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Note: This website is intended to provide general information about legal issues, crop insurance, farm policy, and other risk management issues and should not be construed as providing legal advice. It should not be cited or relied upon as legal authority. For advice about how the issues discussed here might apply to your individual situation, you should consult an attorney.

Welcome to the Maryland Risk Management Education Blog, provided by the University of Maryland Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics and features the work of the Maryland Crop Insurance Education program and the University of Maryland - MPowering the State's Agriculture Law Education Initiative, a University of Maryland Extension Signature Program. This blog provides readers with information on risk management issues important to Maryland agriculture, upcoming events, and new materials that may interest readers.

FSMA - Updates and Produce Safety Rule Training

Sep 29, 2020
3 min

FSMA - Updates and Produce Safety Rule Training

This article is not a substitute for legal advice. See here for the site’s reposting policy. September offered up several FSMA updates for growers, including the first injunction against a food producer for food safety violations, a new proposed rule for food traceability, and the first Maryland Produce Safety Rule Grower Training opportunity for the 2020-2021 winter season. FDA Issues First FSMA Permanent Injunction The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on September 1

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Have You Taken The Food Safety Training You Need?

Dec 17, 2019
2 min

Have You Taken The Food Safety Training You Need?

By Sarah Everhart The article is not a substitute for legal advice. See here for the site’s reposting policy. There will be several Produce Safety Rule Trainings throughout the state this winter, hosted by a team of experts from the Maryland Department of Agriculture and the University of Maryland, for producers who need to comply with the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). Farmers who grow produce that is often consumed raw (e.g. berries, leafy greens, tomatoes, cucumbers

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FSMA Inspections Are Underway. Are You Ready?

Nov 19, 2019
3 min

FSMA Inspections Are Underway. Are You Ready?

By Nicole Cook This article is not a substitute for legal advice. See here for the site’s reposting policy. Nearly 10 years after the Federal Food Safety Modernization Act, or “FSMA,” was signed into law, and nearly 5 years after the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) published the final Produce Safety Rule (“PSR”) implementing FSMA, the new routine inspections to verify compliance with the PSR have begun. Routine inspections of produce farms (other than sprout operations

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Good News for Specialty Crop Growers: USDA’s Harmonized GAP Plus+ Now Fulfills Technical Requirement

Nov 14, 2018
3 min

Good News for Specialty Crop Growers: USDA’s Harmonized GAP Plus+ Now Fulfills Technical Requirement

By Nicole Cook This article is not a substitute for legal advice. See here for the site’s reposting policy. This summer brought some good news for specialty crop growers in terms of streamlining produce safety regulatory requirements for farmers. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that USDA’s Harmonized Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) Plus+ Audit Program for specialty crops is now accepted as technically equivalent by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GF

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Recent FDA Guidance on FSMA Produce Safety Rule and Preventive Controls Rule

Oct 23, 2018
7 min

Recent FDA Guidance on FSMA Produce Safety Rule and Preventive Controls Rule

By Nicole Cook This article is not a substitute for legal advice. See here for the site’s reposting policy. If you’ve been following this blog for news about updates about the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), then yout know that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been busy over the past year issuing new guidance on its FSMA’s Produce Safety and Preventive Controls rules. Regulatory agencies, like the FDA, issue “Guidance” and “Fact Sheets” to answer specific qu

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Not Sure Where To Start With FSMA Compliance? Have You Tested Your Water?

Jul 31, 2018
3 min

Not Sure Where To Start With FSMA Compliance? Have You Tested Your Water?

By Sarah Everhart The article is not a substitute for legal advice. See here for the site’s reposting policy. If the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) and specifically the Produce Safety Rule (PSR) applies to your operation (if you are unsure, check out this past post), one of the first questions you may ask yourself is, “Where do I start?” A great place to start is to attend a PSR Grower Training. Having someone from your farm attend a training is a legal requirement of

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FDA Releases Draft Guidance For Determining Whether A Business Qualifies As Small Business With FSMA

Mar 29, 2018
3 min

FDA Releases Draft Guidance For Determining Whether A Business Qualifies As Small Business With FSMA

By Nicole Cook The article is not a substitute for legal advice. See here for the site’s reposting policy. On March 19, 2018, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released draft guidance to assist businesses in determining whether they qualify as a “small business” under the Preventive Controls for Human Food and Preventive Controls for Animal Food regulations. The FDA published final rules on September 17, 2015, to implement the Food Safety Modernization Act’s Hazard Ana

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Weekly Roundup Feb. 23rd

Feb 23, 2018
2 min

Weekly Roundup Feb. 23rd

By Sarah Fielder Crop Insurance Deadline is Approaching This is a reminder for Delmarva producers that the spring planted crops sales closing date for crop insurance is on March 15. Coverage for corn, cucumbers, forage seeding, fresh market sweet corn, fresh market tomatoes, grain sorghum, processing beans, processing sweet corn, processing tomatoes, soybeans, spring oats, and tobacco is available in select counties in Maryland. Producers should contact their crop insurance

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Jan 23, 2018
8 min

FDA WON’T ENFORCE CERTAIN FSMA RULES WHILE IT SEEKS RULEMAKING

January 23, 2018 / Nicole Cook This is not a substitute for legal advice. See here for the site’s reposting policy. On January 4, 2018, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued Industry Guidance announcing that, effective immediately, it intends not to enforce certain provisions in four of the agency’s rules implementing the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), and will seek rulemaking to address issues that have been raised since the FSMA rules became final. Specifica

