Plant Operations Pack

Eastern Cape Aquaponic Farm

Companion document to the Partnership Proposal. This pack covers the plant side of the operation in operational detail — every document below is something your team can pick up and run from on day one.

Prepared by Richard Buschagne, YBA Group — 2026-05-06

What’s in this pack

This document brings together five operational deliverables, written to be used together:

1. Planting & Cohort Rotation Plan — what we plant, how many, when, and how the staggered rotation guarantees a consistent weekly harvest
2. Seedling Nutrition + Spray Plan — how we raise seedlings to transplant-readiness in a coupled aquaponic system without risking the fish
3. Grow-Out Plant Nutrition + Feeding Plan — water-quality targets, supplemental feeding, cultivar-specific protocols, deficiency identification
4. Harvesting + Post-Harvest Plan — cut technique, cold-chain, grading, packaging, traceability, delivery
5. Per-Stage Operations SOPs — seven Standard Operating Procedures that govern every stage of plant operations from seed-room to dispatch, plus a master daily checklist, records register, and escalation triggers

All five are written from a shared operating doctrine: engineered for safety, operated for precision, projected conservatively, delivered above expectation. All critical systems sit at 200 % of needed capacity. We operate at 50–80 % of engineered ceiling. Fish biomass safety overrides every plant-side decision without exception.

1. Planting & Cohort Rotation Plan

Prepared for: Eastern Cape Aquaponic Operation System: Coupled Tilapia + Pangasius RAS → NFT/DWC leafy bed Grow area baseline: ~500 m² (scalable 300–800 m²) Doctrine: Engineered for safety, operated for precision — harvested every single week of the year.

1.1 Cultivar Matrix

The cultivars below are commercial-proven in South African aquaponic systems, hold well at the cool-leaning water temperatures typical of Eastern Cape tunnels (18–22 °C), and have established buyer demand through retail, HORECA (hotels, restaurants, catering), and farmgate channels.

Density assumes NFT channels at 150 mm spacing or DWC rafts with the equivalent hole pattern. Yields are conservative — within the 50–80 % operating envelope of the system’s engineered ceiling.

1.2 Staggered Cohort Production Plan

For a buyer to trust a farm, the harvest must arrive the same day, every week, in the same volume. We achieve this through a rolling cohort system — every week a new cohort enters the seedling room, and every week a mature cohort leaves the channels.

Allocation across the 500 m² grow area

Cohort cadence — weekly drumbeat

Cohort naming convention: W{week}-{crop}-C{cohort#}. Example: W18-LET-C18 = Week 18 of the year, Lettuce cohort #18.

Because lettuce sits in channels for ~30 days post-transplant, roughly 4 lettuce cohorts are always in the channels simultaneously. Each week, the oldest cohort is harvested and the newly-seeded cohort enters the tray room. The system breathes evenly.

Indicative weekly output (steady state)

• Lettuce: 280–340 kg (≈1,400 heads)
• Rocket: 35–45 kg
• Spinach (winter slot) / Basil (summer slot): 30–40 kg
• Mixed herbs (parsley, coriander, mint): 20–25 kg
• Total weekly supply: ~370–450 kg leafy + herb produce

1.3 Seasonal Calendar — Eastern Cape SA

The Eastern Cape gives us cool winters (single-digit nights, 12–18 °C days) and moderate summers (22–28 °C days). Tunnel protection plus the warm fish-water inflow lets us run lettuce nearly year-round — but we lean into cold-tolerant crops in winter and heat-loving herbs in summer.

1.4 Seedling Tray Planning

The seedling room is the engine. Every cohort lives here for 10–28 days before joining the channels.

Total active trays at any moment: ~45–55 across three age cohorts.

Sowing-to-transplant readiness — all three must be true:

1. True leaves: 2–3 true leaves visible
2. Root mat: Roots fully bind the plug; white root tips at base
3. Height: 4–7 cm tall, sturdy stem, no leggy stretch

If any one criterion fails, the cohort waits 2–3 days. Never transplant on a calendar — transplant on readiness.

