A farmer's guide to wholesale produce pricing: match USDA reports to your crop and pack, account for freight and culls, and review eight buyer contract terms before agreeing to a sale.

Selling vegetables wholesale starts with knowing what you can deliver and what you need to earn. A buyer's price per box is not your net return: packing, freight, culls and deductions can change what reaches your farm. Use this guide to compare USDA produce prices and review buyer terms before agreeing to a crop, volume or delivery week.

FOB vs delivered: who pays freight

FOB (Free On Board): price is at your dock. Buyer arranges and pays freight. Lower headline price but you keep your trucks.

Delivered: price is at the buyer's dock. You pay freight, and the buyer assumes you've baked it in. Higher headline number, lower net.

Get a current freight quote for your route, load size and cooling requirements. Divide that cost by the saleable boxes delivered, then include it when comparing a delivered offer with an offer at your farm dock.

Packout grades: what you're actually selling

USDA grades (U.S. No. 1, U.S. No. 2, etc.) are the official spec, but most wholesale buyers also have a private "buyer grade" that adds size and color tolerances. Read both. Confirm the accepted grade, size, pack and inspection process in writing. Use your own packout records to estimate saleable volume rather than assuming every harvested pound will earn the quoted price.

Where to anchor your price

USDA AMS Terminal Market Reports: free daily wholesale pricing from Atlanta, Miami, Philadelphia, New York. The honest baseline.
USDA Specialty Crops Market News: region-specific shipping point and movement reports.
BAU market intel: check the USDA source, report date, crop, grade and pack before comparing a listed market range with your buyer's offer.

Terminal market prices describe wholesale transactions at that market, not a guaranteed farm-gate price. Match the crop, origin, grade, pack and date, then compare the offer with your own cost per saleable unit. Do not apply a blanket premium to every crop.

Pre-season contracts vs spot

Spot is the open market: ship today, get this week's price. High ceiling, real floor risk.

Pre-season contracts lock volume and a price (or a price range) months before harvest. You give up the top of the market for a predictable floor and a committed buyer.

Choose committed volume based on conservative saleable yield, harvest timing and your ability to fill the order. Leave room for weather and quality losses. No single contract percentage fits every vegetable farm, and a contract does not remove production or payment risk.

8 contract clauses to read before signing

Volume tolerance. Agree on acceptable shortfalls or overages and how each is handled.
Quality spec. Reference USDA grade and buyer addendum.
Inspection & rejection. Who inspects, when, what records are required and how disputes are resolved.
Pricing mechanism. Fixed, fixed-with-escalator, or market-minus. Each behaves very differently in a bad year.
Payment terms. Specify the due date and compare it with your payroll and cash needs.
Force majeure. Weather, disease, labor disruption. Both ways.
Chargebacks. Cap them. Uncapped chargebacks erase profit on a single bad load.
Termination. Agree on notice, cure periods and responsibility for outstanding deliveries.

Check your costs before quoting a produce buyer

Use the free crop profit calculator to estimate your breakeven price, then prepare a buyer conversation with the produce buyer email and phone scripts. Read the BAU buyer strategy for the approach behind pre-season planning. These guides do not promise a sale or replace legal review of a contract.

How to Sell Produce Wholesale: Pricing & Buyer Contracts