The UVM Extension Produce Safety Team has developed a video series focused on postharvest upgrades for your farm. Whether your project is organizing a relatively simple outside wash station or building a full packshed from scratch, we share the principles and practice with examples to help you make the most of it.

An outline of this training is available in written form in the blog post Planning an Efficient and Safe Wash/Pack Area.

Postharvest Training Webinar

We have delivered in-person postharvest planning workshops in Vermont, and throughout the northeast. We realize that these resources are helpful in many other the locations and are applicable to work across many small farms. While we love to be in person and help one on one that just isn’t always possible. So we got together and structured a free, online, virtual webinar for you to watch. These videos cover everything we would discuss in person, and more.

The videos are broken up into a YouTube playlist so you can easily watch, (or re-watch!) each session.

Session Outline

Session 1: Introduction (8:19)
Session 2: Postharvest & Produce Safety (11:03)
Session 3: Flow and Lean Principles (31:35)
Session 4: Virtual Tour of Farms (21:23)
Session 5: Buildings & Infrastructure (28:18)
Session 6: Equipment (26:08)
Session 7: Tools (39:24)
Session 8: Executing Your Plan (27:48)

Watch the Webinar

Creature Comforts of the Packshed

Simple tools, layouts and infrastructure can make a HUGE difference in both physical comfort and morale on your farm. Andy will share some examples of what farmers have been pleased with in their wash-pack, and invite participants to share about improvements. Whether you are building a new pack shed or just looking for an idea to make a quick improvement on your farm, these ideas might improve the situation and make the space more comfortable and enjoyable.

Further Resources

Resources are linked in the presentation on the bottom of the slide. Most of the links direct you back to this blog. So if you do a search, it is likely that we have something written that dives deep on the specific topic.

Case Study Farms

The farms showcased in the presentation are part of an in-depth case study we have developed for each farm. The case studies cover postharvest projects with various levels of investment and range from existing barn renovations to new construction. You can view these at go.uvm.edu/phcs (PHCS for Postharvest Case Studies).

Follow-up

Are you improving your packshed? You can add your own brief case study to share on the UVM Produce Safety Portal. Many of  the existing examples on this portal are provided from other farmers to support others doing similar projects.

Lastly, if you have learned something from this presentation, or implemented something on your farm that we hard a part in, please let us know! Send us and e-mail at producesafety@uvm.edu or tag us on social media @uvmextageng.

Thanks!
Sincerely,
Chris Callahan, Hans Estrin & Andy Chamberlin

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go.uvm.edu/phwebinar

Acknowledgements

This material is based upon work supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, through the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program under subaward number LNE19-375. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

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