In preparation for official Produce Safety Rule on-farm inspections beginning in 2019, the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) is now offering non-regulatory On-Farm Readiness Reviews (OFRR). These are designed to give farmers a better understanding of what they can expect from a routine produce safety inspection.
During the OFRR, CDFA’s new team of inspectors will visit your farm and walk you through the process of what will happen during a real inspection. These OFRRs will serve two benefits: 1) help farmers learn what inspectors will be asking and looking for when farms are inspected under the Produce Safety Rule; and 2) allow new inspectors to get out onto farms to learn about California produce operations and the food safety practices being implemented.
Contact CDFA’s Produce Safety Program at [email protected] or 916-900-5322 to schedule an OFRR. Please note that the Produce Safety Alliance-approved Grower Training is required in order to schedule a readiness review. It is preferable to schedule an OFRR during harvest periods.
When you reach out to CDFA to schedule an OFRR, be prepared to provide the following information:
- Farm name and location
- A contact person, phone numbers and email addresses
- The produce items grown, harvested, packed or cooled
- Harvest timing
Produce Safety Program officials have conducted several OFRRs so far for crops such as avocados, citrus, walnuts and leafy greens. OFRRs can be scheduled for individual farms, but it is more efficient for a group of farmers to schedule one together. Some commodity groups have worked with CDFA to hold OFRRs for several growers of the same commodity.
To learn more scheduling OFFRs, visit https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/producesafety/educate.html.
