Business produce manufacturing workshop slated for Jonesboro

For industrial produce growers, retaining produce freed from microbial contamination and lowering foodborne sickness is vital to the well being and success of their enterprise. To assist these efforts, the College of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture will provide a one-day, in-person produce security coaching workshop for fruit and vegetable growers.

The all-day coaching session will happen on March 16 on the Craighead County Extension Workplace in Jonesboro.

Gaby Sanders, extension meals security program affiliate for the Division of Agriculture, stated the coaching will present info on employee well being, hygiene and coaching, soil amendments, wildlife, domesticated animals and land use, agricultural water and postharvest dealing with and sanitation. The coaching may also assist members develop a farm meals security plan.

“With the elevated want for contemporary produce in our communities, it’s extra vital now than ever that good agricultural practices are carried out at each stage of planting, rising and harvesting,” Sanders stated.

Sanders stated participant engagement and attendance might be monitored on the coaching. Individuals are solely eligible for a PSA/AFDO certificates in fact completion if they’re “current and engaged for all modules of the course.”

Amanda Philyaw Perez, extension affiliate professor of meals programs and meals security specialist, stated the coaching can “equip producers of all sizes, whether or not for direct to shopper or wholesale markets, with vital info to make sure produce is grown safely to scale back the dangers of foodborne sickness and farm legal responsibility.”