Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 8/10/18

The FDA is still trying to figure out what caused the deadly E. coli O157:H7 romaine lettuce outbreak that dragged on for months this spring and summer — and what the agency finds could have big implications for the produce industry and how it coexists with animal agriculture, reports Pro Ag's Helena Bottemiller Evich this morning.

Officials determined months ago that the greens likely came from Yuma, Ariz., a produce hub located right at the intersection of the Arizona, California and Mexico borders, but investigators haven't been able to pinpoint the problem. In June, CDC said its lab testing found the outbreak strain of E. coli O157:H7 in canal water samples taken from the region, without revealing specifics.

These days, FDA investigators are on the ground in Southwestern Arizona looking into a theory: The idea that a large concentrated animal feeding operation situated near produce fields might be the source of the contamination.

"FDA continues to consider that contaminated water coming into contact with produce, either through direct irrigation or other means, is a viable explanation for the pattern of contamination," the agency explained in a statement this week. "But other hypotheses were discussed as well. FDA notes that the canal is close to a Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation, a facility with a large number of cattle on the premises. The CAFO can hold in excess of 100,000 head of cattle at any one time, and the FDA traceback information showed a clustering of romaine lettuce farms nearby."

The CAFO at the center of the storm: The FDA didn't name the operation, but locals — and everyone in the leafy greens industry — is aware of exactly which feedlot officials are referring to. It's the McElhaney Feedyard in Wellton, Ariz., a town of some 2,800 people a little more than 30 miles east of Yuma. The operation, formerly owned by JBS, is now part of Five Rivers Cattle, LLC, which bills itself as the largest cattle feeder in the world — it just happens to also be located in prime leafy greens country.

The coming season. While FDA continues the investigation, the leafy greens industry is racing to make changes as it prepares for its growing season, for which planting in the Yuma area is expected to begin in a matter of weeks. Changes are already in the works: The industry recently decided to triple its standard for the distance allowed between CAFOs and growing fields — to 1,200 feet from 400 feet.