Case Study: Horticulture Producer

Table of Contents

Step 1: Process Flow Diagram

Step 2 – Preparing Your Traceability Protocol

Greenlea Farms is a family owned mid-sized vegetable producer. Most of Greenlea’s production is as fresh product to grocery chain stores, and the rest is sold to local small processors for canning and other end products. Greenlea Farms also packs and sells harvested product purchased from other local farms. An information sheet will help you decide if you need the help of a consultant to guide you through the process. Traceability consultants and software and equipment sales providers are listed

Ted Green, the owner, follows the on-farm food safety program developed by the Canadian Horticulture Council. Recently, his customers have been asking for a considerable amount of information about his food safety practices, and he has therefore decided to proactively embark on the implementation of a facility level traceability system for his operation. Ted knows that installing new traceability steps into his day-to-day activities will also help him with inventory control and other aspects of his business, and might improve his margins.

Ted has always had a map of the farm. Plantings of each variety are planned by field and block and plantings are “staggered” to match the anticipated requirements of his customers. Greenlea purchases seeds or transplants from a few local sources. Ted or his field supervisor do most of the spraying and spreading of pesticides and fertilizers themselves although they occasionally have a Custom Applicator come in to apply some of their nutrients.

Harvested product is taken directly from the field to one of the coolers in the packing house. For the most part, pickers place the produce into plastic bins and transport the product to the packing house on Greenlea’s trailers. Greenlea also packs for a few other growers. As orders come in, product is taken from the field or cooler in plastic bins and is dumped into a wash tank at the beginning of the packing line. The product is sorted by the machine for size and colour and is packed by hand to meet individual orders.

Ted uses printed boxes, sometimes with baskets or liners to meet specific contracts or individual orders. He buys these packaging products from several local suppliers. The packed product is palletized, and if it is not being shipped immediately, it is put back into the cooler until shipping.

As he prepares to put his new traceability system in place, Ted realizes that he must keep track of all his inputs into the field through the harvest and shipping of product, including the product he packs for other growers. This means recording information about the field, variety, quantity, packaging, and date of harvest, packing and shipping. Further, records must be kept of nutrient and pesticide applications. Ted would like to base his information collection requirements on the Can-Trace data standards to determine what information he must collect when receiving inputs, what information he must keep on file, and what information he must share with his customers when he ships product.

Greenlea produces several vegetable crops, some of which require quite different treatment and handling. Ted recognizes that he will need to write a separate protocol for each distinct farming operation if the processes for information collection, where the information is kept and how it is shared is very different.

Step 1 –Process Flow Diagram

In the first step you will prepare diagrams to represent the steps in your operation. These diagrams will provide a clear guide to where traceability-related information is gathered throughout your operation.

First, think about the major activities taking place in your operation. In the Horticulture example, there are multiple activities that take place in this operation (Receiving Inputs, Planting and Spraying, Harvesting and Storage, Sorting and Packing, and Storage and Shipping). List each of these distinct parts of the business in separate boxes, in a flow chart format. Number each activity to help identify and reference each activity in your traceability protocols. Within a single activity, there may be many different types of inputs and outputs being used and produced, and therefore there may be different ways and types of information being collected. It may be necessary to identify and separate these different types of activities for the purpose of clear protocol writing. For example, receiving inputs includes all the products, consumables and materials needed to complete the activities that take place within your operation. Even though these inputs are all received into the same operation, different employees may manage each input and the information may be captured and kept differently. It will be a management decision on whether separate protocols are necessary for each type of activity.

Below each activity, list all the inputs and outputs that will be used. Inputs are all of the required products, consumables and materials that will be needed to complete the activities within each step. Outputs are the work in-progress or finished products and byproducts produced by the activities in each step. Usually, the outputs from one activity are the inputs of another.

Step 2 – Preparing Your Traceability Protocol

A traceability Protocol is a series of procedures that will tell people in your operation how to capture and record the traceability information. Protocols should be in a standard format that suits your own operation.

For each of the activities described in your process flow diagram from Step 1, include the following as part of your protocol:

1. Identify the activity area by name.
2. Briefly describe the activity that takes place in the area.
3. Identify who is responsible for the activity and for capturing and entering traceability information.
4. Describe the steps taken in each activity to capture the traceability information and where the information is kept.
5. Identify all ieces of information captured for each procedural step.

To ensure you are capturing the necessary information at each activity, you can use the Can-Trace Data Standard to help identify what you should be collecting, keeping and sharing. The Can-Trace Data Standard was created to develop the minimum information requirements to support one-up/one-down traceability, in other words, to be able to track products you receive from suppliers and for products you ship to your customer. While the Can-Trace Data Standard is mainly used for information management between suppliers and their customers, it can also be used for information management between activities in your operation. This approach will help you be sure that you collect, keep and share all of the necessary traceability information within your operation.

