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Cultivation
Domestic animals should be excluded from orchards during the growing season.
Animal manure may be contaminated with human pathogens such as Salmonella or E. coli O157:H7. Livestock, therefore, should be prevented from entering orchards by physical barriers such as fences.
Animal waste from adjacent livestock operations or waste storage facilities should not be allowed to contaminate the orchard.
If surrounding fields and farms are used for animal production, growers should ensure that animal waste does not enter the orchard or areas where wells are located during heavy rains. This can be accomplished by the use of physical barriers such as ditches, mounds, grass/sod waterways, diversion berms, and vegetative buffer areas.
Wildlife such as deer or waterfowl should be discouraged from entering the orchard.
Control of wild animal populations such as deer or waterfowl in nearby wooded areas, meadows, and waterways is difficult. However, to the extent possible, where high concentrations of wildlife are a concern, growers should discourage these animals from entering the orchard. Visual, auditory, or physical means may be used. Buffer crops that will not be used for fresh market products may be planted between orchards and wild areas to discourage entry of animals.
Apples intended for fresh market or cider production must not be produced in orchards fertilized with raw human or animal wastes.
Because there is a high probability that raw manure contains human pathogens, it may contaminate apples when it is applied. Once the manure is on the ground, pathogens may survive through the season and contaminate apples during heavy rains, by dust carried on the wind, or by workers during harvesting.
Composted manure should not be applied during the growing season.
Maximum temperatures achieved during proper composting are sufficient to kill most human pathogens; however, in practice, the effectiveness of composting in eliminating the risk of microbial contamination in orchards is not well understood. Therefore, if growers use composted manure, it should be applied well before the growing season to allow additional time for pathogen levels to decrease.
To ensure that composting operations are not a source of contamination, keep manure storage and composting sites as far as possible from orchards. Piles should be kept covered to prevent the spread of microorganisms by birds or winds, and runoff during heavy rains should be prevented from reaching the orchard.