Seed-room environment targets: Air 20–24 °C • Humidity 60–70 % • Light 14–16 hr/day (LED supplement in winter) • Misting 4–6 short cycles/day for first 7 days, then taper

1.5 Risk Register + Flex Cultivars

Three swap-in cultivars (fail-safes):

1. Swiss Chard ‘Bright Lights’ — replaces spinach in mild shoulder seasons
2. Mizuna — replaces rocket if aphid pressure spikes; 21-day cycle, premium HORECA pull
3. Dill ‘Ella’ — replaces coriander when bolting unmanageable; same channel, same nutrient profile

2. Seedling Nutrition + Spray Plan

Every product, dosage, and interval below is chosen with one constraint: nothing we apply to plants can harm the fish. That rules out most conventional sprays and demands prevention-first discipline — which produces stronger plants anyway.

2.1 Propagation Media Protocol

Pre-soak / conditioning:

• Coco peat: soak in pH 5.8–6.0 water 30 min, drain, second flush at pH 6.2. Squeeze test — clumps but doesn’t drip.
• Rockwool: soak in pH 5.5 water 1 hr (rockwool is naturally alkaline at ~7.8 — must be acid-conditioned). Drain fully — never sow into saturated cubes.

Seeding depth + cover:

Cover trays with humidity domes until 50 % germination, then ventilate.

2.2 Pre-Transplant Nutrition

Recommended approach: separate hydroponic feed nursery. Seedlings run on dedicated nursery solution — not fish-system water — until transplant. Young roots can’t tolerate the fluctuating ammonia/nitrite spikes of a maturing fish loop, and nursery EC needs tighter control than aquaponic water typically allows.

Nutrients that matter most at this stage: Calcium (cell wall strength), Magnesium (chlorophyll), Potassium (root development), Silica (pest resistance, stem rigidity). Phosphorus modest — easy to overdose.

2.3 Transplant Readiness — All four must tick

• True leaves: 3–4 fully expanded true leaves
• Root mat: white roots visible at plug base, holding media when lifted
• Height: 60–100 mm; stem firm, not leggy
• Colour: deep, even green (no purpling = P deficiency, no yellowing = N deficiency or overwatering)

Hardening-off (Days 19–21):

1. Day −3: remove humidity domes; drop nursery temp 2–3 °C overnight
2. Day −2: increase airflow; reduce watering 25 %
3. Day −1: expose to direct tunnel light full day; final feed at full nursery EC
4. Transplant morning: soak plugs in plain pH 6.5 water 10 min before placing into the aquaponic system

2.4 Preventive IPM Toolkit (Aquaponic-Safe, OMRI-aligned, SA-Available)

Rotate active ingredients to avoid resistance — never the same product more than 2 consecutive weeks.

2.5 Curative Response Table

When two products combine, mix in this order: water → silica → biological → wetter. Always agitate continuously.

2.6 Hard Rules — The Never-Do List

1. Never spray inside 4 hours of transplant
2. Never apply systemic pesticides — most are acutely fish-toxic
3. Always trial-test on 5 % of seedlings for 48 hours
4. Always isolate sprayed beds from the fish loop for 6 hours minimum after application; drain runoff to waste during this window, never to the sump
5. Never tank-mix neem + sulphur — phytotoxic combination
6. Never spray above 28 °C or in direct midday sun
7. Never reuse spray-tank water the next day — mix fresh, every time

2.7 Daily Seedling-Room Walk-Through (5-minute morning check)

• Air temp 18–24 °C, humidity 60–75 %
• Nursery solution EC + pH logged (target 1.0–1.4 / 5.8–6.2)
• No standing water in tray catchment, no dryness in plugs
• Visual scan for damping-off
• Underside of leaves — aphids, mites, whitefly eggs
• Sticky traps checked + counted
• Yellowing/purpling/leaf curl flagged for nutrition review
• Fan + airflow operational; no still-air pockets
• Domes removed/replaced per germination phase
• Logbook entry: date, observations, actions

Five minutes a day prevents five days of recovery.

