Author: Paul Vijayakumar
Planning Unit: Animal and Food Sciences
Major Program: Local Food Systems
Outcome: Long-Term Outcome
The OFRR (On farm readiness review) is a voluntary assessment used to familiarize farmers with FMA-PSR (Food safety modernization act produce safety rule) requirements and highlight areas where their current practices may need attention. The goal is to provide individual farms with OFRR created tools that can help to assess their preparedness for implementation of a new federal rule. The PSR became effective on January 26, 2016. The initial compliance dates were/are January 26, 2018 for large farms;January 28, 2019 for small farms; and January 27, 2020 for very small farms. FDA recognized that the PSR is a new regulation, and that each farmer has a different level of familiarity and preparedness for the PSR. The OFRR provides an opportunity for farmers, at any level of preparedness, to get individual feedback on their readiness for compliance with the PSR before they receive their first inspection. As a prerequisite for OFRR, farmers should complete the PSA Grower Training, which provides a foundation in produce safety, the PSR, and Good Agricultural Practices. Course attendance will enable a productive discussion about on-farm observations during the OFRR. A team comprised of Dr. Paul Priyesh Vijayakumar, the local Cooperative Extension Agent, a representative from KDA, and two FDA Produce Safety Network personnel conduct the voluntary, confidential review. The role of the OFFR teams is to educate and help to facilitate voluntary compliance with the requirements of the new rule. On July 17, 2018 an educational demonstration of the OFRR was rolled-out for Kentucky. This event provided an overview of the content of an actual OFRR utilizing UK Horticultural Research Farm as a backdrop. This outreach program was initiated in KY to promote coordination and education between farms, regulators and educators. In the morning session, Extension agents and state personnel had the opportunity to see first-hand the process, ask questions about compliance with the PSR, and were provided information to assist them in promoting the program to growers. The afternoon session was targeted to growers and supporting associations to allow observation of an OFRR in a neutral setting, ask questions, and encourage farms to sign up. Twenty-two people including Extension agents, people from different farms and agencies in and around Lexington participated in the demonstrations on July 17, 2018. Fifteen Amish and Mennonite growers participated in the demonstration conducted at the Lincoln County Produce Auction on October 17, 2018. Following the OFFR demonstrations in July 18, OFRRs were conducted in 10 different farms in Kentucky. Growers benefited from learning about the gaps in their farms, and how to fix the gaps to be in compliant with the new federal FSMA-PSR.
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