The GLOBALG.A.P. standard is primarily designed to reassure consumers about how food is produced on the farm by minimizing detrimental environmental impacts of farming operations, reducing the use of chemical inputs, and ensuring a responsible approach to worker health and safety as well as animal welfare. Barnes Farming was honored to be the first company to receive GLOBALGAP certification for sweetpotatoes in the USA.

GRASP stands for GLOBALG.A.P. Risk Assessment on Social Practice. GRASP is a voluntary ready-to-use module designed to assess social practices on the farm. The requirements catalog consists of 11 standardized requirements and one additional QMS requirement that address specific aspects of workers’ health, safety, and welfare. GRASP is designed to extend the social standards of your GLOBALG.A.P. Certification.

Recognizing the demand for a comprehensive, and transparent tool to verify compliance with best practice implementation, GAPC developed the certification program with extensive input from its member companies, member-growers, and third-party experts. GAPC’s certification program will increase transparency and foster an environment that promotes sustainability, profitability, fairness, and competition.

Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and Good Handling Practices (GHP) are voluntary audits that verify that fruits and vegetables are produced, packed, handled, and stored as safely as possible to minimize risks of microbial food safety hazards. GAP & GHP audits verify adherence to the recommendations made in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Guide to Minimize Microbial Food Safety Hazards for Fresh Fruits and Vegetables and industry-recognized food safety practices.

This certification ensures that our organic crops are not exposed to synthetic chemicals during the planting, harvesting, and packaging process. We are inspected for the USDA Organic certification on an annual basis.

We are one of the few farms to have both a Certified Crop Advisor and 4R Nutrient Management Specialist on staff. With these accolades, Josh is an expert in understanding soil and plant nutrition, allowing us to prescriptively add nutrients to the soil, thereby reducing waste and overapplication.