3. Grow-Out Plant Nutrition + Feeding Plan

In a coupled aquaponic system, the fish are your fertiliser factory. Every gram of feed becomes plant nutrition on the other side. But fish feed alone doesn’t perfectly match plant demand — plants want more potassium, calcium, iron, and magnesium than fish biology delivers. This document closes that gap, safely.

3.1 Grow-Out Water Quality Targets — Plant Side

These are targets at the plant root zone (after water leaves the fish tanks). They differ from fish-tank targets — coupled aquaponics is always a negotiated compromise.

3.2 Daily Feed-Rate to Plant-Area Ratio

The single most useful number in aquaponics: how much fish feed supports how much plant area.

Industry standard: 60–100 g fish feed per m² leafy-green grow area per day.

Plant area (m²) = Daily fish feed (g) ÷ feed-rate target (g/m²/day)

Worked example: 50 kg/day fish feed at peak ÷ 80 g/m²/day = 625 m² supported leafy area (sits inside the 300–800 m² envelope).

Fish feed is roughly 6–7 % nitrogen by mass; most exits as ammonia → nitrate. Too little plant area → nitrate climbs toxic. Too much plant area → plants starve. The 60–100 g/m²/day band is where the loop balances.

Rule of thumb: start any new grow area at 60 g/m²/day, monitor nitrate weekly, step up only when readings stabilise.

3.3 Supplemental Feeding Protocol

What fish can’t give plants — and how we add it without harming the fish.

Foliar feeding schedule (fish-safe sprays only — to leaves, not into system water)

Always spray before 09:00 — leaf stomata close in heat; wet leaves at midday burn.

3.4 Cultivar-Specific Feeding Playbook

3.5 Deficiency Identification — Quick Reference

Golden rule: symptom on new growth = immobile nutrients (Fe, Ca, B, Mn). On old growth = mobile nutrients (N, K, Mg).

3.6 Weekly Feeding-Tasks Checklist

4. Harvesting + Post-Harvest Plan

We grow our greens, herbs, and fish in one closed loop: fish feed plants, plants clean water for fish. That coupling means produce reaches buyers with no synthetic fertiliser, no field soil, and no surprises. The protocol below makes every leaf cut, cooled, and delivered to a single repeatable standard.

4.1 Per-Cultivar Harvest Criteria

Why cut times matter: plants are coolest, most turgid, and highest in sugars at dawn. Pre-dawn cut delivers a leaf that lasts 1–2 days longer in the cold room than midday cut.

4.2 Pre-Harvest Preparation (24 hours out)

Day before:

• Root flush — switch the affected channel from nutrient-rich system water to a clean freshwater rinse cycle for 12–18 hours. Reduces residual nitrate in tissue, improves shelf life.
• Fish-side feed adjustment — Tilapia/Pangasius feed reduced 20 % evening before to lower system ammonia load.
• Tool sanitation — knives, scissors, crates washed and sanitised with Sanosil S010 (peroxyacetic acid, food-grade, 200 ppm) or chlorinated water at 100 ppm. Air-dried.
• Crate sanitation — food-grade HDPE crates washed, sanitised, stacked inverted overnight.
• Pre-cooled rinse water — 200 L food-grade tank chilled to 5–8 °C overnight, ready by 04:30.

Harvest morning, before first cut:

• Staff: clean uniform, hairnet, gloves, hands washed at 04:45, no jewellery, no perfume, no nail polish
• Cold rooms verified: 2–4 °C (greens), 12–15 °C (basil — see §4.4)

4.3 Cut Technique by Cultivar

4.4 Immediate Post-Cut Handling — Cold Chain Starts NOW

Within 5–10 minutes of cut:

1. Cut produce drops directly into pre-cooled rinse tank (5–8 °C, 50–100 ppm food-grade chlorine for retail; plain chilled potable water for organic-certified line)
2. Submerge 60–90 sec, agitate gently
3. Restaurant-bound — light shake-dry, leave moist (consumed within 24–48 h)
4. Retail-bound — spin-dry in food-grade salad spinner (3–5 sec, no bruising)

Crate stacking:

• Lettuce / spinach / rocket: max 4 kg per crate, single layer where possible
• Basil / mint: max 2 kg per crate — herbs bruise fastest
• Crates never stacked more than 4 high; no compaction

Cold room targets:

Cut-to-cold-room time: target <30 min, max 1 hour. Logged every harvest day.

