The first digit is the last digit of the year (so for 2011, the first digit is a 1). The next three digits are the day of the year (for January 31, this would be 031). After that comes a “step” number. Harvested product that hasn’t been handled further has a step-code of 1. Finally, we have a “batch” number that helps us separate and track different varieties or sizes; this has little to do with food safety and more to do with our internal tracking and information systems. So, beets harvested on October 7, 2011, would have a lot code of 128011 (1 for the year, 280 for the 280th day of the year, 1 because it’s the first step in the process, and 1 for the batch code).

When we harvest a crop, we always log the date, the amount harvested, and the field on our harvest log. If we plan to hold the crop overnight or longer before packing, we label it with a note card that has the lot code of the harvest on it. This gets binder-clipped to the top tote in the stack.

When we handle product, we write down the lot code of the incoming product, then change the lot code to reflect the handling. If we wash those October 7 beets on January 1, 2012, we’d write down 128011 on the incoming lot code portion of the Packing Log. On the outgoing lot code portion, we’d write 200121 – 2 for the year, 001 for the first day of the year, 2 because it’s the second step in the process, and 1 because it’s still the same batch. — Chris Blanchard