PRODUCE SAFETY PROGRAM

The Kentucky Department of Agriculture (KDA) helps Kentucky produce growers comply with the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011 (FSMA) and its Produce Safety Rule. The KDA's Produce Safety team was formed in 2019 and is federally funded to implement the Produce Safety Rule.

FOOD SAFETY MODERNIZATION ACT OF 2011

The Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011 aims to prevent food contamination before it happens rather than responding after an outbreak of foodborne illness has occurred. 

The Produce Safety Rule is the first set of federal regulatory standards for growing, packing, harvesting, and holding activities of fruits and vegetables. The Rule focuses on:

• Agriculture water
• Biological soil amendments
• Domesticated and wild animals
• Worker training and health and hygiene
• Equipment, tools, and buildings
• Sprouts

The KDA is responsible for the implementation of the Produce Safety Rule in Kentucky.

WHO IS COVERED, AND WHO IS EXEMPT?

The FSMA Produce Safety Rule applies to any farm that annually grosses more than $25,000 in sales of produce, averaged across a rolling three-year period and adjusted for inflation (with 2011 as the baseline year).

The Produce Safety Rule does NOT apply to:

• Produce that is not a raw agricultural product (such as produce that has been processed), including commercially processed produce and commodities that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has identified as rarely consumed raw
• Produce that is used only for personal or on-farm consumption
• Food grains.

A farm may be eligible for a qualified exemption if it meets two requirements:

• The farm must have food sales averaging less than $500,000 per year during the previous three years; and
• The farm’s sales to qualified end-users must exceed sales to all others combined during the previous three years. A qualified end-user is either the consumer of the food or a restaurant or retail food establishment in the same state as the farm or not more than 275 miles away.

The first step in determining whether or not your farm is covered is to complete the online Produce Farm Inventory Survey.

• Completion of the Produce Farm Inventory Survey is a requirement of Kentucky’s Produce Safety Regulation (302 KAR 60:010). 
• This requirement pertains to all covered farms, and farms eligible for exemption. 
• If you have not already submitted this information to the KDA Produce Safety Program, please take a moment to do so while you are on this page.

• To see if your farm is covered by the Rule, refer to the Standards for Produce Safety flow chart by visiting this link here.

For more information about the Produce Safety Rule, click here.

WHEN MUST MY FARM BE IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE PRODUCE SAFETY RULE?

Deadlines for compliance are based on the size of each operation and divided by sprouts, produce, and water. For a full list of compliance dates, click here.

WHAT TRAINING AND RESOURCES ARE AVAILABLE?

The FDA Produce Safety Rule requires that every farm have at least one person attend training provided by the Produce Safety Alliance (PSA). Additionally, new KDA Rules and regulations require this training for every covered Kentucky produce farm above 25,000 dollars in annual sales under the Produce Safety Rule.

WHEN WILL THE NEXT PSA TRAINING TAKE PLACE?

KDA in partnership with the University of Kentucky provides PSA grower trainings across the state.

The next PSA Grower Training will not take place until September 2024. This course is required for all Kentucky fruit and vegetable growers with over $25,000 in average annual produce sales. For more information on the PSA Grower Training or to register for upcoming courses, contact the University of Kentucky Food Systems Innovation Center at (859) 257-1546 or click here: https://fsic.ca.uky.edu/.

HOW TO REQUEST AN ON FARM READINESS REVIEW (OFRR) THROUGH KDA?

The KDA conducts voluntary On-Farm Readiness Reviews (OFRR) upon request. During an OFRR, KDA staff will come to a farm; assess the farm’s produce production, harvest, and handling operations; and make recommendations to help the farm comply with the Produce Safety Rule. You are not required to have taken the PSA training before undergoing an OFRR, but it is highly recommended.

To contact KDA and request an OFRR please call the Produce Safety Program Manager, Tyler Goodlett at (502)782-7811.

The University of Kentucky’s Center for Crop Diversification offers training and resources to help growers assess their status under the FSMA as well as Produce Best Practices Training, consultation on third-party audits, and other topics.

Publications were made possible by FDA grant number 5U18FD006459-01. Their contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the FDA.