USDA organic certification: how to get certified and what it costs

What USDA organic certification is and who needs it

USDA organic certification is a check by a private or state certifying agent that the USDA has accredited. The certifier confirms that your farm or business follows the USDA organic regulations in 7 CFR 205. Once certified, you can sell, label and represent your products as organic. USDA accredits private, foreign and state organizations to certify, and publishes a list of USDA-accredited certifiers.

The rule on who needs it is broad. Certification is required for each operation or portion of an operation that produces or handles agricultural products sold or labeled as organic, unless the operation fits one of the exemptions below. The regulations recognize four categories of organic products: crops, livestock, processed products and wild crops. A certificate lists the scopes it covers, and a maker who processes ingredients needs the processing or handling scope.

This page covers the certification process, costs, exemptions, cost-share and the enforcement rule. Label categories such as "100 percent organic" and "made with organic", and the seal artwork, are on the USDA organic seal guide.

How to get USDA organic certification, step by step

USDA describes five basic steps to organic certification. The order is the same for a farm and for a business that processes or packs organic products.

1. Adopt organic practices and choose a certifier

   Pick a certifying agent from USDA's list. Certifiers set their own fees, so ask each one for its fee structure and billing cycle before you apply. Then submit an application, your organic system plan and the fees.

2. The certifier reviews your application

   The certifier checks that the practices in your plan comply with the USDA organic regulations: inputs, ingredients and their certificates, cleaning products, records and how you keep organic and non-organic product apart.

3. An inspector visits

   An inspector conducts an on-site inspection of every site that produces or handles the organic products. For a kitchen or small plant, expect a walk-through of storage, production, labels and records.

4. The certifier makes a decision

   The certifier reviews the application and the inspector's report to decide whether you comply. If something is missing, you are asked to fix it before a certificate is issued.

5. You receive the organic certificate

   The certificate lists your operation and its scopes. From then on, your operation goes through an annual review and inspection process.

The transition period for land

Land used to grow raw organic crops must have had no prohibited substances applied for three years before the harvest can be sold as organic. Until that period is over, the crop cannot be sold, labeled or represented as organic, and it cannot carry the USDA seal. A maker who buys certified organic ingredients, rather than growing them, does not go through this transition.

The small-operation exemption and other exempt operations

A small number of operations can sell organic products without a certificate. The best known is the small-operation exemption: a farm or business whose gross agricultural income from organic sales is $5,000 or less a year. The table lists the main exemptions in 7 CFR 205.101 and what each one still has to do.

Every exempt operation must comply with the applicable organic production and handling requirements. Exemption removes the certificate and the inspection, not the rules.

Products from an exempt operation must not display the USDA seal or any certifying agent's seal. They also must not be identified or represented as organic in a product processed by others, so a small grower who is exempt cannot sell produce to a granola maker as an organic ingredient. The exempt operation may call its own multi-ingredient product organic.

Note that importing and exporting are NOT exempt activities. Anyone who imports or exports organic products needs a certificate whatever their sales. Exempt operations they may pursue voluntary organic certification, and A buyer may contractually require organic certification from suppliers such as wholesale accounts or co-packers.

Handler certification for makers who process organic ingredients

Most small makers come to organic certification as handlers, not farmers. Under the regulations, to handle means to sell, process, or package agricultural products. That covers mixing granola, cooking sauces, blending spice rubs and making soap or balms from organic oils, as well as repacking or relabeling bought organic product.

USDA's guidance is direct: if you make a product and want to claim that it or its ingredients are organic, your final product probably also needs to be certified. Buying certified organic oats or oils is not enough on its own to call the finished product organic. The kitchen or facility where the product is made has to be certified for handling, unless an exemption applies.

Example: a maker sells granola made with certified organic oats. If organic sales stay at or under the exemption threshold, the maker can call the granola organic without a certificate, but cannot use the USDA seal and must keep records. Above the threshold, or to use the seal, the maker needs a handling certificate. If the granola contains less than 70 percent organic ingredients and the maker names the organic oats only in the ingredient list, the handler exemption for low-organic products applies instead.

• Keep certificates for every organic ingredient you buy, from each supplier.
• Keep purchase, production and sales records that link each batch back to its organic inputs.
• Write down how you clean equipment and store organic ingredients apart from conventional ones.
• Send label drafts to your certifier before printing; the seal rules are on the seal guide.

USDA organic certification cost

There is no single USDA fee. Each certifier sets its own prices, and USDA says the total depends on the certifier and on the size, type and complexity of your operation. USDA says costs may range from a few hundred to several thousand dollars.

Typically, the bill is made up of an application fee, annual renewal fee, assessment on annual production or sales, and inspection fees. Ask each certifier for a written fee schedule, compare how they charge the sales assessment, and ask whether inspector travel is billed separately. The inspection is repeated each year, so the renewal and inspection fees recur.

Organic certification cost also includes your own time: writing the organic system plan, keeping records and preparing for the inspection. For a small maker that can be more work than the fees.

Getting money back: the organic certification cost-share program

The Organic Certification Cost Share Program (OCCSP), run by the USDA Farm Service Agency, pays back part of what you spent. Certified operations can receive up to 75 percent of the certification costs they paid during the program year, capped at $750 per certification scope.

Applicants must be certified organic producers or handlers who have paid organic certification fees to a USDA-accredited certifying agent. The cap applies separately to each scope on your certificate: crops, wild crops, livestock, processing/handling, and state organic program fees. A maker certified for handling only claims under the processing/handling scope.

Eligible costs include application and administrative fees, Inspection fees for USDA organic certification, including travel costs and per diem, user fees and sales assessments, state organic program fees, and postage for certification paperwork. To apply through FSA, contact their local USDA Service Center with documentation of your certification and eligible expenses. FSA says participating state agencies may also accept applications. The current deadline is December 31, 2026, for the 2025 and 2026 program years.

Example: a handler pays a certifier $1,200 for one handling scope. The percentage alone would come to more than the cap, so the payment stops at $750 per certification scope.

The Strengthening Organic Enforcement rule

The Strengthening Organic Enforcement (SOE) rule changed the organic regulations to tighten oversight of the supply chain. It took effect on March 20, 2023, and operations had to comply by March 19, 2024.

Its topics include exemptions from organic certification; National Organic Program Import Certificates; recordkeeping and product traceability, as well as unannounced inspections, standardized certificates, labeling of nonretail containers and annual update requirements for certified operations. For small sellers, three changes matter most.

• Exemptions were rewritten. The current list is in the table above, and importing and exporting are never exempt.
• Traceability is part of the rule. Recordkeeping and product traceability are among its topics, so expect your certifier to ask for records that link each product back to its organic inputs.
• More surprise visits. Each certifier must make unannounced inspections of a minimum of five percent of the operations it certifies every year.

Keeping your certification each year

Certification has to be maintained. To continue certification, an operation must annually pay the certification fees and submit an update to its certifier, describing changes to its organic system plan. The certifier must inspect the operation at least once per calendar year.

This guide was checked on 3 Oct 2026 against the USDA AMS, USDA FSA and eCFR pages listed in the sources, and it is re-checked every six months. Rules and program dates change, so confirm the current version on those pages and with your certifier. Some states run their own state organic program with its own fees, so requirements can vary by state. This page is general information, not legal advice.

Where Nation fits

Questions about USDA organic certification