Agricultural Water Workshop 2025
The Washington State Tree Fruit Association partnered with Washington State University, the Washington State Department of Agriculture, and the Northwest Horticultural Council to develop a training for Washington state tree fruit farmers on how to conduct a pre-harvest agricultural water risk assessment as required by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s 2024 Agricultural Water rule.
The recording of this training, as well as copies of the presentations and other resources provided, are below. Please note that these resources are specific to apples, pears, and cherries and conditions in the Pacific Northwest growing region and may not be applicable to other commodities and/or growing regions.
Ag Water Workshop 2025 Recording
Link to PDFs of presentations:
1. Kate Tynan - Produce Safety rule pre-harvest agricultural water
2. Connie Fisk - Overview of the Ag Water Rule
3. Claire Murphy - Elements of Critical Thinking
4. Claire Murphy - Previous Outbreaks Related to Preharvest Agricultural Water
5. Claire Murphy - Existing Tree Fruit Reseach to support Risk Assessments and mitigation measures
6. Claire Murphy - Conducting an agricultural water assessment
Additional resources for Pacific Northwest tree fruit growers:
7. Blank template for ag water risk assessment - PSA Templates Agricultural water
This form can be used to fill out an agricultural water risk assessment.
8. Produce Safety Alliance agricultural water assessment template
A generic example of an agricultural water risk assessment developed by the Produce Safety Alliance, in conjunction with FDA, that provides an example of factors that a grower may observe/note in their agricultural water risk assessment, and how that information may be considered by the grower.
9. Pacific Northwest tree fruit information for ag water assessment
Sample language and guidance that growers can use in their agricultural water risk assessment for factors that are consistent amongst Pacific Northwest tree fruit growers, such as crop characteristics, environmental conditions, historic water testing data, and available scientific data on how industry practices affect pathogen die-off.
10. Agricultural water assessment Washington example
This is a generic example of a Washington tree fruit agricultural water assessment, developed by WSU, that shows the type of information that can be provided in a grower’s assessment. Growers should not use this as their assessment because it will not reflect the conditions in individual orchards.
11. Resource - Agricultural water workshop breakout sheet for scenarios
12. Resource - Agricultural water workshop Scenarios
For questions please contact:
- Policy and guidance: Kate Tynan, Senior Vice President, Northwest Horticultural Council (tynan@nwhort.org).
- Research, guidance and resources: Claire Murphy, Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist, Washington State University (murphy@wsu.edu).
- Training resources: Jacqui Gordon, Vice President, Washington State Tree Fruit Association (jacqui@wstfa.org).