Dec. 7 deadline on FSA county committee voting is near

From USDA Farm Service Agency

Ballots for USDA Farm Service Agency county committee elections were mailed in early November to eligible voters and are due back to FSA by Dec. 7.

If a local administrative area had a committee seat open this year, and eligible voters should have received a ballot in the mail. Producers who did not receive a ballot can pick one up at the local FSA office.

Members of American Indian tribes holding agricultural land are eligible to vote in an FSA county committee election if the tribal member meets the voting requirements. For purposes of FSA county committee elections, every member of an American Indian tribe is considered an agricultural landowner if the land on which the tribal member’s voting eligibility is based is tribally owned, or held in trust by the United States for the tribe, even if the individual does not personally produce a crop on that land.

The individuals you elect to serve on the behalf of producers operate within official federal regulations so that local input is provided on federal programs such as:

• Income safety-net loans and payments, including setting county average yields for commodities;

• Conservation programs;

• Incentive, indemnity and disaster payments for some commodities;

• Emergency programs, and

• Payment eligibility.

Ballots must be returned to the local FSA office by Dec. 7. Ballots returned by mail must be postmarked no later than Dec. 7.