International Produce Training

A few years has passed and new management has taken control of the USDA’s fruit and vegetable inspection program.  The layoffs, and cutbacks seem to be a thing of the past, and the USDA is beginning to hire once again.  Because I have received many e-mails asking questions concerning job opportunities within the USDA Inspection Program, I thought I could offer some help.

To begin with, it is important to understand there are fruit and vegetable inspectors that are licensed by the USDA but work (salary and benefits) for various state departments of agriculture.  Unfortunately these positions are much harder to find, as most state governments are struggling with budget issues and are not hiring inspectors, except to replace ones that have left due to retirements or resignations.  On the other hand the USDA is hiring new inspectors, but the locations of these positions are usually found in major cities, such as Philadelphia, New York and Los Angeles. 

To get you started, the best place to begin your search (for job openings at the USDA, not for job openings within the state departments of agriculture) is at:  http://www.usajobs.gov/   This government web site lists every federal job, for every federal agency, from Agriculture to the Department of Veteran Affairs.  After clicking on the site, you have a few choices.  You can immediately begin your search for jobs or you can easily register (user name and password) to set up an account for yourself.  By creating an account you can create and save your resume, to apply for jobs on-line, and more importantly you may create automated searches, that will notify you via e-mail when the selected positions you are looking for become available.

When you are ready to begin searching for jobs, click on “Advanced Search” as this will allow you to quickly look for specific federal jobs.

In the Keyword Search section, type in “agricultural commodity grader,” as this is the title given to inspectors, including poultry inspectors, processed products inspectors and fresh fruit and vegetable inspectors.

As you scroll down this search page you will want to specify which agency within the federal government you would like to search for open positions.  In the Agency Search section, click on “Agricultural Marketing Service.”  AMS is the agency within the USDA that runs the inspection programs previously mentioned above.  Click on the button, “Search for Jobs.”

Again, be prepared to most likely find job openings in the major cities, and the starting salary may seem challenging.  But on a personal note, I began my USDA career in Philadelphia, but after a few years I was able to transfer to friendlier cost of living cities, moving to Harrisburg, PA and later Albany, NY.

And lastly, hopefully you find a position that may interest you, but the starting salary is listed as a GS-5, or a GS-7 or a GS-9, and you may be wondering what that means.  The federal government has salary tables specific to certain cities or locations.  Listed below is the salary table for the New York City area.

For example, depending on your education, or your experience, or a combination of education and experience, you will be qualified with a starting salary of a GS-5, or a GS-7 or a GS-9.  If you are slotted as a GS-5, you would make $35,309 for the first year on the job.  After 12 months you would be promoted to a GS-7, with a salary of $43,738, and after another 12 months, you would be promoted once again to a GS-9, with a salary of $53,500 per year.  You would then follow the steps through your career, with a potential salary of $69,545, at the GS-9 Step 10 pay grade.

I hope you utilize the USAjobs web site and good luck in your search!

I have written quite a few posts dealing with the different size requirements of some products. Some products have a minimum length, and/or a minimum diameter, while others may have a maximum diameter as part of their US Grade requirements. But what about uniformity? Let’s face it, that is a big complaint that many receivers have, regarding some product being received in their warehouse. Everyone wants the product to be uniform in the containers, all items being of relatively the same size.

Take a look at the image above.  Although the cucumbers all have the same color attributes,  they are obviously not uniform in size, with large ranges in length and in diameter.  Do these cucumbers make the size requirements for the U.S. No. 1 Grade?  As long as the cucumbers are at least 6 inches in length and not greater than 2-3/8 inches in diameter, they meet the requirement.  In fact half the cucumbers could be 6 to 7 inch and length and the others could be 9 to 11 inches in length, and they would meet the requirement of U.S. No. 1. 

Now is that good for the receiver and good for the grower?  Of course not.  The retailers want to display their product and let the customers choose their items.  Having a display of different sizes only aggravates the customer, as they are looking for uniformity in their selections.  Aggravated customers will buy elsewhere.

Again, the asparagus looks fresh, looks good, but the various sizes detract from their appearance.  Does this asparagus meet the size requirements for U.S. No 1?   Yes, unless otherwise specified, the spears are required to have a minimum diameter of 1/2 inch.   Meaning, there is no length requirement, and there is no maximum diameter.

Do any products have requirements for uniformity?   There are a few.  If you read their USDA Inspection Instructions some products have to meet the requirement of being fairly uniform.  Unfortunately the definition of fairly uniform varies from commodity to commodity.  For example, their is no uniformity requirement for apples in bags.  But for apples packed in tray-pack cartons, they must be fairly uniform, meaning the smallest apple does not vary more that 1/2 inch in diameter from the largest apple in the container.  For peaches, the definition of fairly uniform is more convoluted.  For peaches packed 45 or less to a carton, they cannot vary by more than 1/2 inch, but for peaches packed 80 or more to a carton they cannot vary more than 1/4 inch in diameter from the smallest peach to the largest peach.

