The passage of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) brought with it some sweeping changes and requirements for nearly every facility that grows, processes, transports or distribute foods. And produce growers — field or greenhouse — are no exception. In fact, it may be the produce growers who have faced the greatest adjustment, since the rule marked the first time that science-based minimum standards were established for this segment of the food industry.

As specifically stated in the Summary of FSMA’s Produce Safety Rule: “The rule sets forth procedures, processes, and practices that minimize the risk of serious adverse health consequences or death, including those reasonably necessary to prevent the introduction of known or reasonably foreseeable biological hazards into or onto produce and to provide reasonable assurances that the produce is not adulterated on account of such hazards.” But because no two facilities are identical — growing the exact same produce under the exact same conditions — individual operations need to consider their circumstances to address relevant hazards and assess the risk.

Thus, FDA goes on to say in the rule that “one way to do this is through the voluntary use of farm-specific operational assessments and food safety plans.” These assessments, it says, “can help farms identify and take measures that may be prudent for their individual operations to prevent the introduction of known or reasonably foreseeable hazards, including any non-biological hazards.”

As a foundational element of FSMA’s Preventive Controls rule, the food safety plan is essentially the written documentation of a food facility’s identification of hazards and development of preventive controls based on the assessment of their risk. So while produce growers need not go to the extent of developing a full food safety plan with all its requirements and intricacies, the application of its hazard identification and risk analysis may be — to apply the words of FDA — “prudent.”

Chart courtesy of FDA

So how does one go about applying this prudence? A good start would be to follow the example of FDA itself, which used a four-step process to inform the development of the standards of the Produce Safety Rule in its qualitative risk assessment on produce contamination. The process focuses on the application of a hazard analysis, which, as used by FDA, is defined as “the process of collecting and evaluating information on hazards and the conditions leading to their presence to determine which hazards are significant for food safety and therefore should be addressed.”

Hazard identification and risk analysis. While FDA’s process included hazard identification, hazard characterization, exposure assessment and risk characterization, produce growers can use a somewhat simpler version combing two of these and adding the management step, as follows:

1. Identify the hazard. Identify any potential biological, chemical and physical hazards, such as those directly related to each specific produce item and process, any biological amendments used and hazards that could be introduced from the environment are ascertained. These should include any “known or reasonably foreseeable hazards” capable of causing adverse health effects and can be determined through a brainstorming session, facility historical data, as well as research into relevant sources (scientific literature, outbreak data, government or industry food safety guidance documents, historical data for similar products, etc.). Some additional considerations should include:
• Intended use and distribution (e.g. direct to retail, or will it undergo further processing?)
• Past experience with the produce, such as product testing results and consumer complaints
• Pathogens known to be associated with specific produce or biological amendments used
• The condition, function and design of the greenhouse that could cause contamination
• Processing activities and equipment used to make the product (e.g., ease of cleaning, potential for damage, cross contamination of allergens, etc.)
• Sanitary conditions of the greenhouse and employee hygiene
2. Characterize the hazard and assess exposure. The hazard characterization is essentially a dose-response assessment. That is, it is the probability of a microbiological hazard occurring to the level (dose) that it could cause an adverse health effect (response). It provides a qualitative description of the adverse effects of hazards that may result from consumption of contaminated produce. Similarly, exposure is the level of contamination in the food related to the quantity of the food consumed. A variety of factors should be considered in evaluating exposure, such as the likelihood of produce contamination from water, soil amendments, animals, workers, equipment and buildings. For example, the table on page 30 shows FDA’s evaluation of the relative likelihood of produce becoming contaminated with pathogens of public health concern from soil amendments.
3. Manage the risk. With the hazards identified, assessed and prioritized, produce growers can more efficiently and effectively manage the associated risk. It is important to remember, though, that risk management is not a one-time activity. Rather, potential hazards should be regularly re-assessed and the management plan re-worked and updated as needed for control.

The Produce Safety and Prevent Controls rules of FSMA are separate and distinct, but there are aspects that overlap as recommendations, if not requirements. As FDA states, in full, “Although we are not requiring that covered farms conduct operational assessments or develop food safety plans, we continue to believe that such assessment can help farms identify and take measures that may be prudent for their individual operations to prevent the introduction of known or reasonably foreseeable hazards.”

Lisa is the editor of Quality Assurance & Food Safety (QA) magazine. llupo@gie.net

Chart: Joachim Nachmansohn

Fertilizers are the most central crop input in a greenhouse, with the possible exception of water in irrigated systems. Fertilizers also comprise the biggest portion of the input costs. Yet, of all inputs, they’re often the one that has the biggest losses.

It’s therefore very important to have a correct understanding of fertilizers and the soil-water-plant-system, and a relevant approach to fertilizer management. This can be achieved by focusing on these three aspects: (1) how to think about fertilizers, (2) which to use and (3) how to execute your fertilization plan.

The principles I’m about to explain are universal for all plant production systems, such as soil-based, soilless or hydroponic systems. However, as the application of the principles have some differences between the systems, I will give examples as I explain.

