Agriculture & Food Systems Support

Agriculture & Food Systems Support Leads to Voluntary Compliance

Acting Assistant Director: Jeff Grant 
(602) 542-0984

Division Manager: Wendi Wilcox
(602) 542-0137

The Agriculture & Food Systems Support Division (AFSS) is an innovative compliance assistance program unique to an agricultural regulatory agency. This program embraces the Arizona Department of Agriculture’s (AZDA) goal of encouraging farming, ranching and agribusiness, while protecting consumers and natural resources by utilizing a non-enforcement approach. AFSS is not affiliated with any of AZDA’s enforcement programs, allowing staff members to provide a formal means by which the regulated agricultural community may request compliance assistance without regulatory intervention. Agriculture & Food Systems Support Division serves Arizona’s diverse agricultural community by promoting agriculture, conducting training and increasing voluntary compliance and awareness of regulatory requirements and providing agricultural conservation education.

This mission is accomplished through the following compliance assistance and education programs:

• Agricultural Worker & Handler Pesticide Safety Training
• Air Quality - Agricultural PM10 Best Management Practices
• Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) Training and Certification Cost-Share Program
• Train the Trainer Program

The Agriculture & Food Systems Support Program also houses the following programs:

• Livestock Operator Fire and Flood Assistance Program (LOFFAP)
• Livestock and Crop Conservation Grant Program (LCCGP)
• Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure (RFSI)
• Specialty Crop Block Grant Program (SCBGP)
• Specialty Crop Multi-State Program (SCMP)
• Arizona Citrus Research Council (ACRC)
• Arizona Iceberg Lettuce Research Council (AILRC)
• Arizona Grain Research and Promotion Council (AGRPC)
• Agricultural Employment Relations Board (AERB)

AFSS is not affiliated with on-going enforcement activity within the Department and detected violations are not made available to regulatory personnel except in cases of imminent danger where human health and welfare are concerned.

After visiting a site, AFSS personnel provides the requestor with a detailed evaluation report tailored specifically to the requested subject. The report describes information discussed during the visit and offers corrective recommendations, if applicable.