- September 23, 2025
- By Graham Binder
While most American food is no longer grown on farms where chickens scratch the soil next to beds of lush vegetables, traditional "integrated crop-livestock" (ICLF) farms are making a comeback, in part because fresh food from farmers’ markets and co-ops is rising in popularity.
But an older style of agriculture is bringing with it new threats: Antimicrobial resistance and bacterial infections on small farms are also on the rise.
Now, through a new $935,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), a University of Maryland team will set out to improve the safety and quality of pasture food products grown in small ICLFs.
“Many of the folks working on the farm are not properly trained,” said Debrabata Biswas, project director on the grant. For instance, “some chicken processors are not following proper safety procedures like hand washing, changing clothes or boots, or washing with the right kind of water to kill the pathogens, and then they are going back to the produce farm and harvesting spinach or lettuce.”
Over the three-year term of the grant, Biswas and his team will first visit at least a dozen farms across the state first to collect samples of pathogenic listeria and campylobacter and determine which are resistant to antibiotics. They will also determine the prevalence of these pathogens in food products at farmers’ markets and on-farm retail stores.
Next the team aims to develop an affordable produce-washing method using citrus oil or a berry byproduct called pomace that can kill pathogenic bacteria.
The final objective is to collaborate with colleagues from Frostburg State and University of Maryland Extension to provide farmers with training and education on food safety practices like safe dumping of wastewater and proper composting.
Biswas plans to publish his team’s findings and recommendations on an open-access website for all ICLF operators to access.