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Navigating Maryland’s Open Burn Laws

More on Scare Guns and the Right-to-Farm Law

What is a Cottage Food?

Maryland Circuit Court Judge Reverses Final Maryland AFO Permit

Risk Management Consideration with hemp

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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.

Applying Manure and the Food Safety Modernization Act

Aug 21, 2018
4 min

Applying Manure and the Food Safety Modernization Act

By Sarah Everhart The article is not a substitute for legal advice. See here for the site’s reposting policy. When we educate farmers on the Produce Safety Rule of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) an issue that never fails to spark questions is that of the use biological soil amendments of animal origin. By way of review, farmers who grown produce typically consumed raw and who have grossed more than $26,999 in the last three years (2015-2017) are subject to require

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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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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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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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The Food Safety Modernization Act: Response and Enhanced Relationships

Apr 7, 2015
2 min

The Food Safety Modernization Act: Response and Enhanced Relationships

By Ashley Ellixson Today we will complete our look at the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) with a more detailed explanation of the response and enhanced relationships elements of the rule. To date, we have previously looked at the preventive controls rule, the produce safety rule, and inspection and compliance. In no way have my blog posts covered every item laid out in the FSMA, but over the last few weeks we have covered the five major elements labeled as critical to

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The Food Safety Modernization Act: Inspection and Compliance

Mar 31, 2015
3 min

The Food Safety Modernization Act: Inspection and Compliance

By Ashley Ellixson Our Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) overview continues today with a look at the inspection and compliance section. Not only does FSMA outline rules for farms and facilities but it also lays out the role of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in carrying out FSMA rules and ensuring compliance. This section is referred to as inspection and compliance and can be broken down into four main areas: 1) records and records access, 2) recalls, 3) registrat

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Food Safety Modernization Act: The Produce Safety Rule

Mar 24, 2015
4 min

Food Safety Modernization Act: The Produce Safety Rule

By Ashley Ellixson Today I am continuing our overview of the FSMA with a more detailed look at the Produce Safety Rule (Produce Rule). Feel free to reference my first two posts here and here where I explain briefly what the FSMA is and give a detailed look at the Preventive Controls Rule. The Produce Safety Rule The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released proposed revisions to the Produce Rule (Section 105) of FSMA on September 19, 2014 with a comment period that ended D

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Food Safety Modernization Act: The Preventive Controls Rule

Mar 17, 2015
5 min

Food Safety Modernization Act: The Preventive Controls Rule

By Ashley Ellixson As promised, I will continue the series on the Food Modernization Act (FSMA) today with a closer look at whom FSMA applies to and to what extent it affects those impacted. If you would like a quick overview or missed my first post on FSMA, you can read it here. I will be focusing on the five key areas I discussed in that blog post from here on out. Today I am going to look more closely at the Preventive Controls (aka Preventive Rule). This rule is a big p

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Introduction to the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA)

Mar 10, 2015
2 min

Introduction to the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA)

By Ashley Ellixson The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated in 2011 that 48 million people (or 1 in 6 Americans) get sick, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die each year of foodborne diseases. While these are startling numbers, this is a largely preventable issue according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). As a result of this issue, Congress passed the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) in December 2010. What is FSMA? In short, it is legis

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