The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has announced its 2024/2025 fee rates for voluntary grading, inspection, certification, auditing and laboratory services for a variety of agricultural commodities, including fruits, vegetables and specialty crops.

According to the USDA, these increases reflect direct and indirect costs of providing services. Direct costs include the cost of salaries, employee benefits, and, if applicable, travel and some operating costs. Indirect or overhead costs include the cost of Program and Agency activities supporting the services provided to the industry. The formula used to calculate these rates also includes operating reserve, which may add to or draw upon the existing operating reserves.

These new rates go into effect on October 1, 2024 and have been published in a Federal Register Notice.