Winter is a good time to think about your plans related to produce safety for the next growing season. If a buyer is asking that your produce be GAP certified, the University of Missouri Extension has a program where MU can directly pay the auditor up to half the cost of your USDA or Quality Fresh GAPs audits. You will pay the other half of the audit cost to the audit company. At this point, this program will last until August 2022. If you are interested in this, you can just tell your GAPs auditor that you would like to participate in MU Extension's GAPs cost share program.

Some of you may have heard that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced a new proposed rule to revise the water quality requirements for pre-harvest produce water. This new rule is not yet finalized, as the FDA is still collecting comments on the proposed rule. MU Extension will be providing more information on the new proposed water rule in Produce Safety Annual Supervisor trainings that we are planning to hold in communities across the state. If you are interested in holding a 90- minute Produce Safety Annual Supervisor training in your area, please contact Patrick Byers from the University of Missouri Extension at 417-859-2044 or byerspl@missouri.edu.

It is still important that produce growers continue to test their water used both pre-harvest and post-harvest. MU Extension is continuing to provide free microbial water testing for produce growers throughout all of 2022. You can get the test kits from your local public health department and can also return the water samples to your local public health department.