Agricultural water is an essential part of farm operations. It is used in many on-farm activities and plays a significant role in both farmworker health and produce safety. Water can also be a pathway for contamination of fresh produce. Because water is an effective carrier of pathogens, once it becomes contaminated it has the potential to spread that contamination throughout the farm during normal activities. With pre-harvest agricultural water requirements affecting both la

Diving into the food safety considerations of mushrooms. Photo by Willie Crosby / Small Farms Quarterly Produce Safety Spotlight: Mushrooms! The edible mushroom market is a billion-dollar industry in the United States, and is covered under the FSMA Produce Safety Rule , the same as other fresh produce.   Recalls, Outbreaks, and Misidentifications of Mushrooms One of the earliest documented outbreaks tied to mushrooms occurred in the United States in 1989. Four separate outbre

Inputs & Substrate Considerations The microbial quality of what mushrooms grow on can make the difference between having a successful crop and not having any crop. In many cases, mushroom substrate is a mixture of animal manure and other ingredients. If that substrate isn’t treated and handled in a manner that reduces the potential of foodborne pathogens, the mushrooms you grow from that substrate could be contaminated. If you use sawdust or other types of substrate that are