Great Bend Tribune
Part I
Published April 12, 2020
The Drought Monitor shows that except for a small portion of Northwest Kansas, the state is out of dry conditions. The six to ten day outlook (April 14 to 18) has normal to above normal precipitation and normal to below normal temperatures for the state. Not what corn producers wanted. And there a chance for a freeze on jointed wheat. Looking out eight to fourteen days (April 16 to 22) indicates normal precipitation and below normal temperatures. The thirty day outlook (April) is for of normal to above normal temperatures as you move to Southeast Kansas and equal chances of normal to above normal precipitation with the ninety day outlook predicting above normal temperatures and normal precipitation.
Likely many of you hadn’t heard the term PPE before the Covid-19 pandemic. Terms like PPE, social distancing, and safety protocols were not at the forefront of many people’s minds. As organizations, companies, and governmental agencies look for PPE, you may have learned how many different types of work and industry use PPE and observe health and safety protocols. Today, for something different let’s examine some of this is agriculture and food production.
We are being asked to observe protocols to help prevent the spread of Covid-19 and keep ourselves safe. Have you ever wondered about the protocols used to maintain a safe food supply? The agricultural industry follows what are termed HAACP protocols. HAACP, Hazard Analysis And Critical Control Points, is a protocol or plan followed to insure foods are safe from physical, chemical, and biological hazards. These plans are necessary not just at a processing plant but at various points in the food production and processing chains. When you see someone behind the deli counter wearing a hairnet and gloves or people working in meat processing plant wearing their PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) to protect them and the product – it’s the result of a HAACP plan. So what does a HAACP plan entail?
This is a systematic approach to food safety, required by Federal Law under the auspices of the FDA and USDA. Briefly it involves seven principles:
- Conduct an analysis of possible physical, chemical, and biological hazards in the operation.
- Identify Critical Control Points. A critical control point (CCP) is a point, step, or procedure in a food process at which control can be applied and, as a result, a food safety hazard can be prevented, eliminated, or reduced to an acceptable level.
- Establish critical limits for each critical control point. A critical limit is the maximum or minimum value to which a physical, biological, or chemical hazard must be controlled at a critical control point to prevent, eliminate, or reduce to an acceptable level.
- Establish critical control point monitoring requirements. Monitoring activities are necessary to ensure that the process is under control at each critical control point..
- Establish corrective actions. These are actions to be taken when monitoring indicates a deviation from an established critical limit.
- Establish and maintain record keeping procedures.
- Establish procedures for verifying the HACCP system is working as intended.
There isn’t space for more here but you get the idea and hopefully it will help you understand why governmental officials and agencies are doing what they are doing during the pandemic.
Part 2
Published April 19, 2020
The Drought Monitor report is easy this week. No real change except for a slight intensification in extreme Southwest Kansas. The six to ten day outlook (April 21 to 25) has above normal precipitation and temperatures for the state. Corn producers want those warmer temperatures for corn planting. The warmer temperatures starter this weekend will also help wheat producers evaluate potential freeze damage from the extremely cold temperatures last weekend. Was there any significant damage to the wheat crop? Likely in spots where the primary tillers and some of the secondaries had jointed. The fields that were lagging behind in development should have fared better. Looking out eight to fourteen days (April 23 to 29) also indicates above normal precipitation and temperatures. Does this means the frost danger is over? Hopefully, but we have snow in recent years the first of May. The thirty day outlook (May) is for of equal chances of below or above normal temperatures and above normal precipitation with the ninety day (May through August) outlook predicting equal chances of above or below normal temperatures and above normal precipitation.
Last week we briefly examined food safety protocols in food production. This week, let’s take a brief look at PPE, Personal Protective Equipment, in agriculture. Before the pandemic, many industries and occupations already had PPE requirements, including medical professionals. In fact you may have read or heard how various industries were using the N95 masks and donated them to the cause. Different aspects of agriculture have different requirements. As an example, let’s look at what a pesticide applicator should consider. But before we do, it’s important to note what is needed depends on the herbicide. So you are required to read the label for specifics. All labels are required to have a prominently displayed “signal” word. There are three: Caution, Warning, and Danger, here in increasing order of care to be taken. If the label has no specific requirements the applicator uses the signal word. And the Danger signal word is accompanied by a skull and crossbones.
With limited space, let’s mostly focus on the minimum required.
- Long sleeve shirt and pants/coveralls or Tyvek type suit. Clean and free of holes with the shirt tucked in. Materials should not be synthetic but natural or a blend. Fabric should be tightly woven. An apron if indicated made of appropriate material. Pants should be outside boots and sleeves outside gloves.
- Shoes and boots as indicated by the application. Unlined neoprene boots are preferable with socks. When handling certain materials, appropriate gloves are required. Liquid-proof, unlined neoprene gloves long enough to cover the wrists at a minimum. No powder in the gloves.
- A wide brimmed hat is preferable with no sweatband or one that can be removed.
- Depending on what you are doing you may need safety goggles or a face shield. This is primarily.
- Possible use of masks and respirator vary greatly depending on the pesticide.
Finally, single use suits and gloves are often preferred as they don’t need laundered and can be disposed of. This reduces the chance of contaminated clothing exposing the applicator or others, including family members from exposure to pesticides.