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Weekly Roundup Nov. 10th

Nov 10, 2017
3 min

Weekly Roundup Nov. 10th

By Sarah Fielder Save the Date for the Ag Outlook and Policy Conference The Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics annual Ag Outlook and Policy will be held on Dec. 12 at the Crowne Plaza in Annapolis. The conference will feature Kevin McNew, President, GeoGrain and Adjunct Professor in AREC, giving a 2018 commodity market outlook and Howard Leathers and Dale Johnson discussing the current dairy economy. Register at https://go.umd.edu/AREC17. 82 Farm Groups Urge

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FDA Requests Your Comments on Proposed FSMA Water Extension

Oct 26, 2017
5 min

FDA Requests Your Comments on Proposed FSMA Water Extension

By Mayhah Suri Last month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) filed a formal notice of proposed rulemaking to extend the compliance dates for the agriculture water requirements of the Produce Safety Rule section of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). The new proposed dates for agricultural water compliance vary based on farm size: January 26, 2022 for the largest farms (more than $500,000 in average annual sales for the 3 previous years) January 26, 2023 for s

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Complying With The FSMA Produce Safety Rule – The Records You Need To Keep

Oct 10, 2017
2 min

Complying With The FSMA Produce Safety Rule – The Records You Need To Keep

By Sarah Everhart This is not a substitute for legal advice. See here for the site’s reposting policy. If you grow produce consumed raw (produce rarely consumed raw is not subject to the law, for example, potatoes), you need to understand the Produce Safety Rule of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) and the records to keep to comply with this federal law. For more detail on the Produce Safety Rule and whether your operation is subject to the law, check out this recent

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Weekly Roundup Sept. 22nd

Sep 22, 2017
2 min

Weekly Roundup Sept. 22nd

By Sarah Fielder Updated Right-to-Farm Law Fact Sheet is Now Available Maryland producers and neighbors often have questions on the state’s right-to-farm law. The General Assembly updated the law to include commercial seafood operations. To aid these operations and ag operations, Paul Goeringer and Lori Lynch updated their popular fact sheet to reflect the changes. You can check out the fact sheet, here https://go.umd.edu/RTFMD. Save the Date for the Ag Outlook and Policy

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New FDA Tools to Assist With FSMA Implementation

Sep 19, 2017
2 min

New FDA Tools to Assist With FSMA Implementation

By Sarah Everhart This is not a substitute for legal advice. See here for the site’s reposting policy. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently released two tools to help with the implementation of the Preventive Controls and Produce Safety Rules of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). As we have previously posted, the Preventive Controls Rule of FSMA is a federal food safety law applicable to facilities that manufacture, process, pack, or hold food for cons

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You Know How Your Farm Is Affected By FSMA, Now What?

Dec 14, 2016
3 min

You Know How Your Farm Is Affected By FSMA, Now What?

By Sarah Everhart If you are a regular reader of this blog, you have likely read many posts in the past year on the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) including the most recent Who Needs To Attend a Training for the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA)? Perhaps, like many farmers, you are feeling relieved because you believe you are exempt from FSMA. Or maybe you are feeling temporarily relieved because, due to the size of your operation, you have many years before you need

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Selling Value Added Products and FSMA- An Important Clarification

Sep 14, 2016
2 min

Selling Value Added Products and FSMA- An Important Clarification

By Sarah Everhart Do you process and sell farm products to consumers? If so, you may be confused about whether or not you need to comply with the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Preventive Controls Rule. As explained in this post to determine if the Preventive Controls Rule applies, an operator must decide whether their operation qualifies as a food facility (processing facility), a farm, or a retail food establishment as those terms are defined by the law. Food facilit

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FDA Issues Final Rule on Sanitary Transportation of Human and Animal Food

May 4, 2016
3 min

FDA Issues Final Rule on Sanitary Transportation of Human and Animal Food

By Ashley Ellixson This article first appeared in the April 26th Edition of the Delmarva Farmer. If you have not heard of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) yet, you will likely be hearing about it more this year. We have also written posts on the blog! What is FSMA? In short, it is legislation amending the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) and giving the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the authority to mandate preventive-based controls across the food supply chain

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News Roundup: December 18th Edition

Dec 18, 2015
3 min

News Roundup: December 18th Edition

By Mayhah Suri FAA Announces UAVs Registration Process This week, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced that any unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) commonly referred to as drones over half a pound must be registered with the agency. Any UAV owned before Dec. 21, 2015 must be registered with the FAA by Feb. 16, 2016. UAVs owned after Dec. 21, 2015 will need to be registered before the first flight. Owners can begin registering their drones online starting Dec. 21.

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FSMA Final Rule On Produce Safety Is Released

Nov 19, 2015
2 min

FSMA Final Rule On Produce Safety Is Released

By Rohan V. Tikekar, Ph.D The final rule on fresh produce safety has been released by the US FDA on November 13, 2015. The new rule addresses requirements in five key areas pertaining to produce safety. These are agricultural water; biological soil amendments; sprouts, domesticated and wild animals; worker training and health and hygiene; and equipment, tools and building. The published rule includes several specific exemptions and the compliance dates vary based on the size

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The Food Safety Modernization Act: Imported Food Safety

Jun 9, 2015
4 min

The Food Safety Modernization Act: Imported Food Safety

By Sarah Everhart Today we will continue our look at the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) with a detailed explanation of the provisions of the law related to imported food safety. To date, we have previously looked at the preventive controls rule, the produce safety rule, inspection and compliance and response and enhanced relationships. Hopefully, the FSMA blog post series has given you an introduction to the important elements of the law. Imported Food Safety The FSMA

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