Among the most widely-recognized certifications by consumers in North America, USDA Organic certification is consistently growing in popularity as an option among fresh produce operations. According to the USDA, a total of more than 4.9 million acres of land were considered certified organic in 2021—and in the two-year period between 2017 and 2019 organic crop sales grew from $5.8 billion to $6.1 billion.
Clearly, going organic is a lucrative proposition for many—but among the requirements mandated for receiving certification, one stands out as particularly challenging in a paper-based food safety management system: document retention.
In addition to using only specified materials in conjunction with a designated organic field for fertilization, weed and pest control, sanitation, and water management, farms seeking organic certification through the USDA must satisfy a number of criteria for maintaining readily auditable records for at least five years on a rolling basis. Broadly speaking, the recordkeeping system used must allow traceability from birth or purchase to death or sale.
Maintaining records of such scope in addition to other required documentation on paper is not only stressful and time-consuming, but opens the door for mistakes to happen along the way. Building a more dynamic data management system is the solution; and adding smart tools from a platform like Provision elevates document management to the next level.
Provision: An Ally for Organic Certification
Audit readiness can be stressful for any food safety program, but adding the weight of years' worth of documentation makes organic audits even more of a burden on managers. Provision users skip the step of gathering together paper or doing excessive data entry to get their numbers into a more auditable format. By centralizing all documentation in a single hub that can be accessed anywhere, the path to compliance is a breeze.
Physical paper slows information retrieval, costing valuable time and causing audit lag
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Search any record based on the data it contains
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Sort records by crop year
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Skip one-by-one record reviews and summarize data in a custom report
Disorganized documentation is difficult to review for traceability
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Linked forms offer easy traceability across processes
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Convenient drop-down menus and auto-fill options streamline data entry and help avoid input errors
Paper is fallible and fragile
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Digital documents don't decay over time and are always available
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Built-in smart rules and guidelines give real-time feedback and easily flag errant data or deviations, eliminating the need to double-check inputs for accuracy
Coming Full Circle
Organic producers can find great benefit in digitizing their documentation and food safety management programs. By bringing their paper to a platform like Provision, growers gain the automation and visibility required to save time and stress - offering more freedom to focus on their crops.
Provision's certified organic clients report 88% overall time savings when comparing their digital documentation to their prior method of audit preparation.
