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Abstract
The certification of fresh produce producers in Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) has become
a common requirement by wholesale and retail buyers. The Food Safety Modernization Act has
provisions for the adoption of traceability systems by farms with fresh produce. The US Food
and Drug Administration (FDA) provides guidance for GAPs, but some requirements within
these documents, such as traceability, are changing rapidly. Several traceability systems are currently
being used by produce producers, and range from professional systems to farmer created
systems. This study focuses on two; FoodLogiQ® and farmer created traceability. A focus
group composed of various produce farming operations has been tasked to shed light on the challenges
produce producers face in implementing traceability systems.
Implementation of a sophisticated, professional system requires a large monetary commitment
from the producer. The following figures are estimates producers provided specifically for this
study. Initial costs using a FoodLogiQ® system is priced at $5,000-$7,500, and requires additional
software such as FAMOUS to handle the operations accounting needs at a cost of $40,000-
$50,000. Yearly subscription/maintenance fees of $1,200-$8,500 will also be necessary costs for
the producer.
Survey questions addressed to the focus group aimed at evaluating two main areas; cost of adoption
and managerial time with adoption. Results show a distinct difference between small producers
(gross sales of $100,000 per year) and large producers (gross sales of $500,000 or greater
per year). Small operations feel the burden of adoption with the initial technology costs (e.g.
field scanner, label printer, software). Larger operations noted that the heaviest burden of implementation
comes in the added cost of personnel. Participants were asked to place a value on
survey questions using a 1-3 scale with 1 being no additional cost, 2 minimal additional cost, and
3 significant additional cost. As a result, producers indicated a field scanner (2.3), printing case labels (2.5), and additional office personnel (2.5) as the most costly. Participants were asked to
evaluate how implementing a traceability system will affect their management time. Average
response yielded between minimal additional time and significant additional time (2.7).
The results of the study will provide guidance to producers, farm organizations and policy makers
on the costs and potential structural changes occurring as a result of GAPs adoption.