Inspection and Sampling
CFRP will continue to focus inspection efforts on “California Feed Safety Inspections” at commercial feed licensed locations every 2-5 years, depending on priority determined by licensee operations. These comprehensive inspections cover Preventive Controls (PC) for Animal Food, Current Good Manufacturing Practices (CGMP), and other applicable requirements such as medicated feed CGMPs, the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) rule, and the veterinary feed directive (VFD) rule, as well as compliance with all California commercial feed laws and regulations.
Although sample numbers have been down in 2024 and 2025 due to vacant positions, CFRP aims to be fully staffed in 2026. CFRP’s sampling goal for 2026 is 850 commercial feed samples with 60% focus on feed safety and 40% on label compliance. CFRP inspectors will once again be assisting the California Animal Health and Food Safety (CAHFS) Laboratory in obtaining feed samples in support of their Laboratory Flexible Funding Model (LFFM) agreement with FDA.
Regulations Modernization
California Department of Food and Agriculture’s (CDFA) Commercial Feed Regulatory Program (CFRP) is working to modernize standards for commercial feed labeling within the California Code of Regulations (CCR) in alignment with the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) Model Bill. The notice of proposed rulemaking and proposed text is expected to be released for public comment in 2026.
Licensing and Tonnage
CFRP will continue implementing delinquent fees related to tonnage reporting and payments, and license renewals in 2026. CFRP will continue to implement routine tonnage and license examinations in 2026. Selections for examination will be random, and no licensees will be exempt from an examination regardless of the number of tons reported. Inspection tonnage tax examinations will be inclusive of manufacturers, brokers, and distributors of all tonnage types.
Animal Feed Regulatory Program Standards Cooperative Agreement
CFRP was awarded a new Animal Feed Regulatory Program Standards (AFRPS) Maintenance cooperative agreement from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This new agreement will provide CFRP with $300,000 per year for the next three years to support activities maintaining implementation of the animal feed regulatory program standards, including regulatory updates, inspector training and continuing education, firm inventory maintenance, auditing, industry outreach, and more.
SAFE
In 2026, SAFE plans to provide a Food Safety Plan Refresher Workshop, available to current Preventive Controls Qualified Individuals (PCQI) to engage in ways to maintain and strengthen their livestock feed mill Food Safety Plan. SAFE will also publish updated guidance regarding known and reasonably foreseeable feed safety hazards. SAFE will continue to provide educational food safety plan consultations upon request.
SAFE will provide new and updated feed label guidance in tandem with the upcoming label modernization regulations and continue to provide educational feed label review upon request.
In collaboration with the CDFA Fairs and Expositions Branch, SAFE will provide guidance to support education of youth livestock fair exhibitors on the fundamentals of feed safety and judicious use of all feed and drugs.
In collaboration with CFRP, SAFE will provide outreach to industry and offer support with accurate selection of feed category and feed type in quarterly tonnage reporting. SAFE utilizes data from reports of quarterly inspection tonnage tax to publish the annual Commercial Feed Tonnage Report. The annual tonnage report shows total tonnage and types of commercial feed including by-product diversion distributed in California, which is a valuable resource for industry. SAFE and the CFRP will also continue to support outreach efforts regarding safe by-product diversion to commercial feed.
SAFE will continue to keep industry up to date via the Run of the Mill blog, website, Quarterly Feed Update Newsletter, and email bulletins to all subscribers and via collaboration with the California Grain and Feed Association’s ‘Conveyor” newsletter. SAFE will continue to be engaged with industry conferences within the state and will be available to provide educational presentations upon request.