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thesy lvaniatimes .com
The Sylvania Times
Wednesday, July 13, 2022 - Page 9
USDA
Farm Service Agency
Now Accepting Nominations for Farmers
and Ranchers to Serve on Local County
Committees
Dianne Westmoreland
Special Contributor
The U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA) Farm
Service Agency (FSA) is
now accepting nominations
for county committee
members. Elections will
occur in certain Local
Administrative Areas
(LAA) for members.
LAAs are elective areas
for FSA committees in a
single county or multi
county jurisdiction. This
may include LAAs that
are focused on an urban or
suburban area.
County committee
members make important
decisions about how
Federal farm programs
are administered locally.
All nomination forms for
the 2022 election must be
postmarked or received
in the local FSA office by
Aug. 1, 2022.
“It is a priority for USDA
to integrate equity into
its decision-making and
policymaking, and that
starts with our local FSA
county committees,”
said Arthur Tripp State
Executive Director for
FSA in Georgia. “We
need enthusiastic, diverse
leaders to serve other
agricultural producers on
these committees as we
work to build equitable
systems and programming
inclusive of all employees
and all of our customers.
I ask that you consider
making a difference
in your community by
nominating yourself,
or another agricultural
producer, to serve on
your local FSA county
committee.”
Tripp said agricultural
producers who participate
or cooperate in a USDA
program and reside in
the LAA that is up for
election this year, may be
nominated for candidacy
for the county committee.
A cooperating producer is
someone who has provided
information about their
farming or ranching
operation to FSA, even if
they have not applied or
received program benefits.
Individuals may nominate
themselves or others and
qualifying organizations
may also nominate
candidates. USDA
encourages minority
producers, women, and
beginning farmers or
ranchers to nominate, vote
and hold office.
Nationwide, more than
7,700 dedicated members
of the agricultural
community serve on FSA
county committees. The
committees are made up
of three to 11 members
who serve three-year
temis. Producers serving
on FSA county committees
play a critical role in the
day-to-day operations of
the agency. Committee
members are vital to how
FSA carries out disaster
programs, as well as
conservation, commodity
and price support
programs, county office
employment and other
agricultural issues.
The 2018 Farm Bill
directed USDA to form
urban county committees
as well as make other
advancements related
to urban agriculture,
including the establishment
of the Office of Urban
Agriculture and
Innovative Production.
FSA established county
committees specifically
focused
on urban agriculture. The
urban county committees
will work to encourage and
promote urban,
indoor and other emerging
agricultural production
practices. Additionally, the
new county
committees may address
areas such as food access,
community engagement,
support of local
activities to promote and
encourage community
compost and food waste
reduction.
Urban committee
members are nominated
and elected to serve by
local urban producers in
the
same jurisdiction. Urban
county committee
members will provide
outreach to ensure urban
producers understand
USDA programs and serve
as the voice of other urban
producers and assist
in program implementation
that support the needs
of the growing urban
community.
The following urban
and suburban county
committees will hold
elections this year
Phoenix,
Atlanta, New Orleans,
Minneapolis-St. Paul, St.
Louis, Albuquerque, N.M.,
Cleveland, Portland,
Ore., Philadelphia, Dallas
and Richmond, Va.
USDA recently announced
six new urban county
committees in Chicago,
Detroit, Grand Rapids,
Los Angeles, Brooklyn,
and Oakland. Elections
will be held for these
locations at a later date.
Producers should contact
their local FSA office
today to register and find
out how to get
involved in their county’s
election, including if their
LAA is up for election this
year. To be
considered, a producer
must be registered and sign
an FSA-669A nomination
form. Urban
farmers should use an
FSA-669-A-3 for urban
county committees. The
form and other
information about
FSA county committee
elections are available
at fsa.usda.gov/elections.
Election ballots will be
mailed to eligible voters
beginning Nov. 7, 2022.
Producers can find their
local USDA Service
Center at farmers.gov/
service-locator.
USDA touches the lives of
all Americans each day in
so many positive ways. In
the Biden-Harris
administration, USDA is
transforming America’s
food system with a greater
focus on more
resilient local and regional
food production, fairer
markets for all producers,
ensuring access to
safe, healthy and nutritious
food in all communities,
building new markets and
streams of
income for farmers and
producers using climate
smart food and forestry
practices, making
historic investments in
infrastructure and clean
energy capabilities in rural
America, and
committing to equity
across the Department by
removing systemic barriers
and building a
workforce more
representative of America.
To learn more, visit www.
usda.gov.
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