The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is teaming up with Virginia Cooperative Extension to bring the On-Farm Readiness Review program to Virginia stakeholders who are covered under the Food Safety Modernization Act’s Produce Safety Rule.
- This is a voluntary, free, and confidential review to align your produce operation with the Produce Safety Rule.
- The review will assess your readiness for a Produce Safety Rule inspection (which will be performed by VDACS1).
- If you are a grower, packer or holder of produce covered under the regulation2 and have completed the Produce Safety Alliance Grower Training class, we can assist you with an On-Farm Readiness Review.
- A VDACS Produce Safety Specialist and VCE Specialist/Agent will meet with your farm manager to walk through your operation. This review generally takes 11⁄2 to 21⁄2 hours of your time.
- We will also provide you with an On-Farm Readiness Review Resource Manual to reference as you prepare for the implementation of the FSMA Produce Safety Rule.
If you would like to sign-up for this free and confidential On-Farm Readiness Review program, please contact our VDACS office at 804-786-4003. Your local Produce Safety Specialist will call you to set up an appointment.
1 Inspections for large farms (greater than $500,000 in annual produce sales for 3-year avg.) begin spring 2019. 2 Go to VaProduceSafety.com and click on the Coverage and Exemptions Flow Chart to see if you are covered.
Funding for this statement, publication, press release, etc. was made possible, in part, by the Food and Drug Administration through grant PAR-16-137. The views expressed in written materials or publications and by speakers and moderators do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the Department of Health and Human Services; nor does any mention of trade names, commercial practices, or organization imply endorsement by the United States Government.
