An official website of the United States government.
<p>This project will assess current practices used by the organic industry related to animal-based manure and compost use and rotational grazing in order to identify potential food safety risks related to microbial contamination and potential threats to the public health as well as animal health. In addition, it will identify research needs in order to minimize the food safety risks in the organic agriculture systems. A needs assessment will be conducted to gather information about the use of soil amendments, including rotational grazing of livestock and poultry, in organic and sustainable agriculture with a focus on produce (e.g., vegetables, nuts and fruits) commodities covered under the proposed Produce Safety Rule. </p><p>The specific objectives of this project are:</p><p><ol><li> To assess the needs among organic farmers using animal-based soil amendments and raw manure. </li><li> To assess the target audience's perceived solutions and priorities related to research on the use of animal-based organic soil amendments and rotational grazing in organic and sustainable agriculture systems.</li><li> To determine research, outreach, and education needs related to potential food safety risks with the current practices of animal-based organic soil amendment use. </li></ol></p>
Certified organic producers use animal-based soil amendments (e.g., manure and compost) to improve soil fertility and quality. The prevention of microbial contamination of crops has been based on time-interval criteria between the application of soil amendments and crop harvesting. However, the current standards are based on little scientific information that shows that waiting time intervals between the use of soil amendment and the harvest reduce the microbial risk. There is a critical need to fully assess current practices used by the organic industry related to manure and compost use and rotational grazing to identify potential food safety risks related to microbial contamination and potential threats to the public health. Therefore, we are proposing a needs assessment to gather information about the use of animal-based soil amendments, including rotational grazing of livestock and poultry, in organic and sustainable agriculture with a focus on produce commodities covered under FDA's proposed Produce Safety Rule. The study will evaluate and characterize the current practices and needs of organic producers using three evaluation tools: focus groups, working groups, and surveys. Stakeholders, farmers, and experts working in organic agriculture will be invited to participate. A survey will be administered to gather information about the target audience's perceived solutions and priorities related to the use of animal-based organic soil amendments and rotational grazing in organic agriculture. The results of this proposal will provide critical information that can be incorporated into guidelines aimed toward developing research on risk mitigation of foodborne pathogens for organic and sustainable agriculture.