Pet owners' help needed to keep crops safe

With Yuma's annual winter produce season in full swing, growers are taking many steps to make sure the lettuce, broccoli and cauliflower they're sending to market will be tasty, nutritious and appealing for consumers.

But they need some help from the public to ensure the healthy vegetables they produce don't end up being a health risk instead.

That help can as simple as not letting their pets and children run through produce fields. And, if they walk their dogs along canal banks, to clean up their waste, said Kurt Nolte, head of the Yuma County Cooperative Extension.

"A good pet owner will pick up after their animal," he said.

It may seem like a simple courtesy but it could be critical for food safety, he said, especially for crops such as lettuce and winter vegetables that are eaten raw.

Fecal material can be a source of pathogens such as E. coli that could result in a foodborne illness outbreak, he said. Along with the impact on those who become ill, such an outbreak would be devastating for the produce industry, he added.

Animal waste left along a canal bank could end up in the irrigation water and be carried on to a lettuce field, he said.

And if animal waste is found in a field, the area plus a buffer around it can't be harvested, Nolte said. "If a field is worth $250,000, animal waste in it can have a tremendous impact."

That goes as well for animal waste on the edge of a field that may be tracked on the shoes of a child or the wheels of tractors and harvesting equipment, he said.

"Animal intrusion, whether wild or domestic, in leafy green fields poses a potential health risk," said Mary Campbell, food safety coordinator for Griffin Ranches. "Domestic animal fecal contamination of production fields and harvest equipment is a real threat that we can avoid.

"Animal fecal debris may be deposited on ditch banks and farm roads or actually in the field itself when animals are exercised on leashes or left to run free. Tractors, trucks and field implements utilize these areas to access fields and may carry the fecal material into the actual production area."

Prevention is the key, she said. "As a community, we all need to work together to prevent foodborne pathogens in our leafy green fields.

"Agriculture is one of the main components of the economy of Yuma County. An illness determined to be caused from a foodborne pathogen from one of our fields could potentially shut down a large portion of one of our locally produced commodities."

This would be financially devastating not only to the growers but also a number of businesses and people connected to the industry, Campbell said.

"We don't want a problem with leafy greens here or elsewhere," Nolte said.

As a pet advocate organization, the Humane Society of Yuma adds its voice to the request for help from the public, said Shawn Smith, executive director.

"The Humane Society's interest in this issue is to make sure our pets and their owners are good citizens within the community. This has far-reaching implications. We want to help spread the word."

Smith said the Humane Society encourages people to use the new dog park behind the Pacific Avenue Walmart to get some exercise for themselves and their canine friends. And if they do walk their dogs along an irrigation canal to pick up after them, he noted.