4.5 Grading + Packaging

Packaging:

• Retail bag: 100 g or 150 g sealed pouch, header label
• Restaurant bulk: 500 g or 1 kg HDPE crate with delivery note
• Live lettuce: whole plant, root ball intact, clamshell — extends shelf life to 10–14 days at customer cold room

Label (every unit, SA traceability): Farm name • Cultivar • Harvest date • Lot code • Batch weight • “Keep refrigerated 2–4 °C” (or 12–15 °C for basil)

4.6 Cold Chain + Delivery

Rotation: strict FIFO, lot-code-tracked. Delivery vehicle: pre-cooled to 4 °C minimum 30 min before loading; basil in separate insulated tote at 12–15 °C. Temperature check at delivery: logged on customer signature sheet. Cold-chain break protocol: if any product exceeds spec by >2 °C for >1 hr, downgraded one tier, donated, or written off — never delivered as A-grade.

4.7 Compliance + Traceability

Records (paper + digital, 24 months):

• Harvest log (cohort, weight, grade split, time of cut, time to cold room)
• Tool + crate sanitation log (signature + ppm reading)
• Cold-room temp log (4× daily, automatic logger backup)
• Customer-delivery receipts with temperature signature
• Hand-wash log

Lot code structure: YYYYMMDD-CULTIVAR-CohortID Example: 20260507-LET-W18C2 = 7 May 2026, Lettuce, Week 18 Cohort 2.

Mock-recall drill: quarterly. Pick a random delivered unit, trace it back through cold-room → harvest log → cohort → seedling tray → seed lot in under 30 minutes. Documented and shared with key accounts on request.

4.8 Daily + Weekly Checklists

Daily harvest morning (04:30–08:00):

1. Cold rooms verified at target temps
2. Rinse tank pre-cooled to 5–8 °C
3. Tools sanitised, ppm verified
4. Crates sanitised + dry
5. Staff hand-wash + uniform check
6. Harvest list confirmed against cohort schedule
7. Pre-dawn cut (lettuce, rocket, spinach)
8. Cut-to-tank within 10 min
9. Mid-morning cut (basil, mint, parsley)
10. Spin-dry / shake-dry per channel
11. Grading station active
12. Packaging + labelling
13. Cold-room intake logged
14. Delivery vehicle pre-cooled
15. Loss log updated

Weekly summary (every Friday for the week ahead): cohort-by-cohort schedule for next 7 days, expected kg per cultivar per day, allocated to confirmed customer orders.

Loss log: Date • Cultivar • Cohort • Cut weight • Reject % • Reason. Target reject rate: <5 %.

5. Per-Stage Operations SOPs

Operating doctrine: Engineered for safety, operated for precision, projected conservatively, delivered above expectation. All systems run at 50–80 % of engineered capacity. Fish biomass safety overrides all plant-side decisions without exception.

Scope: Plant-side operations only. Fish husbandry SOPs are issued separately. Cultivar lists, nutrition recipes, feeding rates, spray schedules, and harvest specifications live in their respective plans (§§1–4) and are referenced where relevant. This section does not duplicate those numbers — it tells staff when and how to apply them.

SOP 01 — Seed Sourcing + Storage

Purpose: Guarantee every plant entering the system is from an approved cultivar, traceable to a logged seed lot, stored in viability-preserving conditions.

Daily checklist:

1. Seed-room temp logged (target band per Planting Plan)
2. Seed-room humidity logged
3. Visual: no condensation, no rodent sign, no spilled lots
4. Lock seed room at end of shift; sign access register

Weekly:

1. Audit seed-room logger against calibrated reference
2. FIFO walk: pull lots within 30 days of expiry to front; flag past-expiry for disposal
3. Reconcile inventory against physical count for one cultivar group (rotate weekly so all groups counted monthly)
4. Wipe shelving, seal-check storage containers

Monthly:

1. Germination test on each open lot — 50 seeds, damp paper, 7-day count. Record % against lot card. Below threshold → flag for HQ review before reuse
2. Reconcile total inventory against digital register; investigate variance
3. Review upcoming planting plan; pre-order any cultivar with <8 weeks stock

Critical thresholds + alarm response:

Records: Seed lot card • Seed-room environment log (daily) • Germination test log (monthly) • Inventory register (digital)

Failure modes + recovery:

• Lot fails germination → quarantine, notify HQ, request supplier replacement
• Overnight temperature excursion → pull affected lots, immediate germination spot-check on most-affected cultivar before sowing
• Unexpected cultivar arrives → isolate; HQ decides accept/return
• Lot card lost → quarantine until supplier paperwork reissued

SOP 02 — Propagation / Seedling Nursery

Purpose: Produce uniform, hardened seedlings ready for transplant on schedule, with full traceability back to seed lot. Nutrition + foliar applications follow the Seedling Nutrition + Spray Plan — this SOP governs operations, not recipes.

Daily checklist:

1. 07:00 — Walk every tray; note wilt, damping-off, leaf discolouration on cohort sheet
2. 07:15 — pH + EC on nursery feed reservoir; record. Adjust per Plan if outside band
3. 07:30 — Watering / flood cycle running; timer firing
4. 07:45 — Thin or prick out any cohort flagged yesterday
5. 12:00 — Mid-day temp / humidity; vent if above ceiling
6. 15:30 — Second walk; spot-water dry trays
7. 16:30 — Lock down: timers set, vents set overnight, log signed

Weekly:

1. Full EC + pH meter recalibration with fresh standards
2. Transplant-readiness assessment per readiness rubric; flag cohorts hitting transplant window
3. Hardening-off rotation: cohorts within 5 days of transplant move to hardening bench
4. Sanitise empty trays + propagation cells per SOP 07
5. Refresh sticky-trap cards; log counts

Monthly:

1. Deep-clean nursery floor, drains, benches
2. Service nursery dosing pump + feed lines; descale if EC drift trend exceeds tolerance
3. Review cohort yield-from-sow rate (seeds sown vs viable transplants); flag any cultivar trending below 85 %

Critical thresholds + alarm response:

Records: Cohort sheet (per sow batch) • Nursery environment log (daily) • Sticky trap count log (weekly) • Cleaning log

Failure modes + recovery:

• Cohort lagging transplant date → notify manager; adjust planting plan downstream; do not transplant under-developed seedlings
• Damping-off outbreak → quarantine bench; identify cause (overwatering, poor airflow, contaminated trays); review last sanitation
• Pest breakthrough → IPM SOP 05 curative protocol; check fish-safety clearance before any spray
• EC drift across multiple days → suspect dosing pump or stock solution; pause auto-dosing; manual mix until serviced

SOP 03 — Transplant

Purpose: Move hardened seedlings into grow-out channels with zero shock, full cohort traceability.

Cohort numbering: YY-WW-CULT-CH## — year, ISO week of transplant, cultivar code, channel number. Example: 26-19-LET-CH04.

Daily checklist (transplant days only):

1. Confirm grow-out water quality before any transplant: pH, EC, DO, temperature within Grow-Out Plan band. No transplant if any parameter out of band.
2. Inspect target channel: clean, no algae mat, no debris, flow uniform end-to-end
3. Pre-label channel with cohort number on the channel tag before the first plant goes in
4. Pull only the cohort scheduled for that day from the hardening bench
5. Handle root mats by the substrate plug, never by the stem
6. Set seedlings at correct depth — collar above the channel surface, roots in the flow
7. Walk the channel within 30 min of completion: any plant lifted, shifted, or dry gets reset
8. Record transplant in transplant log: cohort, channel, count, time, operator, water-quality readings at start

Weekly:

1. 48-hour post-transplant audit: count losses on each channel transplanted in previous week; investigate if losses exceed 2 %
2. Channel rotation review with manager: confirm next week’s transplant against channel availability
3. Inspect + sanitise transplant tools and trolleys (per SOP 07)

Monthly:

1. Reconcile transplant log against nursery cohort sheets — every cohort sown must have a transplant record or documented loss reason
2. Review transplant-loss trend by cultivar; flag patterns for HQ

Critical thresholds + alarm response:

Records: Transplant log (per cohort) • 48-hour post-transplant audit (per cohort)

Failure modes + recovery:

• Channel flow uneven across length → halt transplant in low-flow section; flush channel; rebalance manifold before continuing
• Cohort over-hardened (woody) → manager decides accept-with-monitoring or reject; log either way
• Root mats stuck together → tease apart with clean fingers, never knife unless trained; expect higher 48-hr loss
• Wrong cohort transplanted into wrong channel → do not move plants — update channel tag and log the swap; notify manager so harvest planning is corrected

SOP 04 — Grow-Out Operations

Purpose: Maintain water chemistry, system mechanics, and plant condition through vegetative stage so every cohort reaches harvest spec on schedule. Feed rates + foliar inputs follow the Grow-Out Feeding Plan.

Daily checklist:

1. 07:00 — Walk every channel: visual scan for wilt, yellowing, pest, mechanical issues
2. 07:15 — Water-quality round on each system loop: pH, EC, nitrate, DO, water temp. Record on system log
3. 07:30 — Confirm sump levels, top-up reservoir, all pumps + aerators audible and running
4. 07:45 — Apply morning feeding tasks per Feeding Plan
5. 10:00 — Foliar application window if scheduled
6. 12:00 — Mid-day tunnel temp + humidity; vent management
7. 14:00 — Deficiency-spotting walk: target one system loop per day on rotation; close inspection of leaf colour, vein pattern, growth rate vs cohort sheet
8. 15:30 — Second water-quality round (pH, DO, temp minimum)
9. 16:30 — End-of-day round: log cohort progress notes, set overnight tunnel config, sign log

Weekly:

1. Pre-filter + mechanical filter clean (coordinate with fish lead — confirm before isolating any flow)
2. Biofilter visual + flow check; never disturb media
3. Tubing flush on one system loop per week, on rotation, so all loops flushed monthly
4. Calibrate pH + EC meters with fresh standards
5. Cohort progress reconciliation: every channel scored against Planting Plan growth curve; any cohort >5 days behind curve flagged

Monthly:

1. Full system audit: pumps drawn-down test, aerator output measurement, manifold balance, sensor cross-check against handheld reference
2. Reservoir + sump deep-inspection (no full drain — work around fish biomass safety per fish SOPs)
3. Review month’s water-quality trend with manager + fish lead; jointly agree any feed-rate or stocking adjustments

Critical thresholds + alarm response:

Records: System log (twice-daily water quality per loop) • Cohort sheet (continued from nursery) • Foliar application log • Filter + maintenance log • Downtime log

Failure modes + recovery:

• pH drift toward acidic → flag fish lead, add buffering per Plan in small steps, recheck hourly until stable
• Sudden DO drop → check aeration first, then pump, then biological load; if biological, alert fish lead immediately
• Cohort growth stalled → review last 14 days EC, nitrate, temp; check root health; rule out pest before assuming nutrition
• Filter blockage → clean per Plan; if recurring, investigate upstream cause (algae, fish waste spike) with fish lead
• Localised wilt mid-channel → suspect flow blockage; flush; check root mass for mat-blocking

SOP 05 — Integrated Pest Management (IPM)

Purpose: Keep pest + disease pressure below action thresholds using prevention first, biological second, curative last. Every spray decision is gated on fish safety. Product list + rates per Seedling Spray Plan and Grow-Out Feeding Plan.

