Agriculture Specialist

Job #AHFS-51422-9.11.26-TW

This position is located within the office of Animal Health & Food Safety, Meat & Poultry Inspection Program, in Opelousas, La. Parishes served include St. Landry, Avoyelles, Rapides, Vernon and Evangeline.

This position performs work for the Office of Animal Health Services’ Meat and Poultry Inspection Program, within the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry. The program inspects all animals harvested and processed for human consumption by Louisiana facilities, inspects and approves the premises of regulated facilities to ensure compliance with federal and state requirements, operates a federally accredited laboratory performing analyses on meat food samples, reviews and approves all labels of meat and poultry products to assure that accurate product information is supplied to the consumer.

This position reports to an Agriculture Specialist District Supervisor.

The ability to follow, reinforce, adapt, or develop policies and procedures to maintain compliance with federal and state legal requirements, State Civil Service rules, and organizational policies.

The ability to pursue learning, seek feedback, and integrate new knowledge to improve personal and professional performance.

The ability to assess options, weigh risks, and make sound decisions using available information and logical reasoning.

The ability to uphold workplace standards through consistent conduct, responsible communication, and consideration for others.

The ability to analyze information objectively, identify connections across sources, and form logical, well-supported conclusions.

LDAF cares about the well-being of its employees! We offer a fully employer-funded Employee Assistance Program (EAP), providing valuable support and resources to help you and your household members thrive at work and  EAP is also free for all members of your household.

Three years of experience in one or a combination of the following:

• Administrative services
• Inspecting or enforcing compliance with agricultural laws, rules, or regulations
• Inspection and testing of weighing and measuring devices
• OR
• A bachelor’s degree in forestry, an agricultural, biological, chemical, environmental, health, or physical science, or an information technology, mathematics, or business field.

The official job specifications for this role, as defined by the State Civil Service, can be found here.

• Performs regulatory inspections of wholesale meat and poultry establishments to ensure compliance with Federal and State regulations; coordinates required inspections and ensures they are completed accurately, timely, and efficiently, including ante-mortem and post-mortem inspections of livestock and poultry intended for human consumption.
• Verifies product compliance and safety by reviewing product formulations for restricted ingredients, collecting samples for foodborne pathogens and economic adulteration, coordinating sample transport to state and federal laboratories, and taking appropriate enforcement action to address regulatory non-compliance.
• Evaluates establishment operations and facilities and recommends changes or improvements; performs sanitation audits, product quality inspections, and other inspections under cooperative and cross-utilization agreements involving seafood processing and USDA-regulated establishments, as applicable.
• Supports regulatory programs and investigations by maintaining documentation for the annual State Self-Assessment “at least equal to” requirements and working with parish, state, and federal agencies on investigations…