Farmers need to do their part to make sure their grain will be ready for market, come harvest time.

And the reality is that the onus of that increased scrutiny falls directly into the laps of farmers.

The Keep it Clean program is designed to help farmers deal with that burden.

It’s a joint initiative of the Canola Council of Canada, Cereals Canada, Pulse Canada and the Prairie Oat Growers Association, funded in part by the federal AgriMarketing program, and offers tools to help farmers ensure their crops meet the ever-changing marketing standards of Canada’s international trade partners.

The Keep it Clean website breaks down how farmers can meet these challenges into five tips:

• Use acceptable pesticides
• Always read and follow the label
• Manage disease pressures
• Store your crop properly, and 
• Deliver what you declare.

While there is good buy-in for the program, they say it’s easy to forget about these issues with all the pressures associated with getting the crop in the bin.