Deadline for FSA Nominations is August 3

It’s not too late to nominate yourself or someone else to your local FSA county committee. According to Joel Foster, executive director of the Grant County USDA Farm Service Agency, the nomination period ends on August 3.

Foster says, “This year, nominations and elections will be held in LAA 3, which includes the western portion of Grant County of Blooming Valley, Farmington, Kilborn, Lura, Mazeppa, Osceola, and Twin Brooks. Lyle Zirbel has reached his maximum of three terms and is no longer eligible to be nominated. The newly elected representative from LAA 3 will take office on January 1, 2021.”

County committees are unique to FSA and allow producers to have a voice in federal farm program implementation at the local level. To be eligible to serve on the FSA county committee, a person must participate or cooperate in an agency administered program, be eligible to vote in a county committee election, and reside in the Local Administrative Area (LAA) where they are nominated.

Elected county committee members serve a three-year term and are responsible for making decisions on FSA disaster, conservation, commodity and price support programs, and other important federal farm program issues. The Grant County FSA Committee currently has three elected members and one adviser. The elected members are Mark Mueller, Lyle Zirbel, and Dustin Johnson; the adviser is Gail Barlund.

Farmers and livestock producers are encouraged to nominate themselves or others as candidates. Organizations representing minority and women farmers and ranchers are also allowed to nominate candidates. To become a nominee, eligible individuals must sign form FSA-669A. The form and more information about county committee elections is available online at: www.fsa.usda.gov/elections. Nomination forms must be postmarked or received in the Grant County FSA Office by close of business on August 3.

Questions? Call the Grant County FSA office at 605.432.6570 – Extension 2.