How to think

Before we do anything, we need to know what we should do, and preferably why. This can be divided up in three sub-categories: what the plant needs, how much it needs and how to make it available to the crop.

What are the plants’ needs?

First of all, all plants need all essential plant nutrients. Always. There seem to be confusion regarding this among some producers and fertilizer suppliers. And the demand for the nutrients come in certain ratios, which are often quite similar for horticultural crops like vegetables and fruit (see table).

How big is the need?

The main difference in fertilizer demand between crops is based on their capacity to assimilate sunlight, i.e. the growth rate. Fast-growing crops need more fertilizers than slow-growing ones. Note that it’s not the size of the plant that matters but the capacity to form new plant tissue. The crop takes up the nutrients from the soil (or the soilless environment) in the form of a flow over time. The rate of this flow must at least be enough to sustain the growth rate and development of the crop. Otherwise, we will see inhibited growth or even deficiency symptoms.

Plant availability of the nutrients?

The plant nutrients are only available to the plant when they’re dissolved in the water accessible in the root zone, regardless of if the system is soil-based, soilless or hydroponic culture. So plant availability is determined by the supply of soluble fertilizers, and in soil-based systems, by the rate by which the microbes decompose the organic material, which in turn frees up nutrients that were locked up in the soil, in a process call mineralization. There must always be enough nutrients dissolved in the soil or growing media water to sustain a sufficient uptake rate by the plant.

Another important parameter for nutrient availability is pH. From the perspective of plant nutrition, an optimal soil pH is around 5.5. It’s preferable to try to enable a pH between 5.0-6.0 in the root zone. Outside of that range, some nutrients become unavailable to the crop. Even though some plants are adapted to soils with higher pH, and are able to acquire required nutrients, the optimal range generally remains the same in all systems.

Chart: Joachim Nachmansohn

What fertilizer products should we use?

What kind of product to use is a matter of what kind of production system is in mind, but in the thought process we should start with a complete fertilizer product that supplies all the essential nutrients. Then we scale back the need to supply some of these nutrients depending on what, and how much, the soil or the system can supply them. The irrigation water also contains naturally occurring nutrients that should be accounted for.

This does not imply that you must necessarily fertilize with all nutrients. You must simply ensure that there is access to all of them in the production system. If you have a good and fertile soil there is rarely the need to supply all micronutrients, as they can be attained by the crop from the soil. The strongest contrast to this would be a soilless hydroponics system, in which case you really must supply all nutrients via the fertilizers.

Regardless of system, nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium (NPK) fertilization is virtually always necessary in order to attain optimized yield levels. I would even argue that the other macronutrients (magnesium, calcium and sulfur) need to be supplied via the fertilizers, if high productivity is to be maintained. Even in systems where the soil is very fertile, it’s unlikely that it can sustain a sufficient flow of these nutrients that matches the demand, when aiming for high yield levels via different inputs.

For the micronutrients, it’s usually not as much a matter of their presence in the system as it is an accessibility issue, in which the pH is the most important parameter. The best way to manage the pH in the root zone is via the fertilizer. N is supplied to the plant either in the form of ammonium or nitrate. Ammonium lowers the pH in the root zone in conjunction with nutrient uptake. So by using a fertilizer with an ammonium/nitrate-ratio adjusted for your conditions, you assure that the nutrients present in the root zone can be taken up by the plant (see table).

In order to scale back according to the above reasoning, testing of both soil and water is necessary. However, don’t rely too much on the test results. They serve as a very good starting point, but always look at the crop response, as other factors can affect the outcome.

Note that it can often be worthwhile to use a complete fertilizer, even though the soil might have a high fertility level, or even if you are able to make your own mix for soilless and hydroponics culture. Especially a product that provides the micronutrients in chelated forms that will remain accessible to the crop, and that has the above-mentioned ammonium/nitrate-ratio. Then you guarantee the supply of all nutrients, almost regardless of soil conditions or other parameters in soilless systems.

How should we do it?

Once you have decided which products to use, you need to supply them in the best way possible. This means to supply on demand over time. The only way to do this with precision is via high-frequency fertigation. Optimally, nutrients can be supplied at each irrigation, but if that’s not possible the doses need to be adjusted. Depending on limitations in the production system, you can scale back the precision level of the on-demand supply, in which case you need to supply more nutrients in advance. If you need to scale all the way back to one, or only a few fertilizer applications, for the whole season, I would recommend a controlled-release fertilizer that follows the need of the crop.

Joachim works internationally as a fertilizer and soil & water management expert. Through his company Nachmansohn Consulting & Co. he, among other things, works with spreading accurate knowledge and necessary skills on how to improve fertilizer use for increased profitability. His unique specialty is Demand-Driven Fertilization. joachimnachmansohn.com; consulting@joachimnachmansohn.com

In this issue, we’re once again trading some of the greenhouse photos for headshots as we honor seven people who are moving the produce industry forward, whether it’s promoting fruits and veggies on Capitol Hill or finding ways to produce better vegetable transplants in vertical farms. In our second annual People in Produce section, we feature an entrepreneur with a taste for unique crops, a scientist attuned to consumers’ sensory needs, a community-focused grower in the Arctic and more. Read about these interesting, successful members of the produce industry.

