By Rebekah Hall
U of A System Division of Agriculture
LITTLE ROCK — For commercial growers, it’s critical to keep farms free of microbial contamination and reduce foodborne illness. To support Arkansas growers, the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture will offer four in-person and virtual produce safety trainings in 2024.
SAFE PRODUCE — To support Arkansas growers, the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture will offer four in-person and virtual produce safety trainings in 2024. The trainings will provide important information on worker health and hygiene, soil amendments, developing a farm food safety plan and more. (Division of Agriculture graphic.)
The trainings will provide important information on worker health and hygiene, soil amendments, developing a farm food safety plan and more. Rip Weaver, extension program technician for food systems and food safety for the Division of Agriculture, said the Arkansas Produce Safety Team hopes to reach many growers throughout the state with these trainings.
“The Arkansas Produce Safety Team once again looks forward to offering a number of training opportunities for Arkansas produce growers on the Food Safety Modernization Act’s Produce Safety Rule in 2024,” Weaver said. “We aim to reach as many growers as possible by holding in-person and remote trainings throughout the year.”
Weaver said one of the in-person trainings will be in Monticello to serve the Eastern and Southeast Arkansas produce industry.
“This year, we will revisit Southeast Arkansas to conduct an in-person training at the University of Arkansas at Monticello campus in late April,” Weaver said. “Our next in-person training will be at extension’s Little Rock State Office in September. Two remote trainings in February and May will allow those unable to travel to still participate in these trainings.”
2024 Produce Safety Grower Training schedule:
Feb. 28-29: Remote Zoom training, 8 a.m.-12:30 p.m. each day
April 25: University of Arkansas at Monticello, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
May 29-30: Remote Zoom training, 8 a.m.-12:30 p.m. each day
Sept. 26: Cooperative Extension Service Little Rock State Office, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
Amanda Philyaw Perez, extension associate professor of food systems and food safety specialist for the Division of Agriculture, said the produce safety trainings are important opportunities for growers to brush up on updates and changes.
“Arkansas produce growers who have previously attended the training should consider completing a refresher every three years to learn about recent updates to the law, upcoming requirements for changes in practices, and to learn about updates to Good Agricultural Practices,” Perez said. “Many farms experienced employee turnover for their farm food safety officers and farm supervisors, and these new employees may need to receive a certification.”
Good Agricultural Practices, or GAP, are the basic environmental and operational conditions necessary to safely grow, harvest and pack fruits and vegetables.
The produce safety grower trainings, developed by the Produce Safety Alliance and presented by the Cooperative Extension Service’s Arkansas Produce Safety Team, teach growers about regulatory requirements of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Food Safety Modernization Act, or FSMA, Produce Safety Rule. FSMA is the first federally regulated standard for growing, harvesting, packing and holding fresh produce.
For more information, contact Weaver at rweaver@uada.edu or 501-671-2388.
To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on X and Instagram at @AR_Extension. To learn more about Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: https://aaes.uada.edu. Follow on X at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on X at @AgInArk.