Best Management Practices: Guidelines for Pathogen Control at Organic Material Processing Facilities

Environmental pathogens can affect plants and animals, workers, a local environment, and organic material markets. Keeping potentially pathogenic material segregated and contained at processing sites requires management of dust, water and the feedstocks. Proper site layout and appropriate processing technology are other features that maintain control and treatment of pathogens. The unique ability for organic materials to self-heat in large piles, along with reasonable handling techniques can be used to provide excellent control over even some of the most difficult of the plant and animal pathogens that might be delivered to organic material processors. This Best Management Practices document strives to identify the details that make this a predictable outcome.

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