December 7 is Deadline to Return FSA County Election Ballots

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) mailed ballots for the Farm Service Agency (FSA) county committee elections to eligible farmers and ranchers across the country. To be counted, ballots must be returned to the local FSA county office or postmarked by December 7.

Elected county committee members serve a three-year term. County committee members help FSA make decisions on commodity support programs, conservation programs, indemnity and disaster programs, and emergency programs and eligibility.

The Grant County FSA Committee has three elected members and one adviser. Current members are Mark Mueller, Lyle Zirbel, and Dustin Johnson. The adviser is Gail Barlund.  Zirbel has completed his maximum of three terms and is no longer eligible to be nominated from LAA 3.

The 2020 elections will be held in Local Administrative Area (LAA) 3, which includes the western townships of Grant County of Blooming Valley, Farmington, Kilborn, Lura, Mazeppa, Osceola, and Twin Brooks. Tyler Grabow is the sole nominee on the ballot for LAA 3. However, voters can write in eligible candidates who reside in LAA 3. 

Producers must participate or cooperate in an FSA program to be eligible to vote in the county committee election. A cooperating producer is someone who has provided information about their farming or ranching operation(s) but might not have applied or received FSA program benefits. Also, producers who supervise and conduct the farming operations of an entire farm, but are not of legal voting age, may be eligible to vote. 

Eligible voters who did not receive a ballot in the mail can request one from their local FSA county office. For more information about county committees, contact the Grant County FSA office at 605.432.6570 – Extension 2 or visit www.fsa.usda.gov/elections.