Daily checklist:

1. 07:00 walk — score each channel section on a 0–3 pest-pressure scale (0 = clean, 3 = action required). Log on IPM sheet
2. Inspect undersides of leaves on one cohort per day, on rotation
3. Check sticky-trap cards in nursery, grow-out, tunnel entry; log counts
4. Check outdoor perimeter for new pest pressure (especially after warm/wet days)
5. Confirm tunnel doors closed; footbath topped up

Weekly:

1. Replace sticky-trap cards; transfer counts to trend sheet
2. Apply preventive spray cycle per Seedling Spray Plan + Grow-Out IPM schedule — only after fish-safety clearance
3. Beneficial-insect release if scheduled
4. Walk with manager; jointly review pest-pressure trend; decide any escalation

Monthly:

1. Pest-pressure trend review — month-on-month; flag any rising trend by pest type
2. Audit spray-application log for completeness + operator sign-off
3. Quarantine-zone audit: any active quarantine cohort reviewed for release or extension

Fish-safety clearance protocol — mandatory before ANY spray:

1. Confirm product is on the approved aquaponic-safe list (per Plans)
2. Confirm method: foliar only, no run-off into channels
3. Notify fish lead 30 min before application; receive go-ahead
4. Cover any open channel section in spray zone
5. Apply per Plan rate — never over-rate
6. Post-spray water-quality check at next round; flag any anomaly
7. Sign spray-application log with fish lead’s clearance reference

Critical thresholds + alarm response:

Records: Daily IPM sheet • Sticky-trap log + trend chart • Spray-application log (date, product, rate, area, operator, fish-safety clearance ref, post-spray water check) • Quarantine register

Failure modes + recovery:

• Curative spray needed but fish-safety clearance refused → manual removal (handpicking, leaf strip, cohort cull) until safe product/method available
• Pest score 3 across multiple channels in same week → suspect system-wide entry point (door, vent, new staff, infected cohort); investigate before further spraying
• Spray drift into open channel → stop spray immediately; alert fish lead; monitor fish 24 hr; record incident
• Beneficial-insect release ineffective → review release conditions (temp, time of day, predator pressure); adjust + re-release per Plan
• Unidentified symptom → do not guess. Photograph, sample, escalate to HQ. Quarantine in the meantime

SOP 06 — Harvest + Post-Harvest

Purpose: Move every cohort from channel to cold room at peak quality, with full traceability and a holding cold chain. Cut technique + grade specs follow the Harvesting Plan.

Daily checklist (harvest days):

1. 05:30 — Pre-harvest: cold rooms pre-chilled and confirmed at target temp; grading station wiped; packaging staged; labels printed with traceability code
2. 06:00 — Pre-harvest walk: confirm cohort meets harvest spec per Plan; reject any cohort not meeting grade — do not harvest under-spec
3. 06:30 — Cut crew briefed on cohort, technique, target volume, grade
4. Harvest cuts per Plan technique. Cut product moves to grading station within 15 min of cut
5. Cold-chain initiation within 30 min of cut — non-negotiable. Time-stamp first crate into cold room
6. Grading: A / B / Reject. Each grade into its own crate, each crate labelled with traceability code
7. Packaging + labelling per customer spec; every pack carries traceability code
8. Cold-room rotation: today’s harvest to back; today’s outbound from front (FIFO)
9. Pre-dispatch temp verification: probe one crate per delivery; record on dispatch sheet
10. End-of-day: harvest log signed; rejected channel inputs flagged for IPM review

Weekly:

1. Harvest yield reconciliation: actual yield per cohort vs Planting Plan projection. Flag any cohort >10 % under projection
2. Cold-room temp logger audit; calibrate against handheld reference
3. Sanitise grading station, crates, knives (per SOP 07)
4. Review B-grade + reject rate by cultivar; flag patterns

Monthly:

1. Cold-chain audit: review delivery-temp records; any breach investigated
2. Mock-recall drill (rotates with SOP 07; one drill per month total)
3. Customer feedback review with manager; any quality complaint traced to cohort + root-caused

Critical thresholds + alarm response:

Records: Harvest log (per cohort) • Cold-chain log • Dispatch sheet • Yield reconciliation (weekly) • Mock-recall drill (monthly)

Failure modes + recovery:

• Cold room fails overnight → backup cold room engaged immediately; affected stock probed crate-by-crate; anything out of spec downgraded or rejected; incident logged
• Cut crew behind schedule → manager decides: extend window with additional cold-chain capacity, or split cohort across two harvest days
• Customer rejection on delivery → hold rejected pallet at customer site if cold-chain holds; full traceability pulled within 1 hr; root-cause investigation starts same day
• Cohort under spec → diagnose backwards through grow-out log; do not repeat the failure on next cohort of that cultivar without HQ sign-off
• Traceability code mismatch between pack + log → hold all packs from that batch; reconcile from cohort sheet upward; ship only after match confirmed

SOP 07 — Sanitation + Biosecurity

Purpose: Prevent contamination from entering, spreading inside, or leaving the farm. Every cohort starts and ends on a clean surface.