So what do you do?  The bottom line,  if you are the packer, your customers are looking for a uniformly sized pack.  Don’t pack a jumble pack of different sizes and expect repeat sales.  If you are a receiver, you can take some steps to demand uniformity from your suppliers.  By adding your own company specifications to your orders you can establish your own minimum and maximum lengths and minimum and maximum diameters.  Your suppliers would have to meet your specifications or face rejection.  This practice is becoming much more common-place within the industry.

One of the easiest ways to document and explain a problem you are finding, is to take a digital picture of the defect and e-mail the image(s) to the shipper.  Sounds easy enough, right?  There are few procedures to follow when taking digital pictures, but you first have to decide when a picture is worth the time.

If you encounter an unusual defect, something you are unaccustomed to seeing, is a good time for a picture.  You may find scars on citrus, misshapen tomatoes, discoloration on honeydews, or poorly colored apples.  Situations such as these are a great time to pull out the digital camera and take a few pictures of the problem you are finding.  It may be difficult to describe the scars (how many scars, how dark, how large, how rough), or the discoloration (brown or black, location on the melon, or if the discoloration is sunken.)  When reporting the apples being poorly colored, or light in color, a picture saves time and frustration of trying to describe the light color as pink, or light red, or reddish pink, or on 33% or 40% or on 50% of the apple’s surface.

As you can see from setting two apples up, side by side, the poorly colored apple is easily identified.

When taking your pictures you do want the image to be representative of what you are finding.  Try to find a neutral background, one that will allow the product to stand out.  It is a good idea to take one or two pictures of the product still in the container.  This clears up any doubt to the interested parties of the identity of the product.

As you can see from the above image, the brand is easily identifiable, and I took an image of the product in an open container.  No rearranging of the product to misrepresent the problems found.  This will show the shipper exactly how the product looks .

You will then want to place some of the defective specimens on a plain background.  Try to have the background color contrast with the products color.  Lay out a few of the defects, showing good examples of what you are finding.

To produce a clear, close-up of the defect you may have to experiment with a few of the camera settings.  First and foremost, placing the camera on a steady object will be a huge benefit.  If you can set the shutter to a timer release, click on the shutter and then remove your hands from the camera, this will produce much clearer  images.  Take a few images with the flash setting on and take a few with the flash setting off.  Choose the best images and e-mail your images to the shipper with a short message describing how many (percentages) of the defect you are finding.

If you feel uneasy around a camera, the USDA offers to take the digital images for you.  They will follow the same procedures as outlined above, and there will be a fee for their service.  They will charge $74 per hour, which includes the time spent setting up the shots, finding some samples, taking the pictures, downloading and e-mailing, as well as administrative time spent on the billing and recording.  It is safe to say the fee will about $74 to $148, plus any mileage expenses involved, at $1.32 per mile, round-trip.

I would suggest taking the pictures yourself and sending them to the shipper.  Upon seeing the problem, the shipper may work out a price adjustment or a solution and save everyone the time and money of following up with a USDA inspection.  If your come across some strange defects, send me some of your pictures and I will share them on the web site.  Send your images to:  tyawman@ipt.us.com

As 2008 comes to a close, it is time to get ready for the shipments of Chilean grapes and stone fruit to hit the U.S.  One of the most common mistakes made is the assumption that all Chilean Fruit, being imported into the United States, has passed a USDA inspection.

  The confusion is understandable for a few reasons.  The USDA does inspect the Chilean Fruit, but this is for the prevention of pests/insects coming into the country.  This is performed by USDA/APHIS, Plant Protection Quarantine (PPQ).  Some importers do utilize the USDA/AMS/Fresh Products Branch to inspect the incoming fruit, but this is only for quality control purposes, on a voluntary basis.

Does this mean if the fruit is found our of grade, the fruit is sent back to Chile?  No, the fruit is allowed to remain in the United States regardless of any problems, for example, decay, freezing injury, or damaged containers.

Will the containers be marked, as which lots were in grade and which lots were out of grade?  No, there will be no designations; in fact some grower’s fruit may be in grade, while other grower’s fruit may be out of grade, within the same shipment.

The grapes taste sour, does this affect the U.S. No. 1 Grade?  Yes, depending the variety of Table Grapes, they must meet a minimum percentage of soluble solids.  For example, Thompson Seedless must have a minimum of 16.5% Soluble Solids.

The USDA quality control inspections and inspections by private inspection companies are performed at the ports, to determine the quality of the fruit; to determine which fruit can be placed in storage, and which fruit must be sent to the markets for immediate use. 

Remember to inspect all incoming shipments thoroughly and don’t assume the fruit has already passed a vigorous inspection process.

As the USDA is going through their reorganization plans, it has been announced that inspectors will be reduced and a few offices will close.  Is this going to affect the wholesalers, who rely on the inspection service?  Will many opt for using their own QC program and only use the USDA when necessary?  How is the morale holding up for the inspectors on the front line?