This month we’re also wrapping up our Urban Agriculture series with a feature on the economics of urban ag by Robin G. Brumfield and Charlotte Singer, both from Rutgers University. If you missed any of the other articles in this series, you can find them here. And if you’d like to improve your marketing, don’t miss Leslie Halleck's column this month about how interacting with your local area can strengthen both your relationships and your brands.

Christopher Currey takes a close look at tomatoes, the most popular crop among our readers, this month in the first part of a two-part Hydroponic Production Primer. He addresses some of the basics such as varieties, production systems, propagation and young plant production, and more.

For fertilizer best practices and the benefits of root zone oxygenation, you won’t want to miss the articles here and here that address these topics. Then, food safety expert Lisa Lupo offers advice on how to align hazards with risk when you’re developing your food safety plan, in order to remain compliant with the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).

Finally, if you attended Cultivate’18 this past July, you may have seen the new vertical farm that popped up at the Greater Columbus Convention Center. Learn more about it and how it came to be in this month’s Consumer Corner.

kvarga@gie.net | (216) 393-0290

Twitter: @Karen_GIE

When it comes to marketing your produce, business and brand, there can be serious benefits to making community connections. Interacting with your local community gives you a chance to build meaningful relationships with your existing and potential customers. It also helps you tap into potential niche sale opportunities with local businesses and restaurants. Community outreach can even be a good recruiting tool. However, community marketing will differ for every operation and location — you’ll first need to get to know your community a little better before you can put those connections to best use.

The first step in planning your approach to community involvement is to review your company mission statement and branding message. There’s no sense in involving yourself with community organizations or activities that don’t align with your brand and products. Look for organizations that share a value system with your company. Authenticity is crucial for meaningful community involvement.

There are some natural co-marketing fits for produce growers in most communities, such as school gardens, food banks and CSAs. School gardens or school education programs that revolve around food can help you tap into your community’s decision makers. Parents, teachers and business owners who also support the school are valuable connections.

School garden projects are often very high-profile in the community. Teaching kids the importance of healthy eating and how their food is grown is generally the central theme of such gardens. Who better to help them out than a produce grower? Most often, these gardens are looking for supplies, plants and volunteer labor to help them keep the gardens growing. Sponsoring such gardens could entail you simply providing cash for overhead needs, or it may come in the form of plant donations or company volunteer work days at the garden. You might even set up some educational programs with them. Be authentic in your support, but make sure to publicize your activities across your marketing channels.

School lunches could also use your help. Farm-to-school activities are becoming much more popular and can include field trips to your operation and getting your produce into local school-served lunches. Building such a one-on-one relationship with a local school is not only valuable for you from a marketing standpoint, but exponentially valuable for the school and the kids.

Photo: Istock

Fresh produce is also often what’s missing at the local food bank. Consider providing a monthly or seasonal donation of requested produce, as a fresh food sponsor.

Do you have a CSA in your community? Consider becoming a produce partner. CSAs, or community supported agriculture, involve members purchasing a seasonal share of produce from a local farmer — or group of local farmers. You could sell produce into the CSA, or you could support it as a sponsor by providing marketing exposure or acting as a produce pick-up location.

Demand for locally grown produce at restaurants remains very high. Chefs want access to a wide variety of local produce, but they also want steady availability and steady prices. This can be a challenge for them. If local chefs don’t know about you, they could be missing out on the best ingredients, and you, a great customer. Sponsoring local food festivals, wine tastings, restaurant weeks and the like is a great way to get your brand in front of restaurant owners and chefs. It’s also a great way to garner brand recognition from diners. Keep in mind, there are a lot of people growing leafy greens in urban environments these days. If you can offer up a wider variety of produce beyond greens, you can grow your value on the restaurant scene.

Sponsoring local charity events can also be a good way to connect with community. But I’ll caution you to be very selective about which charities you choose to support. Make sure there is a relevant connection between them and your brand. Otherwise, your support won’t seem authentic. Plus, once you start supporting charity events, you’ll start getting requests from every organization in town. It’s tempting to feel obligated to help everyone, but you can make a bigger impact by making a clear connection to one organization with a deeper investment.

Finally, it’s no secret we’re all looking for good help in this industry. If recruiting is a pain point for you, then target your local high schools and community colleges. Consider supporting these institutions by offering internships, training programs and even scholarships. Such programs are an excellent way to solidify your place in the community and garner continuous brand exposure. Not only that, but they can create a workforce pipeline for your company.

Don’t treat community marketing like paid advertising. It’s tempting to expect a direct one-to-one ROI from such outreach, but the payoff isn’t always simple to measure. It’s organic, and it takes time and consistency. Long-term brand recognition, relevancy and relationships are what you’re growing.

Leslie (CPH) owns Halleck Horticultural, LLC, through which she provides horticultural consulting, business and marketing strategy, product development and branding, and content creation for green industry companies. lesliehalleck.com