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Our Team in Action!

Horticulture Field Day on June 27th

Food System Resources & Opportunities

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Our Team in Action!

See What We've Been Up to this Spring 🐝

Spring is flying by, and our team have been busy bees! From workshops to conferences to professional development trainings, we have been doing a lot these past fews months. See below for some pictures and more!

In late March, Extension program associate Sarah Bakker traveled to Arizona for advanced training for On-Farm Readiness Review (OFRR) visits -- part of our Arkansas Produce Safety programming -- where she had an opportunity to train alongside other produce safety educators from across the country at the University of Arizona Maricopa Ag Center.

For two days, attendees received hands-on training including on water systems & water testing, wildlife intrusion spotting, and cultural differences that may make worker safety trainings more challenging. They also had a chance to meet folks in other states doing both education and inspection which was helpful in demonstrating how other states run their programs.

Pictured is Sarah on a large-scale greens harvester which attendees were shown how to properly clean and sanitize.

If your farm is in need of an OFRR this harvest season, reach out to our team.

To learn more about OFRRs, view our fact sheet.

On April 17th, Evan Ware, David Hill, and Sarah Bakker attended the Southwest Arkansas Small Farms Conference at the University of Arkansas Hope-Texarkana to share about our programs including the BAAND Project & small garden education, the Share Grounds & value-added food processing, and Arkansas Produce Safety & produce washing workshops.

The day-long event, organized by UAPB - School of Agriculture, Fisheries and Human Sciences, was geared towards "small and limited-resource farmers, gardeners and community memebers." We are thankful for the opportunity to share our knowledge and expertise and look forward to next year's conference!

Dr. Amanda Philyaw Perez, Sarah Bakker, and David Hill conducted two Produce Washing Workshops this past month -- one in Jefferson County (May 2) and one in Faulkner County (May 21) -- to share produce washing and packing best practices with produce growers and others.

During the 3-hour workshop, attendees learned about why produce safety is important on smaller operations, types of wash systems based on which crops will be grown, what sanitizers are safe to use on produce, how to choose a sanitizer and how to use it properly, and a basic and affordable wash/pack setup that even backyard gardeners can use.

We thank the county agents in each county for their help spreading the word and offering their offices to host the workshops.

For more information, visit our webpage. If you are interested in bringing this FREE workshop to your county, contact Sarah here.

May Horticulture Field Day on June 27th

Reserve Your Spot Today!

8:30AM - 1PM

Come to listen and learn from Extension Horticulture Specialists and Staff about produce production and pest management trials, high tunnels research and general production management, ornamentals work, and produce washing.

PLEASE JOIN!

REGISTRATION CLOSES

JUNE 24th

$25 fee includes lunch

Questions? Call 870-777-9702

Food System Resources & Opportunities

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FACT SHEET 📄

Susceptibility of Produce to Infiltration from Harvest and Postharvest Water

The Association of Food and Drug Officials has published a helpful agricultural water + produce safety resource on infiltration, a physical process where water is drawn into plant tissue caused by a pressure differential or "capillary action."

Infiltration is a food safety concern because pathogens in the water or on the exterior of produce can be brought into the flesh of the fruit or vegetable. Pathogen infiltration into fresh produce commodities has resulted in outbreaks and recalls.



When using water during harvest and postharvest activities, risk factors should be considered for those crops that are susceptible to infiltration. Strategies to mitigate infiltration should be implemented to minimize the risk of water infiltration into fresh produce. There are also options operations can do to minimize risks. This resource will cover these topics to assist produce growers, packers, re-packers, processors, and retailers when infiltration is a concern.