WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is revising the U.S. Standards for Grades of Pecans in the Shell and the U.S. Standards for Grades of Shelled Pecans to reflect current industry descriptions and practices.
The changes will replace the current grades with U.S. Extra Fancy, U.S. Fancy, U.S. Choice and U.S. Standard grades. The two current grades for pecans in the shell are U.S. No. 1 and U.S. No. 2; the six current grades for shelled pecans are U.S. No. 1 Halves, U.S. No. 1 Halves and Pieces, U.S. No. 1 Pieces, U.S. Commercial Halves, U.S. Commercial Halves and Pieces and U.S. Commercial Pieces. USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is also updating terminology, definitions and defect scoring guides in the standards.
The final rule establishing the revised standards was published in the Federal Register on June 26, 2024. The new standards go into effect July 26, 2024 and can be viewed on the AMS website on or after this date.
–USDA AMS
