Self Audit Checklist For Organic Farm

This self audit checklist is intended to assist organic producers/handlers prepare for inspection. A certifier will review this list and either grant certification or request additional information from producers/handlers.

Traceback audits verify your records show where organic crops or products from your operation were distributed to their final point of sale, which requires meticulous recordkeeping.

1. General Questions
In an inspection that meets organic standards, auditors need an easy time conducting inspections that comply with organic practices. Therefore, written standard operating procedures and documentation of routine cleaning of food contact surfaces, refrigeration areas and transportation machinery should be available for review by inspectors.

Assure your records contain a weighted average of real percentage mortality based on the total postlarvae tested for each pathogen (see instruction box). If your farm includes a hatchery with vertical integration, provide your auditor with records from both facilities showing postlarvae counts.

2. Audit Trail
Your operation must present evidence of compliance with organic standards for certification to pass an inspection, which involves reviewing these documents during your visit by your inspector.

An audit trail allows organic crops to be traced from seed through to their market in an easy and transparent way. Growers should prepare an Organic Farm Input Report (OFIR), detailing all input applications used and tracked organic product; while processors and handlers must also prepare reports detailing processes backwards through processing stages to their initial ingredients.

Inspectors seek evidence of clear relationships between on-the-ground activities and reporting activities, and your organization’s capacity for correcting instances of noncompliance. An organized self audit checklist shows you take your certification seriously.

3. Recordkeeping
An efficient record keeping system is integral to passing an organic inspection. This should include creating an Organic Systems Plan (OSP), providing a list of allowed substances and how they will be used, pest control records, methods to prevent mixing of organic and conventional products within one operation, mapping all farm acreage as well as detailed records about harvest, storage, transportation and sales activities.

An organic inspector will conduct an annual audit to make sure your record keeping is adequate by performing a trace-back or mass balance audit. These audits ensure the amount sold matches what was produced and income received; documents such as planting records, invoices, purchase receipts, bills of lading and weight tags are reviewed as part of this process. Furthermore, visual assessments will take place near production or storage buildings to make sure there are no piles of trash or waste nearby.

4. Food Safety Plan
An easily accessible food safety plan can reduce preparation time for buyer questions and requirements, third-party audits or FSMA compliance requirements. A food safety plan also serves to organize records such as risk analyses, SOPs, training logs etc.

Food safety plans must include the details of an on-farm food safety manager; an explanation of practices and conditions that may compromise food safety; traceability programs; pest management plans; water testing results; recordkeeping sheets such as rodent monitoring logs; as well as training records.

This template is intended to assist small and mid-sized farms, particularly beginning or socially disadvantaged farmers, in creating an effective food safety plan for their farm. However, it should not be seen as a replacement for independent verification required by some buyers and the Food Safety Modernization Act Produce Safety Rule regulations.

5. Management
To ensure proper operation of a self audit checklist for organic farm, it’s vital that management develop and adhere to an organized set of policies and procedures, documented to enable auditor review as well as to inform employees what their responsibilities are.

Display that the farm provides a fair and transparent mechanism to settle disputes between workers and management, including documentation of meetings, complaints, and their outcomes.

Make sure that the farm does not withhold part of workers’ wages, property or documents in order to ensure that they continue working there.

Provide evidence of how the farm avoids negative impacts to endangered species and has procedures in place to do so. For instance, coastal buffers must be maintained and their width measured.