Using the Can-Trace Data Standard as a guide, determine what information you will use in your traceability system to meet each data element in the data standard. For example, for the data element “Lot Number”, you may choose to use the supplier’s assigned lot number to the product or generate your own new number. It is often easier to include example documents (ie: invoices, production sheets, receiving logs, shipping logs, etc.) to demonstrate that all Can-Trace data elements are being collected, kept and shared.

Note that it is this Traceability Protocol – a series of procedures describing how your traceability system operates – that will be your finished product. You will use the Traceability Protocol to train your employees on their roles and responsibilities with respect to your facility level traceability system. It will be a set of documents that will change and require updates as your business changes, just like any other procedure in your operation.

Once again, it is important to note that the samples provided below are based on the fictitious horticulture producer and therefore have more or less steps then, for example, a meat processor and or livestock operation.

Traceability Protocol

• Shipping and Receiving - Activity: Receive Inputs
• Farm - Activity: Planting and Spraying
• Farm - Activity: Harvest and Store
• Packing House - Activity: Receive Purchased Product
• Packing House - Activity: Sort and Pack
• Packing House - Activity: Storage and Shipping

Shipping and Receiving

Activity: Receive Inputs

Summary: Receive (a) agronomic inputs (fertilizers, pesticides, compost, manure), (b) transplants and seeds, and (c) packaging materials, and put into storage

Responsible: Field supervisor

For all inputs:

1. When orders are placed, update supplier name and contact information in the Quickbooks
   system.
2. When orders arrive, check the contents against the bill of lading and the original order to ensure the correct products were received.
3. Write down lot numbers of each input on the bill of lading if they are not already there.
4. When contents are verified, initial the bill of lading and file in the received orders file in the
   Field Office.

• Agronomic Inputs

When pesticides and fertilizers are picked up directly from a supplier, sign the receipts and placed in the received orders file.

Move received products to the appropriate storage location as indicated on the Building Sketch (Form A in the on-farm food safety manual).

When agronomic inputs are moved to storage, add the quantities and names to the manual inventory list on the inside of the door to the pesticide storage building and the fertilizer/seed storage room.

When receiving compost, ensure that either a letter of assurance was received for the compost or that there is a letter on file for that supplier for that year (a new letter must be received each year for each supplier).

Manure will be delivered directly to the storage area. Check to ensure that manure is stored correctly (i.e. in the correct area).

• Transplants and seeds

When transplants are picked up directly from a supplier, sign the receipt, record the date of planting on the receipt, and placed it in the received orders file.

Place the transplants and/or seeds in the appropriate storage location as indicated on the Building Sketch (Form A in the on-farm food safety manual).

Label the transplants and/or seeds with the variety, and date received to identify the lot.

• Packaging Materials

Move received products to the appropriate storage location as indicated on the
Building Sketch (Form A in the on-farm food safety manual). When packaging
materials are moved to storage, add the quantities and names to the manual inventory
list mounted on warehouse door.

Summary: Weekly, update the electronic inventory lists for the agronomic inputs

Responsible: Field supervisor

Take the manual inventory lists from the pesticide storage, fertilizer/seed storage areas, and the warehouse, and enter the following information into the excel spreadsheet inventory list on the computer in the Field Supervisor’s office

1. Product trade name
2. Pest Control Product (PCP) number if the product is a pesticide
3. Lot number and quantity in storage

Repeat step 1 until the entire inventory is entered successfully into the system.

Can-Trace Information:	What we will use:
Lot number	Supplier lot number from label or packing slip
Product identifier	Product and variety
Product description	Product and variety
Receipt date	Date on seedling shipping document
Ship-from location identifier	Address on shipping document
Shipment identifier	Number on shipping document
Sender identifier	Name on shipping document
Quantity	Number of bags or trays; weight of each bag, from bag label or shipping document; number of seedlings per tray
Unit of measure	Number; kilos

Farm
Activity: Planting and Spraying

Summary: Plant seeds/transplants and apply agronomic inputs (fertilizers, pesticides, manure, compost)

Responsible: Field supervisor

1. When planting, take the seeds or transplants out of storage (if applicable). Record seed lot numbers, planting dates, product and variety in each field and block on the current field maps.
2. When pesticides and commercial fertilizers are removed from storage, take appropriate product out of storage and cross them off the manual inventory lists posted on the back of the storage door.
3. When agronomic inputs are applied, record the following information on the appropriate form for each type as indicated in the table below:

Agronomic Input	Required Information	Form Used
Commercial fertilizers	Applicator’s name Date applied Field number Rate applied Blend Lot number (from bag)	Agronomic input record (Form H2)
Pesticides	Applicator’s name (signature) Date applied Field number Rate applied Trade name PCP number Earliest allowable harvest date Lot number (from container)	Agronomic input record (Form H1)
Manure, compost	Applicator’s name (signature) Date applied Field number Rate applied Product applied and type (e.g. horse manure) Earliest allowable harvest date manure only) Lot number (if there is a lot number)	Agronomic input record (Form H2)

4. If products are custom applied, check invoices from the custom applicator to ensure the
   required information is included.
5. Initial the custom application receipt and file in the file for the custom applicator in the Field
   Supervisor’s office.

