With food safety a major health concern, larger farms routinely use customized safety plans to ensure everything’s done by the book now, University of Florida experts are helping smaller farms follow suit.

Workshops offered by UF’s Small Farms Academy at the North Florida Research and Education Center in Live Oak educate producers on essential practices and record-keeping, which can help protect consumers and increase sales, said Bob Hochmuth, a multicounty extension agent based at the center

Two workshops are scheduled for next week, one focused on field-grown vegetables, another on greenhouse production. Space is still available but early registration is strongly encouraged; visit http://nfrec.ifas.ufl.edu.