Tech Support

How your Produce Safety Technician can help you provide a comment to the FDA on the proposed Agricultural Water Rule.

, Produce Safety Technician


Whether you have praise or criticism for the FDA on their proposed changes to the FSMA Produce Safety Agriculture Water Rule it is important to express your point of view by submitting a comment on the potential changes. With the deadline for submitting a comment right around the corner (April 5th, 2022) now is the time to connect with your local technician for help to drafting your comment.

Here’s how your Produce Safety Technician can help:

  • Understanding the Proposed Changes: Technicians can help you understand the proposed changes to the water rule and how they may have an effect on your operation specifically.
  • Crafting a Constructive Comment: Technicians can help you write a professional and constructive comment by connecting your comments to pertinent sections of the proposed water rule and that section’s provision number. Including provision numbers in your comment helps the FDA to understand what part of the proposed water rule you are specifically praising or critiquing.
  • Providing Specific Feedback: Technicians can help you provide specific feedback to the FDA on the challenges of complying with the water rule as it is proposed. Technicians can help farms identify and address financial, time, resource, and educational challenges. Providing specific feedback can help the FDA determine how they can make changes to the proposed rule to make it easier for farms to implement.
  • Providing Alternatives: Maybe the proposed changes don’t seem feasible for your farm. Technicians can help you come up with alternatives to what is being proposed, that can be included in your comment. Providing options on how the regulation can be better shaped to fit your needs as a grower will help the FDA determine what should be a part of the final rule.
While the final rule may or may not affect you in the near term it certainly will shape the produce industry as a whole going forward. The more farmers who take a vested interest in determining how this proposed regulation would affect their operations, and provide feedback, the better the final regulation will be at meeting both farmers needs and the need for regulation that ensures safe produce.

Find and connect with your local Produce Safety Technician using this link: https://www.miofps.org/contact



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