Organic Certification for an AP system.

Organic Certification or to make it easier, we will call it OC, from here on out. It is possible to get OC for an AP system, but what is the real benefit and is it worth the cost? According to the USDA, they pretty much own the word "ORGANIC". It is not legal to sell anything labelled ORGANIC or have ORGANIC in the bushiness name without first receiving OC from one of the qualifying agencies. No, these are not Government or USDA agencies, but private agencies who have paid great amounts of money in order to be listed, as a certifying agency. Therefore this is not a free service the government provides (as if they provide anything free, but that is another topic) The rule, as I understand it, says if you, as an individual sell less than $5000.00 worth of produce a year you can call your product organic, without being certified. However, you sell $5001.00 or more, now you are subject to massive fines etc. if they decide to pursue it. The fine as I understand it is several thousand dollars per offense. 10 boxes of lettuce too many, 10 offenses!
So how do I get OC? I contact a OC agency and find out their build requirements and listed approved materials and plants etc. I pay for them to come to my farm and do an inspection. I pay for them to be there, I pay for them to go home. You get the idea, I pay for ALL of their expenses, plus their fee. I believe somewhere in the $900.00 range the first year and considerably less the following years. 1 inspection, 1 time a year, every year.
So is it worth it? I guess it really depends on your clients. I think to some it would make no difference, to others they may only buy your product if it says ORGANIC?
I will be be honest, I am still up in the air over this. I do not have to decide right away, as I do not plan to start selling until next spring. I do plan to build my AP system according to their guidelines, so I will be eligible, if I decide to go for OC. I am just interested on other peoples ideas about the value of OC