program participants after the fact has proven difficult. We will be using more in-person surveys to assess the usefulness of program information. We have also foundthat sincethis audience tends to not be required to comply with the FSMA PSR or buyer required audits produce safety topics are competeing withother priorities while starting up their business. The team has realized that extra time is needed to work with this audience and for them to make decisions regarding their business. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Program staff provided additional educational enrichment and training to the target population. These engagements included speaking to new and beginning farmers at county Extension meetings, industry conventions, and drop-in office visit meetings with growers. For example, senior team members conducted a short breakout session-style workshop titled "Identifying Hazards and Prioritizing Risks" for 19 growers at the New Jersey Vegetable Growers' Association Convention (VGA2024) in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Unexpected results of this work included team members experiencing first-generation farmers extemporaneously expressing the need for produce safety training resources and connecting with farmers at very small vegetable operations who were new to assessing on-farm risks from foodborne human pathogens. These observations qualify the team's argument that small vegetable farms need produce technical resources, indicates the population is aware of the need and its importance, and demonstrates the outreach strategy employed is adequate in reaching at least a segment of the target population. Short in-person workshops: 1. "Critical Components of Your Farm Safety Plan," New Jersey Vegetable Growers' Association Convention (VGA2024), Atlantic City, New Jersey. 7-Feb-2024 (19 attendees) 2. "Identifying Hazards and Prioritizing Risks," New Jersey Vegetable Growers' Association Convention (VGA2024), Atlantic City, New Jersey. 7-Feb-2024 (19 attendees) 3. "Where is the risk?" New Jersey Vegetable Growers' Association Convention (VGA2024), Atlantic City, New Jersey. 7-Feb-2024 (19 attendees) 4. "FSMA PSR Introduction" RU Ready to Farm Field Day Cream Ridge, New Jersey 18-May-2024 38 attendees How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Resources and information have been shared during traditional grower meetings in the state and via: Project email contact list (participants sign up themselves) Rutgers Plant and Pest Advisory (1200+ producers) NJ CRAFT email contact list (300+ producers) NOFA NJ newsletter (600+ members) Produce Safety Alliance contact list Michigan State University Produce Safety Program contact Advertisement in the Edible Jersey monthly magazine publication Advertisement in the Jersey Farmer monthly newspaper Press Release to Morning Ag Clips What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? The team will conduct a second full-day beginning farmer training with some amendments to the program. The agenda will include the worker training development breakout, the build-your-own handwashing station session, and the water presentation will be geared to those who have never tested their irrigation water before. This training will be followed up by a plan writing workshop. One on one farm visits to provide technical assistance will continue. Additional hot-topic webinars will be provided on the topic of water testing and water system inspections. In-person surveys will be used to gather impact information since we have had lower than anticipated survey responses online. The project will be promoted at grower events throughout the state including a summer beginning farmer workshop and two Northeast Organic Farming Association of New Jersey on-farm events.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The team continued on with its educational programming and outreach to growers about produce safety. The following deliverables were accomplished: 1. A full-day risk management workshop was attended by 14 new and beginning farmers. Participants were asked to indicate their knowledge of 6 produce safety topics related to the FSMA PSR at the beginning and end of class. The pre-class average was 1.82 and the post-class average was 4.12 representing a 2.3-point increase on a 1-5 point scale. Of this population, four participants completed an anonymous online follow-up survey. Survey responses indicated: Participants had been farming for less than 6 years on average. 75% of respondents had already implemented changes on their farm since the workshop. Respondents indicated that changes made included improving their worker training plan, increased hand washing, changes to how they are washing produce, adding visitor signage at the farm, and making it clear what bins are appropriate for use with produce and what ones are not. 100% of respondents have been using the handwashing station they built during the class and expect to use it during the 2024 growing season. 100% of respondents indicated that the wildlife assessment tool provided to them has had a positive impact on their ability to identify and managed food safety risks from wildlife on their farm. 50% of participants have used the worker training development tool provided to them during the workshop. 100% of the participants expect to use the worker training development tool in the future. Participants in the full day workshop were also asked to identify three- and six-month goals to make food safety improvements at their farm. All 14 participants completed the goal setting task and provided their responses and contact information to the project PI. Emails were sent to the participants 3 and 6 months after the workshop to remind them of these goals. 2. Hot topic webinars were conducted focusing on the topics of: 1. Managing Food Safety Risks in Hydroponic Operations 27-Aug-23 (41 attended, 123 YouTube views) 2. Using Sanitizers in a Postharvest Setting: Selecting a Sanitizer and Understanding its Label (13 attended, 130 YouTube views) 3. Retraining and Upskilling Workers on Produce Safety Best Practices (13 attended, 80 YouTube views) Follow-up program satisfaction surveys were disseminated to attendees of hot topic webinars. Only individuals who live-attended a webinar were emailed the survey link directly to help ensure fidelity of results. Nineteen attendees responded to this survey. Participants were asked to rank their knowledge gain from watching the webinar, on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being lowest level of knowledge gained and 5 being the highest) that their knowledge gain was 4.7 overall. 50% of the growers who participated indicated that they would make risk reduction improvements to their operation based on what they learned in the webinar. The key areas for improvement were worker training, crop production practices, harvesting practices, and postharvest handling. 100% of the technical assistance providers that attended reported that this presentation would help them with their work and 100% of the inspectors who participated said that they would use the information when conducting an inspection or audit. 3. Three resources were developed to assist farmers with produce safety decision making: 1. Wildlife Risk Assessment for vegetable fields 2. Worker training program development decision tool, peer reviewed and soon to be published by Rutgers University. 3. A customizable On-Farm Produce Safety Plan. 4. 28 farm food safety one-on-one walkthroughs have been provided on 25 farms. 5. An online food safety plan writing workshop was held a month after the risk management workshop and was attended by 10 growers. Seven attendees at the food safety plan writing workshop also attended the food safety workshop. Of these 10 attendees, four completed our follow-up survey. All four respondents indicated that they have been farming for less than ten years. 100% of respondents indicated that they had started writing their food safety plan because of the training. 75% of respondents have continued to work on writing their food safety plan since the training. On average the participants have completed about 50% of their food safety plans. 100% are using the template provided to them during the training.

