Sustainable Farming Practices: Records, Processing, and Standards

Commodities

Practices

The goal of the 2025-2026 Model State Program carried out by Fort Valley State University is to expand the existing strategic planning process for statewide sustainable agriculture development; and to provide professional development opportunities for County Extension Agents and other Agriculture Professionals (i.e. Farmers Train-the-Trainer, USDA Employees (i.e. NRCS, FSA) engaged in Train-the-Trainer activities). Objective areas focus in direct marketing and local food systems. Trainings and conferences will provide the necessary support aligned with the SARE Logic Model. Specifically, this plan will focus on trainings that support direct marketing through GAP/GHP training leading to certification, record keeping to empower farmers with the data and insights needed to improve efficiency and make informed decisions, and vegetable process training to assist farmers in reducing losses while improving sustainability in local food systems. Training activities carried out for each objective is designed to increase knowledge and confidence by participating agriculture professionals (county agents, farmers, etc.) thus strengthening their abilities to assist small producers in sustaining their farm operation. All activities increase knowledge and confidence by participating agriculture professionals (county extension agents) which then translates to an increased ability to assist farmers.

Objective 1. Promote educational farmer training in simplified record keeping for data management.
Objective 2. Provide food safety and value-added through fruit and vegetable processing training.
Objective 3. Enhancing direct marketing opportunities with GAP/GHP certification training.

1. Effective management of a productive agriculture operation today requires that records are kept by managers who can make informed decisions affecting the feasibility, sustainability, and profitability of their operations. In order to evaluate the true value of one's farm, inventory, management and financial records, sales and expenses are critical data needs. Increasingly, regulations point toward the keeping of certain records such as chemical application and soils and water conservation plans for environmental concerns. Workshops designed to demonstrate the value of farm and home record keeping and present organizational tools, through the use of a computer and spreadsheets, will make farm and home record keeping a simple process, which will be conducted through the Extension network. Workshops (face-to-face and virtual) consisting of three sessions will be conducted over a three month span. Participants in the workshops will be given the interactive opportunity to learn in detail about the three fundamental forms of record keeping and how they can be applied to their farm and home planning. Upon completion of the workshops, participants will be given a simple hands-on group participation exam and awarded certificates of completion. Participants will receive a record-keeping toolkit (consisting of a storage (USB) flash drive with simple record keeping spreadsheet files, receipt book, calculator, and notebook journal) that can help simplify their farm and home management system. The introduction to simplified farm and home record keeping topics include resource record keeping for the farm and home (Session 1), production record keeping for the farm and home (Session 2), and financial record keeping for the farm and home (Session 3). Trainings will be conducted by a former Fort Valley State University County Extension Agent.


2. Processing of fruits and vegetables is very important to produce products for direct consumption and as food ingredients. During processing, the main objectives are to preserve the color, flavor, texture, and nutrition while prolonging the shelf life of perishable fruits and vegetables. Fruit and vegetable processing procedures can include blanching, dehydrating, canning, freezing, irradiating, fermenting and pickling. At $3.5 billion, the fruit and vegetable wholesaling industry in Georgia is a vital food supply to many. Due to Hurricane Helene and the 25-30% loss of the fall vegetable crop in Georgia, fruit and vegetable production is expected to decline in 2025. Sustaining this local food system through process training aims to educate growers on the principles, methods, and importance of fruit and vegetable processing, including preservation, value-addition, and extending shelf life. Trainings and workshops will take place at Fort Valley State University's new (June 2025) state of the art fruit/vegetable processing facility. Workshops trainees will get familiarized with modern equipment and tools for processing, tailored to small/medium scale operations. The workshop trainings will ensure participants understand and implement proper hygiene practices, quality control measures, and food safety standards, including compliance with relevant regulations such as HACCP. One Saturday (full day) workshop will be provided at Fort Valley State University's fruit/vegetable processing facility that will ensure a holistic approach to fruit and vegetable processing training, addressing both technical and business aspects for sustainable outcomes.


3. Good Agriculture and Handling Practices (GAP/GHP) are becoming one of the most important subjects on the list in preparation of field-grown crops for food consumption. Reports suggest many farm-grown crops for food consumption have caused many human health problems, mainly because of a lack of GAP initiatives in an effort to reduce contamination to the human bodies upon consumption. Much evidence has shown that when the GAP system is not in effect at the time of harvest and preparation for sale for the product, many people that consume the produce from the crop sale have suffered health complications. As a result of this well-known issue in the United States and abroad, the Federal and State Government has instituted guidelines to help alleviate mal-practices by growers who intend to grow these crops to sell for public consumption. Federal guidelines show that edible crops can be produced and sold to the public as a monetary income as long as the total income received does not exceed $25,000 in one year. However, the grower of the produce is still liable if the sale of the produce causes sickness or injury to the person(s) receiving the produce as a food consumption. Fort Valley State University's Cooperative Extension Program has been GAP certified (through USDA) for fruit crops of Blueberries, Grapes, and Persimmons. GAP/GHP training will be provided by FVSU consultant John Simmons (Andrews & Associates LLC) and will target farmers and students in a two phase workshop to introduce participants to standards set by the federal government in growing, packaging, and distributing their food products safely to the consumer. The first phase of this training workshop will occur in two parts: Part 1) Classroom-instruction setting introduces participants through each step required for becoming GAP/GHP certified. Materials will include Food Safety Manual, documentation and record keeping manual (to be referenced during the audit). Part 2). Participants will have a hands-on experience of handling fruits/vegetables on-site. Field activities at Fort Valley State University's sustainable agriculture farm will have participant's properly interact with the wash down systems, cooler/freezer, a packaging station.
The second phase of training will consist of eight farmers taking part in an intensive 3 week GAP/GHP Certification training by John Simmons who will prepare each farm for audit by providing self-audit farm visits. The eight farmers will get acclimated with the Food Safety manual, document records, and complete all necessary forms. The trainees will also complete their USDA processing and post to the USDA website of certification.