United States Standards for Grades of Frozen Asparagus Proposed Revision

Content

ACTION:

Notice and request for comments.

SUMMARY:

The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) of the Department of Agriculture (USDA) is proposing to revise the United States
Standards for Grades of Frozen Asparagus by updating and defining new style requirements related to percent head material
for the “cut spears or cuts and tips” style of frozen asparagus. In addition, AMS proposes to change the definition of a head
when it applies to the “cut spears or cuts and tips” style. These changes would align the grade standards with modern harvesting
practices and provide guidance for the effective utilization of this commodity.

DATES:

Comments must be submitted on or before June 9, 2026.

ADDRESSES:

Interested persons are invited to submit comments by mail to the Standardization Branch, Specialty Crops Inspection Division,
Specialty Crops Program, Agricultural Marketing Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Training and Development
Center; 100 Riverside Parkway, Suite 101, Fredericksburg, Virginia 22406; by fax at (540) 361-1199; or via the internet at https://www.regulations.gov. Comments should reference the docket number and the date and page numbers of this issue of the
Federal Register
. All comments submitted in response to this notice will become a part of the public record and be made available to the public,
including any personal information submitted with your comment, at https://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Andrew Buss at the address above or by phone at (231) 260-5913, or fax at (540) 361-1199, or email at andrew.buss@usda.gov. Copies of the proposed United States Standards for Grades of Frozen Asparagus are available at https://www.regulations.gov. Copies of the current United States Standards for Grades of Frozen Asparagus are available at https://www.ams.usda.gov/grades-standards/frozen-asparagus-grades-and-standards.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Section 203(c) of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1622(c)), as amended, directs and authorizes the Secretary
of Agriculture “[t]o develop and improve standards of quality, condition, quantity, grade, and packaging, and recommend and
demonstrate such standards in order to encourage uniformity and consistency in commercial practices.” AMS is committed to
carrying out this authority in a manner that facilitates the marketing of agricultural commodities.

The United States Standards for Grades of Fruits and Vegetables no longer appear in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)
but are maintained by USDA, AMS, Specialty Crops Program at the following website: https://www.ams.usda.gov. AMS also makes copies of official standards available upon request. AMS is proposing revisions to the United States Standards
for Grades of Frozen Asparagus using the procedures that appear in part 36 of title 7 of the CFR (7 CFR part 36).

Background

On August 25, 2025, AMS received a petition from the Michigan Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Association, Inc. (MACMA),
an organization that represents asparagus and apple members in Michigan. The petitioners represent nearly 100 percent of the
frozen asparagus growers, processors, and producers in the United States. In their petition, MACMA expressed a desire to change
style requirements for head material and indicated the requested changes are due to the rising costs of labor, which result
in less frequent picking of fields, longer asparagus spears, and ultimately decreased head material (when cut) due to the
increase in length of the stalk. AMS worked closely with MACMA throughout the development of the proposed revisions, soliciting
their comments and suggestions about the standards through discussion drafts, phone calls, and email communications. These
revisions seek to align the standards with current industry practices.

AMS is proposing three revisions to the United States Standards for Grades of Frozen Asparagus. First, AMS proposes to change
the style requirements for the “cut spears or cuts and tips” style so that there is only one requirement for average head
material. Currently, section 52.383(c) has two categories depending on the length of cut. AMS proposes to remove the two categories
and establish a single new average percent head material requirement for “cut spears or cuts and tips” style for all cuts
one-half inch to 2 inches in length: “Cut spears or cuts and tips style consists of the head and portions of the shoot cut
transversely into units 2 inches or less but not less than one-half inch in length. To be considered of this style, head material
of not less than 15 percent (average), by count, of all cuts shall be present.”

Second, in line with the first change, AMS is proposing to change the lot acceptance for percent head material in the style
of “cut spears or cuts and tips” so that there is only one requirement for individual sample percent head material. Currently,
section 52.392 has two categories depending on the length of cut. AMS proposes to remove the two categories and establish
a single new individual sample requirement for lot acceptance of percent head material in the style of cut spears: “The percent,
by count, of heads is determined by averaging the percentage of heads in all of the sample units comprising the sample, Provided,
that no individual sample unit may contain less than 8 percent, by count, of heads.”

Lastly, AMS proposes to change the definition of a head in section 52.384(d)(2) from “An upper portion of a shoot which possesses
a substantial amount of compact head material” to “An upper portion of a shoot which possesses at least one-half inch of compact
head material.”

The proposed revisions to the grade standards would help ease the hardships currently faced by asparagus growers and better
reflect the current

  marketing of frozen asparagus in the “cut spears or cuts and tips” style.

A 60-day period is provided for interested persons to submit comments on the proposed grade standards. Copies of the proposed
revised standards are available on the internet at https://www.regulations.gov. After the 60-day comment period, AMS would proceed in accordance with 7 CFR 36.3(a)(1-3).

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1621-1627.

Erin Morris. Administrator, Agricultural Marketing Service. [FR Doc. 2026-06966 Filed 4-9-26; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3410-02-P

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Attachments 2

2025-08-25PetitionforFrozenAsparagusStandardChanges

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AMS-SC-25-0520FrozenAsparagus_DISCUSSIONDRAFT

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