Farm
Activity: Harvest and Store

Summary: Harvest products and put into storage

Responsible: Field supervisor

Before harvest, pick up clean bins from the clean bin storage area (refer to the Building Sketch) load them on to a field trailer and take them to the appropriate field.

During harvest, manually record the product, variety, harvest date, quantity harvested and field or block on the Harvesting and Storing Product Form (Form P in the on-farm food safety information).

Form P is on a clipboard in the field supervisor’s office. When Form P is full, sign and date the bottom of the Form and file in the on-farm food safety binder (also in the Field Supervisor’s Office).

Transport the harvested product to the harvested product cooler (Cooler A) in the packing barn.

At the packing barn, record the field number and harvest date on a yellow sticky note and attach to each bin, this becomes the harvested product lot number. The field number and date should be recorded in the following format: 06-08-09 (field number, month, day).

Packing House
Activity: Receive Purchased Product

Summary: Receive purchased product.

Responsible: Shipper/receiver

When purchased product arrives check the contents against the bill of lading and the original order to ensure the correct products were received. A list of growers with their contact information and grower numbers is posted in the Packing House Supervisor’s office. Check also that products and packaging are clean and in good condition and labels are legible.

Using the green sticky notes, record the grower number, and assign a lot code which is the field number and harvest date in the following format: 06-08-19 (field-month-day). Attach a note to each bin.

Write down lot numbers on the receipt. Give a copy to the grower and keep a copy in the harvested product receiving file in the Packing House Supervisor's office.

Move tagged harvested product to the harvested product cooler (Cooler A).

Packing House
Activity: Sort and Pack

Summary: Remove harvested product from storage. Run product down the wash, sorting and grading line and pack product. Put packed product back into storage

Responsible: Packing house workers

When orders come in, enter the product/variety, quantity required and packaging required into the computer in the packing house office.

Choose product from the cooler that meets the order for variety and type and use product with the earliest dates on the bin tags (sticky notes) first. Using a forklift, remove harvested product from Cooler A and move it to the product dumping station at the beginning of the packing line. Enter the grower number, the lot number, and the product/variety information from the bin tag into the computer at the bin dumping station. If the bin has a yellow sticky it was grown on the home farm and will not have a grower code. Use grower code 01 for all bins with yellow stickies.

Remove the required packaging from the storage area, check the pallet labels and use packaging with the earliest date first.

The computer generates a Pack ID and prints label stickers that are affixed to each case. As cases reach the end of the line, check each case to ensure it is properly labeled and place the case on the pallet.

When a pallet is full, wrap the pallet in shrink wrap and, using a forklift, move it to the Finished Product Cooler (Cooler B) where it is held until ready for shipment.

Culled product going to the processor is taken down the conveyer and dumped into plastic totes. Write the grower code and the packing date on a sticky note and attach to the top tote on the pallet. At the end of the day, transport the culled product to the farm next door for pig feed. Keep the sticky note in a file in the packing house office to keep the information about the product dumped that day.

Packing House
Activity: Storage and Shipping

Summary: Load product on to truck and send out for delivery

Responsible: Sales and shipping person

Complete a pick sheet for each order using the computer in the packing house office. Choose product from the cooler that meets the order using the Pack ID and label stickers that are affixed to each case. Using a forklift, remove packed product from Cooler B and move it to the loading dock.

When the product is ready for shipment, a truck is assigned. Inspect the truck for cleanliness.

Move the product onto the truck.

Verify the contents of the truck against the order

Enter the shipment information: product/variety, package, quantity, destination, truck number
shipping date and Pack ID’s into the Quickbooks system and print a bill of lading. Give the
bill of lading to the driver.

Can-Trace Information:	What we will use:
Output Lot number	Pack ID
Product identifier	Product PLU number
Product description	Product description
Ship date	Date order picked and shipped
Ship-from location identifier	Company name and address
Shipment identifier	Customer order number
Sender identifier	Company name and address
Ship-to location identifier	Customer name and address (destination)
Receiver identifier	Customer number
Quantity	Number of pallets in the shipment
Unit of measure	Number