# Missouri's Cooperative Agreement to Enhance Produce Safety

> **NIH FDA U18** · MISSOURI STATE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE · 2020 · $346,134

## Abstract

Project Abstract/Summary
 Missouri Department of Agriculture
Funding Opportunity Announcement PAR-16-137
The Missouri Department of Agriculture is dedicated to the promotion and protection of
the state's agriculture industry. A recent MDA and Missouri Farm Bureau-funded
economic impact study determined that agriculture is the state’s number one industry
with more than 88 billion dollars of annual economic impact. With nearly 100,000 farms
on more than 28 million acres of farmland, the agency works to connect farmers with
consumers. Establishing a Produce Safety Program which is compliant with the
requirements of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) is complementary to the
Department's mission "To serve, promote, and protect the agricultural producers,
processors, and consumers of Missouri's food, fuel, and fiber products." As a result, it is
our intention to oversee both outreach and enforcement activities with the funding that is
available under Competitions A and B.
During the first year, the Department will evaluate existing statutes and regulations to
determine what authority has already been granted to the agency and what changes
need to be made to allow inspections of produce farms to occur. This is a critical first
step. At the same time, an inventory of farms will be conducted to determine what
producers are subject to the Produce Safety rule. This will be based in large part on a
survey of specialty crop producers that will be conducted during the summer of 2017.
Methods for capturing the information needed to build an effective farm inventory will be
thoroughly considered so that it can be gathered, maintained, and shared in a manner
which supports an integrated food safety system.
As the size of the regulated community is assessed, the department will hire essential
personnel and conduct a self-assessment to determine what resources are available
and which are needed to build the state Produce Safety Program. This will be a
thorough review including aspects such as facilities, staff, equipment, and finances.
Throughout the grant period, the department will partner with Extension at the University
of Missouri and Lincoln University to provide training to producers. This outreach will
rely on seasoned educators and be offered to as many farmers as possible with an
emphasis on reaching producers who are covered by the FSMA Produce Safety rule.
This will allow us to 1) educate before we regulate, 2) achieve greater compliance with
the rule, and 3) minimize the risk of food borne illness no matter who grows the
produce.
Finally, the department will design and evaluate a compliance program to regulate
growers who are covered by the Produce Safety rule. This will be done building upon
other regulatory programs within the agency and in partnership with FDA. In the final
phase of the grant, we will develop a strategy that will allow the Produce Safety
Program to be a sustainable effort with the long-term goal of reducing consumers’ risk
of ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9966753
- **Project number:** 5U18FD006145-04
- **Recipient organization:** MISSOURI STATE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
- **Principal Investigator:** Bart Hawcroft
- **Activity code:** U18 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** FDA
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $346,134
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-08-01 → 2021-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9966753

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9966753, Missouri's Cooperative Agreement to Enhance Produce Safety (5U18FD006145-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9966753. Licensed CC0.

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