In 2018, Oregon State University Food Safety Extension and Research Faculty1 teamed up with Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) to learn more about the On-Farm Readiness Review (OFRR) initiative, intended to provide assistance to Oregon farms that are covered under Food Safety Modernization Act (FMSA) Produce Safety Rule.
Watch a video about this OFRR program.
Since then, the partnership between OSU and ODA has led to the creation of Oregon Farm Food Safety team. The team has actively been offering Produce Safety Alliance grower trainings and OFRRs to the produce industry in Oregon to bring awareness about the requirements under the FSMA Produce Safety Rule.
To learn more about OFRRs in Oregon, please visit ODA OFRR page.
What is the On-Farm Readiness Review (OFRR)?
An educational tool to help operators assess readiness for alignment with the FSMA Produce Safety Rule, the OFRR looks and feels like a farm tour and is a cornerstone of effective education and outreach on the rule. Additionally, the OFRR is an opportunity for State and Extension staff to gain more exposure to local farm operations that may be unique to the region’s commodities and production practices.
What’s involved?
It’s an educational site visit to help operators understand and align their practices with the FSMA Produce Safety Rule.
- Lasts about two hours.
- OFRRs should be conducted as close to harvest as possible.
- Two to three OSU Extension and ODA staff make up the review team.
- Engagement will be conversational — this is not an audit or inspection; rather it’s an educational visit.
- Reviewers follow a standardized decision tree to determine which parts of the rule apply to the operation. These are the only portions of the rule covered in the review.
- No photos or notes will be taken during the review – the OFRR process is confidential.
How do OFRRs benefit a farm?
OFRRs identify strengths and weaknesses in operations relative to the FSMA Produce Safety Rule requirements.
You’ll have the full attention of folks who know the rule inside and out.
- Get answers to operation-specific questions about the rule.
- See which aspects of the rule apply to your operation.
State and Extension staff may refer you to other resources to help with understanding and aligning with the rule.
Who are the participants?
- Oregon Department of Agriculture, OSU Extension and you!
- OSU Extension and ODA staff — you may already be acquainted with some of these folks.
- You — we ask that someone in a position of responsibility for food safety participate for the entire OFRR.
- Anyone else you would like – neighbor, lawyer, your agronomist, SWCD staff, etc.
See a checklist and fill out this form for scheduling an OFRR for your farm. It includes a link to a decision-tree. The form asks for you to include: acreage of the farm, harvest period(s), produce crops grown, and activities conducted (growing, harvesting, packing/handling, other processing).
Example exercise
The intent of this Add-on Exercise for Produce Safety Alliance Module 6 v1.2– Post-harvest Handling and Sanitation is for Produce Safety Alliance grower course trainees to think through various harvest and post-harvest scenarios and consider implications related to produce safety in the context of real production environments. Each group of trainees (4-6 per group) is given a set of printed photos to work through. They are asked specific questions, and given 15–20 minutes to work in their groups. Following group discussions, trainers go through the slide deck and ask participants to share what they discussed in their groups about each scenario.
- 1Extension and research food safety personnel from OSU (Jovana Kovacevic, Joy Waite-Cusic, Sara Runkel [former], Stuart Reitz, Luisa Santamaria) participated in OFRR training from May 15 to 17, 2018 along with food safety extension, FDA and state government representatives from Alaska, California, Indiana, Montana, and Washington.