Publications

Progress 07/01/22 to 06/30/23

Outputs
Target Audience:Audience participation so far has included new and beginning produce growers and produce growers new to risk analysis. The audience represented produce growers use are certified organic, use organic methods, and who use conventional production practices. While both wholesale and direct to consumer growers were represented, the bulk of the audience thus far has been direct to consumer sales. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Hot topics provided in person and recorded and available on the project website: Using Sanitizers in a Postharvest Setting: Selecting a Sanitizer and Understanding its Label (13 attended, 105YouTube views) Retraining and Upskilling Workers on Produce Safety Best Practices (13 attended, 73YouTube videos) Hot topic provided as a recording on the project website: On-Farm Food Safety Culture (11YouTube views) How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Resources and information have been shared via: Project email contact list (participants sign up themselves) Rutgers Plant and Pest Advisory (1200+ producers) NJ CRAFT email contact list (300+ producers) NOFA NJ newsletter (600+ members) Produce Safety Alliance contact list Michigan State University Produce Safety Program contact list Advertisement in the Edible Jersey monthly magazine publication Advertisement in the Jersey Farmer monthly newspaper What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Finalize planning for full day risk management workshop and the plan writing workshop. Offer these programming opportunities Follow-up with program participants about their goal setting and progress in meeting these goals. Continue to conduct literature searches on worker training best practices, and attend relevant programming. Provide farm walk throughs when requested.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Two 1-hour hot topic webinars were presented to a live audience and recorded and posted on our From the Ground Up website via our Rutgers NJAES YouTube produce safety playlist. Planning for the one-day beginning farmer focused risk reduction program is underway, program will take place in the fall of 2023. Planning for the food safety plan writing workshop is underway, program will take place in the fall of 2023. Planning for two additional hot-topic webinars is underway. Farm produce safety walk throughs are provided when requested - 2 farm visits completed

Publications