See the details made to the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule by the FDA.

In July of 2024, changes were made to the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule by the FDA, concerning preharvest agricultural water. A UF/IFAS Article of the Week shared how those changes would affect ag producers. See the details below.

Changes Made to the Produce Safety Rule

According to the article, “The major change to the rule for preharvest water is a shift away from water testing as a primary metric for making decisions about the quality of water. Preharvest water testing is no longer required under the rule. Instead, an Ag Water Assessment (AgWA) must be completed for all pre-harvest agricultural water sources.”

Additional details of the changes made to the Produce Safety Rule include:

  • “Large farms have nine months after the effective date to comply. April 7, 2025, is when inspection of the changes goes into effect.”
  • “Small farms have an additional year (2026), and very small farms have two additional years (2027) to implement the rule changes.”
  • “The Water System Inspection still needs to be performed for all sources and distribution systems on the farm, including postharvest water sources, and is intended to be a separate inspection and record that informs the decisions made in the AgWA.”
  • “The AgWA replaces previous requirements of preharvest water testing for generic  coliand calculating a Geometric Mean and Statistical Threshold Value from the test results.”
  • “The AgWA takes into account the characteristics of the system, how the water is used, when it is applied, crop and environmental characteristics, and other factors (that can include testing results)”
  • “At the end of the AgWA, growers must determine which of three primary categories their preharvest water fits into:
    • No known or reasonably foreseeable hazards
    • Conditions on adjacent or nearby land that may introduce reasonably foreseeable hazards related to animals, biological soil amendments or human waste
    • Ag water that is not of safe or adequate quality for its intended use.”
  • Corrective measures must be taken if the later two categories are determined.

The article shared that “More information about the rule changes can be found on the FDA website or the Agricultural Water Assessment Fact Sheet.”

Griffin Fertilizer is committed to helping both growers and ranchers make sound agronomic and economic decisions in order to maximize the health of their grove and pasture. As a full-service custom dry & liquid fertilizer blender and crop protection product distributor, we will continue our mission to further advance Florida agriculture. For questions -or concerns about your farm or pasture, contact us and one of our team will be in touch.