GAP vs. GroupGAP Cost Per Farmer Over Time

Renewal Fee: USDA charges a fee each year to renew your GroupGAP status. 'm' is the number of hours USDA charges to process your renewal application in subsequent years. By default, it is set to 2, which is USDA's automatic rate. Together with USDA's hourly rate, this means you'll pay about $180 each year to renew your application.

Adding Farmers Outside the "Systems Audit" (more info on that below) Process: Adding farmers can be done free of charge each year during the regular "Systems Audit" carried out by USDA. However, you can also add farmers at any time, for a small fee. USDA reserves the right to charge for this (though they don't always), typically charging one hour of administrative work. Thus, 'n' is set to 1 by default. Together with USDA's hourly rate, you pay $92 each time you make an addition outside the systems audit. Note that USDA does not charge for dropping farmers from your group.

'p' is the avg. number of times a year you expect to add farmers to your group NOT during the regular systems audit. More than one farm can be added at the same time for the same fee. This is probably an uncommon practice, but by default we have set 'p' to 1, assuming you'll make one change/addition of farmers per year outside the regular systems audit.

Systems Audit/Review of QMS: The Quality Management System is the overall plan the group puts together, which encompasses aspects of food safety, but also on-boarding of new farmers, training of auditors, document retention policies, etc. In this graph, 'q' is the avg. fee USDA charges each year to review the QMS a GroupGAP group has adopted. It ranges between $2000 and $5500. By default, we have set it to $3680.

Initial Application Fee: USDA charges an initial fee for applying to GroupGAP. In this graph, 'r' represents that fee and by default, it is set to $736, USDA's standard rate.

Internal Auditor Training: Since internal auditors are not USDA employees, they must go through a training process with USDA and/or state ag departments. In this graph, 's' is the avg. amount it costs to train one internal auditor. USDA fee + travel. The USDA fee is $1500; after adding travel we set the default to $2500. (As a note, USDA is working on adjusting this process to make it more affordable; stay tuned for updates.)

't' is the number of farms you expect one internal auditor to be able to inspect. After that, you will have to hire and train an additional auditor. By default, we set the number 40, though this number can change drastically as a consequence of many factors.

Adjusting the Graph to First Year Costs vs. 2nd Year (and beyond) Costs: There are some fees that only occur in the first year and others than only happen in the second and beyond. 'F' indicates whether you are in the first year. Set to F = 1 for year 1. If you are past year 1, set to F = 0. By default, we look at year 1 and have set F to 1.

'S' turns on a portion of the formula if you are in year 2 or beyond. It automatically changes based on F above. Therefore, you should not adjust S.

Below is the formula for GroupGAP (red). Unless you understand it, you should not adjust it.

This section starting below, along variables u-w, are costs specific to Individual GAP.

Follow-Up (or 'corrective') Audits: If an inspected farm fails to meet a portion of the criteria, USDA will return at a later date to ensure the farm has made the appropriate changes. 'u' is the number of hours per year you expect USDA to be doing in follow-up ('corrective') audits on your farm. Set to 0 if you don't expect any.

Unannounced Audits: Unannounced audits are required in situations where growing seasons are long and the auditor is not able to inspect all the relevant activities during the initial audit period. Hence, the auditor will return at a later, unannounced time. 'v' is the avg. number of hours per year you expect USDA to spend inspecting your farm for growing in the 30-90 day range. Set to 0 if you don't expect any. Because the creators of this tool live in Arizona where it is warm, 'v' to 3.5 by default.

'w' is the avg. number of hours per year you expect USDA to spend inspecting your farm for growing in the 90+ day range. Set to 0 if you don't expect any. Because the creators of this tool live in Arizona where it is warm, 'w' to 3.5 by default.

Below is the formula for Individual GAP certification (green). Unless you understand it, you should not adjust it.