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 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 August 1, 2022.
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 terms. 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.
Urban and Suburban County Committees
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.
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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.
Learn more at farmers.gov/urban.
More Information
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
November 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.
[Illinois USDA-FPAC]
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