CSA farms, U-pick farms, and farms that sell at farmers markets, like all farms, would
need to analyze their individual situations to determine if they would be covered by the
proposed rule. In particular, these operations would need to analyze their sales under
the terms of proposed § 112.5 to determine their eligibility for the qualified exemption
and modified requirements.
For example, if a U-pick operation has an average annual monetary value of food sold
during the relevant 3-year period of less than $500,000, and all of its sales were to
individuals who come to the farm to pick their own produce, all of its sales would be
sales to consumers (who are qualified end-users, regardless of location) for the purpose
of determining the proportion of the sales that are to qualified end-users. In this
example, the U-pick farm would be eligible for the qualified exemption and modified
requirements.
As another example, if a CSA farm has an average annual monetary value of food sold
during the relevant 3-year period of less than $500,000; and 25% of the monetary value
of its sales comes from sales to individual consumers enrolled in the CSA, 50% of the
monetary value of its sales comes from sales directly to restaurants in the same state
as the farm, and 25% of the monetary value of its sales comes from sales to other
buyers who are not qualified end-users; the CSA farm would be eligible for the qualified
exemption and modified requirements. In this example, the CSA farm’s sales to
qualified end-users (consumers and in-state restaurants) make up 75% of the average
annual monetary value of food sold, so the value of the farm’s sales to qualified end users
exceed the value of its sales to all other buyers during the relevant time period.
