Home Grown: Growers prep for food safety event

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - Food safety is grower's number one priority when packing boxes that head to the grocery stores.

This week's Home Grown looks into how farmers can advance food safety to ensure they are putting out the best quality product.

The Yuma Center of Excellence for Desert Agriculture (YCEDA) partnered with Western Growers who travel between California and Arizona.

They frequently visit the Yuma area to educate growers on prevention, so any errors can be found before food is loaded on a truck.

They are also tying in field automation by keeping up to date with ag technology.

Dennis Donohue, director of Western Growers Center For Innovation and Technology says the main goal of their visit was to figure out how to get the information out to the growers.

"We're here to plan for an event that has a particular focus on prevention and rapid diagnostic technologies," Donohue said. "We think those are real important, and so we're going to be working on accelerating those technologies."

Farmers are utilizing technology to collect data that can determine if the crop has been contaminated.

This can both prevent contaminations and diagnose the problem quickly.

The event planned for march will provide both finances and education to growers.

Monday on 13 On Your Side, April Hettinger learns more about how growers plan to provide safe produce.