Before Planting
Follow these GAPs before planting produce to
avoid contaminating the crop:
• Assess the likelihood that the produce will be
thoroughly cooked before being eaten. If it
will not be cooked, then preventing on-farm
contamination from pathogens is especially
important.
• Locate production sites uphill, upstream, and
upwind from areas where manure is stored or
animals are grazed or housed.
• Assess the potential of nearby feedlots, animal
pastures, or livestock farms to contaminate your
produce fields.
• Avoid fields that regularly flood or are exposed
to excessive runoff.
• Store manure away from growing and handling
areas, and store it in a manner that prevents
runoff and wind drift.
• I f you use manure or other animal products
(such as blood meal, bone meal, feather meal) as
soil amendments, reduce the contamination risk
by following one or more of these practices:
- A pply the soil amendment long before
harvest, preferably when soils are
warm (>50
o
F) and nonsaturated. We
recommend applying untreated manure
at least nine months before harvesting
produce, ideally to a cover or agronomic
crop. Specific audit or certification
programs may require longer or shorter
periods between application and harvest
(for example, the USDA National
Organic Program requires only 120 days
for many crops).
- Incorporate the amendment if possible.
- Apply soil amendments so they don’t
contact the produce.
- Compost the amendment before applying