Sanitiser matrix:

Daily checklist:

1. 07:00 — Refresh footbaths at every zone entry
2. Hand-wash + sanitise on entry to nursery, grow-out, harvest zones
3. Wipe-down of grading station + harvest tools at end of harvest
4. Sanitise transplant tools after each cohort moved
5. End-of-day: bins emptied; floors swept; cohort waste removed from production zones

Weekly:

1. Deep-clean nursery floor + benches
2. Deep-clean grading station, all crates, all knives
3. Pest-monitoring trap audit: rodent, sticky cards, perimeter; replace or reset
4. Visitor-log review with manager
5. Tool sanitation audit — confirm no cross-zone tool movement

Monthly:

1. Mock-recall drill (alternates with SOP 06’s drill calendar — one drill per month total): pick one harvested cohort from last 30 days; trace every pack back to seed lot within 2 hours; report gaps
2. Between-cohort full sanitation cycle on each system loop on rotation
3. Visitor protocol refresher with all staff

Visitor + access protocol:

• All visitors sign visitor log: name, organisation, last farm visited, date
• Visitors who have been on another farm in past 48 hr: footbath + dedicated overshoes + no entry to grow-out
• No visitor enters nursery without manager approval
• Contractors working on equipment: tools wiped on entry; work zone barriered; clean-up sign-off before leaving

Critical thresholds + alarm response:

Records: Cleaning log • Visitor log • Pest-monitoring trap log • Mock-recall drill • Sanitiser stock register

Failure modes + recovery:

• Cross-contamination event suspected → quarantine affected channel; increase monitoring 14 days; document
• Pest sign in food-contact area → halt harvest in that zone; full clean; resume only after manager sign-off
• Mock-recall drill cannot trace a pack → hold all stock from that cohort; reconstruct trace; close gap before next dispatch
• Sanitiser run-out → no improvising — halt the affected operation; restock; resume

Cross-Cutting Page

Master Daily Checklist

Morning round (06:00 – 09:00):

1. (SOP 07) Refresh footbaths; hand sanitise on zone entry
2. (SOP 06) Pre-harvest preparation if harvest day
3. (SOP 02) Nursery walk; pH/EC; watering cycle confirmed
4. (SOP 04) Grow-out walk; full water-quality round on every loop
5. (SOP 04) Pumps + aerators audible-and-running
6. (SOP 05) Pest-pressure score on every channel section; sticky-trap inspection
7. (SOP 04) Morning feeding tasks per Plan
8. (SOP 03) Transplant operations if scheduled — water-quality clearance first
9. (SOP 06) Harvest cuts if scheduled — cold-chain within 30 min
10. (SOP 01) Seed-room temp/humidity log

Afternoon round (14:00 – 17:00):

11. (SOP 02) Second nursery walk; spot-water as needed
12. (SOP 04) Deficiency-spotting walk on rotated loop
13. (SOP 04) Second water-quality round (pH, DO, temp minimum)
14. (SOP 06) Cold-room rotation; dispatch temp verification
15. (SOP 07) End-of-day sanitation: tools, grading station, bins, floors
16. (SOP 04) Tunnel overnight config; vents set
17. All logs signed; lock-up; access registers signed

Records Register

Escalation Triggers

Closing Note

This pack is the operational backbone for the plant side of the operation. It is designed to be lived in — printed where useful, laminated where it gets wet, signed every day. The five plans together give your team everything they need to plant, feed, protect, harvest, and ship at commercial scale, with full traceability and zero risk to the fish.

We will refine these numbers in the first 90 days from your real water chemistry, your real tunnel microclimate, and your first buyer commitments. The skeleton above is the one we plant against from Day 1.

— Richard Buschagne, YBA Group