GAP or Good Agriculture Practices is a term used to help consumers know where and how their food is raised. Our tobacco growers also have to follow the same guidelines of GAP and attend trainings. This year there is a GAP audit for our tobacco producers. A few producers approached me with the idea that I provide their safety training to their H2-A workers for the audit. This would give a third party verification to the process.    

University of Kentucky tobacco specialist Dr. Andy Bailey and GAPC representative Amy Roches provided information on where to find worker safety training material. Carlisle and Ballard county producers attended in person with forty-four H2-A workers from their tobacco farms. I used videos in Spanish on tobacco safety and care for the workers. This allowed them to receive the required training and all producers were pleased with the outcome and felt sure it would help their GAP audit.