Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

permaculture - [permaculture] FSA County Committee Nominations Open Tomorrow, June 15 - August 1, 2017

permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: permaculture

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Lawrence London <lfljvenaura@gmail.com>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [permaculture] FSA County Committee Nominations Open Tomorrow, June 15 - August 1, 2017
  • Date: Wed, 14 Jun 2017 16:36:20 -0400

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Jared Cates <jared@carolinafarmstewards.org>
Date: Wed, Jun 14, 2017 at 2:36 PM
Subject: FSA County Committee Nominations Open Tomorrow, June 15 - August
1, 2017


Good afternoon -



Take note! Starting this month, there is a chance for farmers to influence
your local U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Services Agency (FSA).



Did you know that farmers can nominate themselves (or their farmer
friends!) to run for their local FSA committee? Farmers elected to local
FSA committees work directly with USDA staff, so committee members
influence programs that benefit and support farming in your community.
These elections present individuals, community groups and food councils
with the chance to educate your community about the role FSA plays in
shaping the local farming community. You can encourage farmers in your
networks to influence the distribution of federally funds for services and
programs available to farmers. Or if you are a farmer….you can do it
yourself!



*The nomination period begins tomorrow, June 15, and closes on August 1st,
2017*. The election period opens November 6 and closes December 4, 2017.
Newly elected committee members take office on January 1, 2018. Only
farmers with a farm number may run or vote. Now is the time to act!



What is a local FSA committee?

FSA is the branch of USDA that administers farm commodity, crop insurance,
credit, environmental, conservation, and emergency assistance programs for
farmers and ranchers. Every FSA office in the country is required to have a
FSA committee made of local farmers and ranchers. Local FSA committees are
important because each committee is an influential and direct link between
the local farming community and USDA.



Why are they important?

Local committee members are a critical component of the day-to-day
operations of FSA; they even hire the Executive Director of the local
office. Members make decisions necessary to enable FSA staff to implement
farm programs at the local level.



What do local FSA committee members do?

Farmers who serve on local FSA committees help to decide the kinds of
programs that their FSA office will offer. They make sure FSA’s programs
serve the needs of all local producers and they are responsible for making
decisions on FSA disaster, conservation, commodity and price support
programs, as well as other important federal farm programs. The list of
duties may seem long, but the time commitment needed to be active on a
local FSA committee is manageable and members are financially reimbursed
for their time.



How do farmers run for local FSA committee membership?
Each county or multi-county region is split into between three and eleven
Local Administrative Areas (LAA’s), depending on how many counties are
served by your local USDA office. Only certain LAA’s are up for election
each year and farmers will receive a nomination postcard in the mail in
late June or early July if their LAA is up for election. Each nomination
submitted must be limited to one nominee (you can nominate yourself),
indicate the nominee’s willingness to serve on the committee, and
nomination forms must be postmarked or hand delivered to your local FSA
office no later than August 1, 2017. Nomination forms can be obtained from
a local USDA Service Center or online here
<https://www.fsa.usda.gov/news-room/county-committee-elections/>.



Any nominee for local FSA membership must:

-

be currently engaged in the operation of a farm or ranch (as a producer,
cooperator or landowner);
-

live in a LAA that is currently up for election;
-

be registered with FSA and have a farm number;
-

and be an eligible voter.



How can farmers vote for local FSA committee members?

Ballots will be mailed to all eligible on November 6, 2017 if your LAA is
up for election and if you are eligible to vote. Eligible voters must
contact their local FSA office before the final date if they did not
receive a ballot. Ballots must then be returned to the local FSA office or
postmarked by Dec. 4, 2017. To be an eligible voter for committee members,
farmers must be currently farming in the county and have signed up for a
farm number with the FSA. To sign up for a farm number, farmers should
visit their local USDA office, sit down with a FSA technician and register
with the USDA system.



Visit CFSA’s website
<https://www.carolinafarmstewards.org/fsa-county-committees/> for more
information on local FSA committees.



What can you do?



1.

Be a source of information. As an educational opportunity, you can
contact your local FSA office for more information about the election
process and the specific LAA’s in the community. Each local office should
have a map of their LAA’s that they can copy and give to you and they will
be able to tell you which LAA is up for election in a certain year.
Farmers, individuals, community groups and food councils can share this
specific election information, along with general info on local FSA
committees, with their networks as a way to educate their community on the
role that these committees serve in local agriculture.



1.

Encourage farmers in your network to run for local FSA committee
membership. Once you have figured out which LAA is up for election this
year, encourage farmers in your network who live in that LAA to run for
committee membership. Or if you are a farmer, consider running for the
committee position yourself! Diverse representation, including
representation by farmers currently underrepresented on committees like
sustainable, organic, beginning and minority farmers, would help ensure
that the FSA works for the benefit of all farmers in your community.



1.

Encourage farmers to actively participate in the election process. When
the nomination period ends, encourage farmers to vote during the month of
July if their LAA is up for election. Take time to interview candidates on
their specific views on agriculture and specific FSA issues and then share
that information out with other farmers in the LAA where the candidate is
running. Food councils and community groups can help create a space for
information sharing and dialogue so that farmers can actually know the
views of their peers who they will be deciding between for local FSA
committee membership representation.



1.

Connect with more resources. The Carolina Farm Stewardship Association
(CFSA) is a member of the Community Food Strategies
<http://www.communityfoodstrategies.com/> team. Community Food
Strategies currently has capacity to support food councils and community
groups on strategic policy and advocacy planning related to food and
farming (check out https://toolkit.communityfoodstrategies.com/). If
your council or community group is interested in specific technical
assistance to make a plan to engage with your community around local FSA
committee nomination and election periods, please contact Jared Cates at
jared@carolinafarmstewards.org or (919) 695-3391 for more information.



Affecting change with federal entities and programs is never easy. Farmers
and ranchers on local FSA committees have a rare chance to give direct
citizen input on the ways that a federal office locally implements its
programs. Individuals, community groups and food councils all have an
opportunity to educate their networks on the importance of these
committees, as well to support local farmers on getting elected into these
positions. We would encourage any farmers to consider running and
participating.



Please contact me directly if you have any questions or if your council is
interested in taking any action around local FSA committee nominations and
elections.


Thanks for all that you do,

Jared Cates
Community Mobilizer
Community Food Strategies <http://www.communityfoodstrategies.com> Team
Member
Carolina Farm Stewardship Association
PO Box 448 - Pittsboro, NC 27312
Office: (919) 542-2402 I Cell: (919) 695-3391
www.carolinafarmstewards.org




--
Lawrence F. London, Jr.
lfljvenaura@gmail.com
https://sites.google.com/site/avantgeared



  • [permaculture] FSA County Committee Nominations Open Tomorrow, June 15 - August 1, 2017, Lawrence London, 06/15/2017

Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page