Termination of the Master Scale Testing Program

After consideration of public comments, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) will be terminating its master scale testing program and closing the master scale depot in Chicago, Ill. This action aligns with AMS's Federal Grain Inspection Service (FGIS) mission to streamline official service delivery and return to its core functions and services mandated by the United States Grain Standards Act (USGSA). In response to comments received during the public comment period, AMS has delayed the program's closure until January 31, 2026, and will fulfill master scale and track scale testing service requests made prior to this announcement.

AMS announced its initial plans to terminate the program in Federal Register notice 2025-15756 published on August 19, 2025. The notice provided a 30-day public comment period that ended on September 18, 2025. AMS received four public comments which can be viewed at Regulations.gov. Submitters noted concerns about the future testing and traceability of railroad scales to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the absence of other laboratories who can certify 10,000-pound test carts. Additionally, one submitter recommended extending the program through fiscal year 2026 to allow additional time for states and industry to react. Another submitter agreed with AMS's decision to terminate the program due to significantly reduced customer usage and costs.

As outlined in the Federal Register notice, service demands for this program continue to wane, fees are not adequate to cover costs, and these services are not aligned with the FGIS core mission. Further, the USGSA does not mandate testing of scales used for commodities other than grain and non-federal expertise and viable providers through a state-government program or a private sector entity could preserve service affordability without compromising the integrity of standards.

Therefore, AMS will no longer be able to ensure the traceability of scales for freight cargo to NIST standards after January 31, 2026, nor accept any new requests for master scale and track scale testing services at this time. AMS will honor service requests for master scale and track scale testing that were made prior to this announcement and will work with those entities to ensure receipt of services already requested. The FGIS master scale testing program and facility will remain operational for the duration needed to fulfill these requests and will continue to hold its NIST accreditation through January 31, 2026. According to NIST, calibration certificates issued by a legal metrology calibration laboratory that closes after the certificate is issued are valid for the period listed on the certificate. Any expiration date listed on the certificate will remain valid. If no expiration date is listed on the certificate, then the certificate remains viable.

For questions about this announcement, please contact Barry Gomoll, Grain Marketing Specialist, FGIS, AMS, USDA; telephone: (202) 720-8286; email: [email protected].

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer and lender.